nurturing the relationship between spirituality and social justice
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Contact us
by e-mail at
leavencenter@leaven.org
by mail at Leaven
P.O. Box 97
Lyons, MI 48851
or by phone at
989/855-2606.
Upcoming Events
We invite you to join us at the following events sponsored or led by Leaven! For more information about an event, you may call us at the Leaven Center office, (989) 855-2606, write us at Leaven, P.O. Box 97, Lyons, MI 48851 or e-mail us at leavencenter@leaven.org. The Leaven Center is near Lyons, Michigan, midway between Lansing and Grand Rapids.
There are two ways for you to register. You can register on-line by VISA, Discover, or MasterCard, paying the full amount of the registration fee by credit card. Or you can print out a registration form and send it by mail to our post office box. If you register by mail, you have a choice of making the specified deposit to hold your space, or you may send a check for the entire registration fee. Partial scholarships are available for all events. Please be registered at least 14 days in advance of the event.
Leaven Center Calendar 2009
July 3-4. Work Camp at The Leaven Center.
July 8-9 . Individual Silent Retreat (self-directed).
July 27-30. Summer Youth Programming at The Leaven Center, in partnership with the Girl Scouts of Michigan Shore to Shore and the Lyons Township District Library.
August 5-6. Individual Silent Retreat (self-directed).
August 13-17. Writing from the Eye of the Storm: A Workshop with Anya Achtenberg and Demetria Martinez.
September 9-10. Individual Silent Retreat (self-directed).
September 11-13. Disabilities Activists and Allies Retreat, with Mike Ervin, Rahnee Patrick, and Melanie Morrison.
September 18-20. Writing as Sacred Journey: A Women's Wilderness Trip, with Karen Bota and Pauline Feltner.
September 30-October 1, 2009. Sister Colleagues: A Seminar for Women in Ministry, with Melanie Morrison
October 9-11. Forgive for Good: The Way of Releasing Resentment, with the Rev. Jacki Belile.
July 8-9, August 5-6, September 9-10
Individual Silent Retreat
This year the Leaven Center is offering space for individual silent retreats the second Wednesday and Thursday of each month in the Lodge. Retreatants can come for Wednesday or Thursday only, for Wednesday and stay over Wednesday night, for Wednesday night and stay over Thursday — or for the entire time.
There will be no programming — the time is yours to make of it what you choose. Meditatively walk the 20 acres of meadows and woods, sit and write beside the Grand River, read, or simply catch up on much-needed rest.
Overnight retreatants each will have their own room — maximum for overnight is seven. Bring your own food for meals — snacks and beverages provided. Daytime guests will have use of the grounds and the common areas of the Lodge.
This event is gender inclusive.
Leader: Self-directed
Time/Cost: Total amount is due with registration form.
- Wednesday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. — $25
Thursday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. — $25
- Wednesday, 9 a.m., to Thursday, 11 a.m. — $55
OR Wednesday nite, 5 p.m., to Thursday, 5 p.m. — $55
- Wednesday, 9 a.m. to Thursday, 5 p.m. — $75
Note: This event is self-directed. We ask that everyone respect the silence of other retreatants.
To print and send registration form
July 3-4, 2009
Work Camp at The Leaven Center
Wondering how to spend the 4th of July weekend in ways that are fun, creative, and meaningful? The Leaven Center Work Camp may be just the opportunity you need.
We have lots to do on these 25 acres. We will be doing repairs on the accessible trail. Some of us may work on carpentry projects; there is always lots of mowing to do; tree and general ground maintenance are always needed; and there may be repair and touch-up jobs in the Lodge and Farmhouse. You are invited to stay in the Lodge or pitch a tent. Come for a day, part of the day, or the whole time.
In addition to working, there will be time for cookouts, singing by the campfire, and kicking back together. The work camp is open to all ages and will get underway after lunch on Friday and end with supper on Saturday. Please e-mail us at leavencenter@leaven.org, or call us 989/855-2606 to let us know when you will be arriving and how long you wish to stay. Overnight accommodations are limited, so let us hear from you soon!
