About The Leaven Center
In March 2000, The Leaven Center was opened as a retreat and study
center for people engaged in movements for social change. The Leaven
Center is a place of beauty where you can find rest and nourishment
for your body and spirit. It is also a context for bold and innovative
programming that addresses significant issues of our day. The Leaven
Center was born of the conviction that the spiritual life cannot be
divorced from an active concern for the world, and that those who
work for justice need resources for spiritual renewal and vitality.
Located near Lyons, Michigan, the Center welcomes people of all races,
ethnicities, abilities, sexual orientations, and faith traditions
who seek to deepen their commitment to social transformation. The
Leaven Center offers approximately 24 workshops, retreats, and seminars
each year, facilitated by outstanding leaders from different communities
in the United States, Canada, and other countries. In all that is
offered, The Leaven Center is committed to nurturing multiracial,
multicultural, and multifaith communities.
The land at The Leaven Center has a special magic that makes it ideally
suited for individual and group retreats. Meditative walking paths
wind through meadows, woods, and alongside the Grand River. There
is a spring-fed stream, and river frontage.
As you explore the land, you may see white-tailed deer or wild turkey
or hear a flock of geese overhead or ducks heading for the pond. If
you are very fortunate, you may even catch a glimpse of the great
blue heron or a bald eagle as she rises on her majestic wings.
Goals and Visions
It is our goal that a variety of different communities may come to
experience The Leaven Center as “holy ground;” a sacred
place where individuals may gather with others who share experiences
of oppression and liberation.
Alongside this goal is another: that The Leaven Center offer programs and contexts that bring together diverse communities for difficult conversations, community-building, cross-fertilization, and the creation or deepening of coalitions and alliances.
Leaven is committed to nurturing the relationship between spirituality and social justice. We offer education, resources, and hospitality for all who seek to be leavening agents for change -- resisting oppression, engendering hope. The nature of Leaven programs is guided by our commitment to racial, sexual, and economic justice; feminism; the rights of people with disabilities; and respect for the wisdom of varying religious and spiritual traditions.
The Leaven Center is also available for rental by non-profit and
justice-serving organizations that wish to do their own programming.
We consider it to be a part of our mission to provide a context in
which such groups can further their own work and pursue their vision
in a conducive and supportive setting.
Leaven is committed to making its facilities and programs physically
accessible. The main floors and meeting spaces in both the Lodge and
the Guest House are barrier free, and part of the land has been opened up through our Accessible Trails project, which makes the beauty of the land more accessible to all.
It is also our goal that Leaven events be financially accessible.
We strive to provide quality programming at a cost that is accessible
to people with a range of incomes. To date, approximately 30% of our
participants have received partial or full scholarships. We believe
that everyone is entitled to the spiritual and educational nurture
that Leaven programs provide; that such nurture should not be the
sole prerogative of the economically privileged. Too often, those
who most urgently need the rest, renewal, and community that a retreat
and study center can offer are unable to avail themselves of these
things because the cost is prohibitive. Therefore, we are committed
to doing what we can to make Leaven events accessible to everyone
who desires to participate.
Work days and other volunteer opportunities
Throughout the year, Leaven volunteers donate their time, energy,
creativity, and skills in a wide variety of ways — planting trees,
doing repairs, refinishing benches, clearing trails, creating a labyrinth,
cooking for retreats, offering legal and accounting advice, pruning
the orchard, refinishing furniture, mowing, weeding the garden and
flower beds, collating, folding, and taping Leaven Notes. In
May 2001, two volunteers traveled from The Netherlands to design a
meditative circle in the far corner of the Lodge lawn, and painstakingly
laid each brick in the pathway. Their three-week volunteer project
was meticulously engineered to the amazement of the Leaven Center
staff. Another volunteer spent three weeks at The Leaven Center while
on sabbatical from her job. Her volunteer activities ranged from clearing
trails to pruning trees to consulting on event publicity.
About the Co-Founder
Melanie Morrison is an ordained United Church of Christ minister
and has served three congregations. In addition to her work with Leaven,
she is adjunct faculty at Chicago Theological Seminary. She has been
active in grass roots ecumenical movements committed to racial justice
and peacemaking. She is author of three books including The Grace
of Coming Home: Spirituality, Sexuality, and the Struggle for Justice,
published by The Pilgrim Press.
Leaven is a non-profit organization committed to nurturing the relationship
between spirituality and social justice. Since its founding in 1987
by Eleanor S. Morrison and Melanie Morrison, the Leaven staff has
worked with thousands of people in a variety of settings throughout
the United States and Canada.
Leaven
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