Events & Retreats – 1.31.24

Thriving through Change: Strategies for Grace-Filled Transitions

Our personal lives and our society are going through many changes these days, and the changes seem to occur more rapidly than ever. What is change about, and how can I or could I respond?

In her workshop, Thriving through Change: Strategies for Grace-Filled Transitions, Sister Janet Schaeffler, OP, explores deeper elements of change and shares practical hints that help to survive, thrive, and even flourish amid changes. The workshop is from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Thursday, February 15, 2024, at Weber Retreat and Conference Center.

A Dominican Sister of Adrian, Sister Janet is a writer and speaker who leads days of reflection, retreats, parish missions, and workshops. She is a former Director of Adult Faith Formation for the Archdiocese of Detroit. 

The cost for the workshop is $45, which includes lunch. Registration is required and is available at www.webercenter.org; click “programs.” Registrations may also be made by calling 517-266-4000 or emailing webercenter@adriandominicans.org. Limited scholarships are available.

Weber Center is on the campus of the Adrian Dominican Sisters Motherhouse, Adrian, Michigan. Traveling east on Siena Heights Drive, pass the Adrian Rea Literacy Center and turn left just before the solar panel-covered parking lot. Follow the signs to Weber Center. For information, call the Weber Center at 517-266-4000.

Natural Dreamwork Workshop for Spiritual Guides

Dreams can reveal much about ourselves and our lives. Seekers sometimes bring dreams to their spiritual guidance sessions to help make meaning of their dreams.

This day introduces spiritual guides to the process of Natural Dreamwork which can be used to work with dreams in a spiritual guidance session. In this experiential program, participants will have the opportunity to work with a dream of their own and time for group sharing and questions.  Facilitator: Julie Filipic.


Saturday, February 3, 2024
10:00am – 3:00pm
Cost: $75 (includes the noon meal)

Natural Dreamwork Workshop: A Retreat for Spiritual Guides | Siena Retreat Center

The Way of Jesus and Justice

What does loving our neighbor mean in our day? This five-week series led by author and ethicist Dr. Reggie Williams will articulate the connection between the way of Jesus and justice. The series encourages participants to live faithfully into the commandment to love our neighbor as ourselves.  The construct of race has harmed our understanding of ourselves, of Christ, and of Christian Community.  The fuller understanding of Christ leads Christians to address these problems by engaging in social justice as the way of Jesus. To illustrate this, Dr. Williams will teach about several key figures.  This first session will focus on Harriet Tubman.  Facilitator: Dr. Reggie Williams.

Join us for the whole series or as many sessions as your schedule allows.

Thursday, February 8, 2024
6:30pm – 8:00pm
Cost: $20 per session  This is a virtual retreat offered via Zoom. 

Thursday, February 22, 2024
Ida B. Wells-Barnett, journalist and social reformer

Thursday, February 29, 2024
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, pastor and anti-Nazi dissident

Thursday, March 7, 2024
Howard Thurman, theologian and mystic

Thursday, March 14, 2024

Martin Luther King, Jr., minister and activist

The Way of Jesus and Justice – Session One | Siena Retreat Center

A Spirituality of Kinship and Repair: Healing Land, Healing Colonialism

In the work of justice and anti-racism, non-Native settlers are called to do our own work—
to learn real history, seek within our spiritual tradition and grapple with what repair of harm
looks like. This retreat will be marked by a journey into Christian spirituality and story, Indigenous history of this land and ecological connection. Through presentation, discussion and quiet reflection we will delve into what a spirituality marked by repair and kinship could look like in this crucial planetary moment. Facilitator: Eric Anglada

Friday, February 9, to Saturday, February 10, 2024
The retreat begins on Friday at 6:30pm and concludes on Saturday at 4:00pm.
Cost: $225 (includes overnight accommodations and Saturday meals)

A Spirituality of Kinship and Repair: Healing Land, Healing Colonialism | Siena Retreat Center

Lenten Contemplation: To See as Jesus Did

Lent is a special period to contemplate the living mystery of Jesus: his mystical attunement and groundedness in the Holy; his deep oneness with Earth; his prophetic response to the misuses of power; and his active care for the ostracized and oppressed. The Christ rises in us, alive in our faith and active hope. Let us carry Jesus’ light as voice and healing in our conflicted world. Facilitator: Miriam Brown, OP.

Wednesday, February 21, 2024
9:30am – 3:00pm
Cost: $75 (includes noon meal)

Lenten Contemplation: To See as Jesus Did | Siena Retreat Center

Discerning Your Call and Gifts

We find meaning in our life when we engage in service to something greater than ourselves. Each of us has a particular set of gifts, passions, and vision that bring us alive when we engage them. In this retreat we will explore the marks of a calling, identify our gifts, name barriers to pursuing our call, and spend time in silence to discern God’s call on our lives in this present moment.  Facilitator: Vicky Curtiss.

Friday, March 1, to Sunday, 3, 2024
This retreat begins at 7:00 pm Friday and concludes Sunday 1:00 p.m.
Cost: $345 (includes overnight accommodations and meals)

Discerning Our Call and Gifts | Siena Retreat Center

Single Catholic Women Invited to ‘Zoom and See’ Life as a Sister

Are you beginning this new year with the burning question of the direction that God is calling you to take in your life? If you’re a single Catholic woman ages 19 to 45, we invite you to explore that question at our Zoom and See Retreat February 16-18, 2024, from the comfort of your own home.

The Zoom and See Retreat is a directed opportunity to meet other women who are discerning God’s call, and to pray, reflect, share, and have fun as you learn about the life of a Sister and the Dominican life.

There is no cost for you to attend. Register at https://tinyurl.com/ADSDiscern. For more information, contact Sister Katherine Frazier, OP, at kfrazier@adriandominicans.org or call or text 260-229-3045.

Explore Abrahamic Religions, During Educational Series at Weber Center

Start the new year by exploring the history and evolution of religion, from Judaism to Christianity and to Islam. Abrahamic Religions: The People of the Book, is offered in person and via live stream from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Thursdays, February 22 and 29 and March 7 and 14 at Weber Retreat and Conference Center.

Sister Susan Van Baalen, OP, is grateful for the opportunity to share her gifts of study and teaching with those who are interested in understanding the oneness of world religions. A teacher at all levels, from elementary school to graduate school, she holds advanced degrees in theology and ministry.

The cost is $35 for the series or $10 for each session. Registration is required and is available at www.webercenter.org; click on “programs.” Registrations may also be made by calling 517-266-4000 or emailing webercenter@adriandominicans.org. Limited scholarships are available.

Weber Center is on the campus of the Adrian Dominican Sisters Motherhouse, Adrian, Michigan. Traveling east on Siena Heights Drive, pass the Adrian Rea Literacy Center and turn left just before the solar panel-covered parking lot. Follow the signs to Weber Center. For information, call the Weber Center at 517-266-4000.