This event is gender inclusive.
Time: Friday, 1 p.m.-Saturday, 6 p.m.
Cost: Free
July 27-30, 2009
Summer Youth Programming at The Leaven Center,
in partnership with the Girl Scouts of Michigan Shore to Shore
and the Lyons Township District LibraryThe Girl Scouts of Michigan Shore to Shore Ionia Office, the Lyons Township District Library, and The Leaven Center have teamed up to offer educational, fun and low-cost programs for girls and boys in kindergarten through 12th grade July 27-30 at The Leaven Center in Lyons.
PROGRAMS FOR K THROUGH 5TH GRADE GIRLS AND BOYS
The following programs, which will include crafts, games and a snack, will be held from 9:00-11:00 a.m.:
· July 27 Fun with Frogs
· July 28 Fantastic Flowers
· July 29 Beautiful Butterflies
· July 30 Cool Kites
The cost for all four mornings is $4 for registered Girl Scouts, or $14 for non-Girl Scouts. Scholarships are available.
PROGRAMS FOR 6TH - 12TH GRADE GIRLS AND BOYS
The following programs will be held from 1:00-3:00 p.m.:
· July 27 Edible Campfires – Come join us as we learn about campfire safety through fun and mouth-watering activities.
· July 28 Flag Etiquette – Come join us as we practice great flag etiquette with hands-on experiences.
· July 29 No program
· July 30 Basic First Aid – Come join us as we learn about basic first aid and safety through games and activities. Each participant will take home a mini-first aid kit.
The cost for all three afternoons is $5 for registered Girl Scouts, or $15 for non-Girl Scouts. Scholarships are available.
For more information or to register, contact Sheila Ransom, Membership Manager, Ionia Office, Girl Scouts of Michigan Shore to Shore, at 616-527-4900, ext. 1498, or sransom@gsmists.org.
August 13-17, 2009
Writing from the Eye of the Storm: A Workshop
with Anya Achtenberg and Demetria MartinezOur workshop has risen out of and as a response to the urgent times in which we live, pushing us to explore the connection between the process of political empowerment and the process of finding our voices in a dynamic, multi-genre meeting of minds and souls.
Throughout history, writers and artists have been catalysts for social change. Our writing, our song, our visual and dramatic arts, make a field of discovery in which to illuminate our relationship to the world. The actions we then take within the larger struggle of “healing the world” will come from that fullness of being, that “I” in the center of the storm. From this “I” is born a truer “eye” of witness, and actions more powerful, more authentic, more effective and moving.
We are therefore opening this workshop to people exploring all literary genres: poetry, fiction, non-fiction, dramatic monologue and plays, journaling and journalism. We believe the visual and musical arts are equally critical in this transformation, both personal and political, and welcome the input of writer/participants in those areas, as well.
Whether you have the blues these days or feel galvanized, whether you want to write individually or want to explore writing through collaborations or performance, then this workshop is for you!
This event is gender inclusive.
Time: Thursday, 7:00 p.m. – Monday, 1:00 p.m.
Cost: $325 ($125 deposit and $200 balance due)
Facilitators: Anya Achtenberg and Demetria Martinez
Anya Achtenberg lives in Minnesota, teaches creative writing throughout the United States, and is creator of the Writing for Social Change: Re-Dream a Just World Workshops. She has received numerous literary prizes in fiction and poetry, including from Coppola’s Zoetrope: All-Story, New Letters, Southern Poetry Review and Another Chicago Magazine. Anya’s works include: The Stone of Language (poetry, West End Press, 2004); I Know What the Small Girl Knew (poetry, Holy Cow! Press), The Stories of Devil-girl (novella, published 2008 by Modern History Press; and audiofile available on her website); and a completed novel, More Than The Wind, excerpted in Harvard Review. She is writing a novel centered around a Cambodian woman born at the moment the bombing of Cambodia begins and received a 2008 Minnesota State Arts Board Grant for this work. Anya is currently organizing a cultural trip to Cuba for writers, artists, filmmakers, etc. She works with individual writers on their manuscripts, and writes about writing at www.anyaachtenberg.com.
Demetria Martinez of Albuquerque, New Mexico, is the author of a novel, Mother Tongue, winner of a Western States Book Award for fiction; and three collections of poetry, including Breathing Between the Lines. Her collection of autobiographical essays, Confessions of a Berlitz-Tape Chicana, was the winner of the 2006 International Latino Book Award in the category of Best Biography. Demetria is summer writing faculty at the William Joiner Center for the Study of War and Social Consequences at UMass Boston. She lectures widely and writes a column about social justice issues for the National Catholic Reporter. Her first children’s book will be published in January 2010. Her website is www.demetriamartinez.com.
September, 2009 – May, 2010
Sister Colleagues: A Seminar for Women in Ministry
If you are a woman in ministry who is seeking a nurturing and challenging gathering place with other colleagues, please join us for this monthly seminar. For 20 consecutive years, Sister Colleagues has provided a unique context where women from a variety of faith traditions:
- Find support and encouragement from sister colleagues;
- Commiserate and consult with one another;
- Explore changing theological and biblical perspectives;
- Discuss topics that arise in our ministry settings;
- Express personal and professional concerns;
- Celebrate together experiences that are invigorating and confirming.
September 30-October 1, 2009 will be the opening retreat of this eight-month seminar that includes five overnight retreats and four day-time sessions (see dates and times below). Each time we gather, there will be opportunities for worship and singing, checking-in with each other, sharing of stories, and exploration of a given topic or theme. Articles, book chapters, or audio recordings will be assigned as a way of helping us prepare for discussion of seminar topics.
Recognizing that not all religious institutions fully affirm the gifts of women, we welcome sisters who have answered a call to ministry, however you define that.
This event is for women.
Leader: Melanie Morrison
Dates: Five overnight retreats ~ September 30-October 1, November 18-19, January 20-21, March 17-18 and May 12-13. The overnight retreats begin at 6 p.m. in the evening and end the following day at 3 p.m. Four day-time sessions ~ October 13, December 17, February 18, and April 15. The day-time sessions begin at 10:30 a.m. and end at 3:30 p.m.
Cost: $500 ($100 deposit + $400 balance due). Tuition may be paid in installments over the course of the seminar.
Melanie S. Morrison is Executive Director of Allies for Change (www.alliesforchange.org) and an ordained United Church of Christ minister who has served three congregations. She has a Ph.D in theology from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands and serves as adjunct faculty at Chicago Theological Seminary. She is a spiritual director, anti-oppression educator, and author of three books including The Grace of Coming Home: Spirituality, Sexuality, and the Struggle for Justice.
September 11-13, 2009
Celebrating Our Creativity and Culture: The Ninth
Annual Retreat for Disability Activists & AlliesThe Disability Rights Movement has a long and powerful history of resisting oppression and generating pride through the creation of art, music, literature, poetry, and other expressions of disability culture. This annual retreat will provide a space for disability activists and allies to celebrate disability culture, reflect on our lives, and nurture creative resources for sustaining our struggle for justice.
We encourage you to bring poems, films, music, and other creative expressions that have inspired you or that you yourself have created. We will weave these offerings into our times together and we will also provide opportunities for new creations. You need not think of yourself as an “artist” --- you need only bring a desire to celebrate our incredible disability culture!
There will be ample time to enjoy the beauty of the land by traversing The Leaven Center's accessible trails. There will also be time to rest, relax, and be in community with disability activists and allies who are committed to confronting ableism in ourselves and the world around us.
This event is gender inclusive.
Leaders: Mike Ervin, Rahnee Patrick, and Melanie Morrison
Time: Friday, 7:00 p.m.-Sunday, 1:00 p.m.
Cost: $190 ($50 deposit + $140 balance due) Scholarships available.Mike Ervin is a writer and disability rights activist. As a freelance journalist he has published over 1,200 articles and essays in more than 40 newspapers and magazines. He is a radio essay contributor for NPR in Chicago. Mike's plays, including The History of Bowling, have been produced at theaters across the United States. Mike is a founding member of the
Chicago chapter of ADAPT and is proud to have been arrested over a dozen times for civil disobedience. He is also founder of Jerry's Orphans, which organizes annual protests against the Jerry Lewis telethon.
Rahnee K. Patrick is Interim Program Director at Access Living in Chicago . She is the 2008 recipient of the American Association of People with Disabilities' Paul Hearne Award (be sure to check out the AAPD profile of Rahnee on YouTube!) and awarded for her short stories. She is a member of ADAPT and Not Dead Yet and a co-founder of Feminist Response in Disability Activism (FRIDA). Rahnee is the oldest of four children, the daughter of a Thai immigrant mother and a European American father.
September 18-20, 2009
Writing as Sacred Journey: A Women's Wilderness 'Trip'
at the Leaven CenterCO-SPONSORED BY THE WOMEN’S SPIRITUALITY PROJECT
Wilderness describes both the external wild beauty of nature and also the internal wild landscape of our hearts, minds and souls. The wilderness provides an opportunity to reconnect with who we are and who the Great Creator made us to be, and to remember the wonder of all of creation — including ourselves.
Participants will be asked to come to this experience simply, without all of the distractions that we put before ourselves. This “trip” is for women who long for opportunities to use writing as a way to engage Spirit in conversation and to explore our relationship with the Divine. No experience necessary ... just an open and willing heart! We will plumb our spiritual depths through writing exercises, time outdoors, Sacred Silence, campfires, sharing our sacred stories (by choice) and community time.
This event is for women.
Date: September 18-20, 2009
Time: Friday, 7:00 p.m. – Sunday, 2:00 p.m.
Cost: $190 ($75 deposit and $115 balance due)
Leaders: Karen Bota and Pauline Feltner
Karen Bota has worked as a journalist and in community relations for many years, and writes daily as part of her spiritual practice. She is devoted to writing not only as a communication tool but also as a means of self-understanding, personal growth and transformation. Karen is passionate about leading workshops that provide opportunities for all people --- but particularly those who are invisible and voiceless in the dominant culture --- to share their stories in their own voices, and to be seen and their voices heard. She is a co-founder of the Women's Spirituality Project, and on staff at the Leaven Center.
Pauline Feltner, a lively crone, has experience as an educator, administrator, personal growth counselor and massage therapist. For 40 years, she has pursued writing as an avenue of discovery and insight. In a recent poem Pauline says this:
We write our way to wholeness.
We write alone, we write in groups.
We write for ourselves.
We write for the world.
We write.
October 9-11 , 2009
Forgive for Good : The Way of Releasing Resentment
Are you on a justice journey? Do you seek to experience and offer healing of past and present wounds?
Join others seeking the spiritual freedom that only forgiveness can bring. In this dedicated space and time, attendees will explore the promise of creating forgiving lives so that we --- like leaven --- may experience and offer tranformation in this world. Such lives disrupt the impact of seemingly endless cycles of imperfection, personal trauma, family violence and social oppression. This approach to forgiveness holds together the necessity of honesty about pain's impact, the liberation of compassion's insights, and the mystery of our interdependent lives. The way of releasing resentment is the way of moving forward creatively to live full lives of peace, compassion and justice-making.
This retreat will offer opportunities to:
- Gain a new definition of forgiveness which is freshly empowering and practical
- Apply this definition experimentally and rigorously throughout the weekend
- Share stories of resilience and encouragement
- Experience meditation, journaling and other reflection exercises
- Design next steps which support and enhance well-being
This event is gender inclusive.
Leader: Jacki Belile
Time: Friday, 7:00 p.m.-Sunday, 1:00 p.m. (includes lunch)
Cost: $190 ($75 deposit + $115 balance due) Scholarships available.
Jacki Belile is an ordained American Baptist minister and certified empowerment coach. She is the founder of Living Well Ministries, which creates sacred space for transformation through spiritual life coaching, classes and retreats. Jacki has led classes and retreats on wellness, LGBTA spiritual journeys and forgiveness since 2002. Her local and long-distance coaching clients often focus on forgiveness in their work with her.
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