To all our dear ministers, evangelists and church leaders, members and friends,

We are very excited to invite you to our second year of Embrace the Sabbath spiritual formation retreats. Come into the wild of Alaska and experience a true retreat where you can hear the whisper of God and stand in the presence of the Spirit. The Embrace the Sabbath retreats are designed to give our members and staff a proactive opportunity to practice and experience the “wellspring” of the ministry of Jesus. Our amazing team of evangelists, women’s ministry leaders, therapists, doctors, and church leaders have collaborated to bring many streams of thought into an experience that provides rest, refreshment, reimagination, and renewal!


Lasts year’s overwhelmingly positive response has prompted us to host four different weeks of retreats and open it up to both members and ministers.

  • Week 1 – May 5-12 Spiritual Formation and Spiritual Disciplines
  • Week 2 – May 13-20 Spiritual Formation and Spiritual Disciplines
  • Week 3 – September 5-12 Spiritual Formation and Spiritual Disciplines
  • Week 4 – September 16-23 Spiritual Formation for Church Leadership (any leadership position paid or volunteer)

Prior to the retreat, you will have the opportunity to meet with one of our Spiritual Directors who can help you prepare for your experience with God prior to your arrival at the camp. We have vetted and curated an incredible resource page for you to explore exciting spiritual disciplines such as:

  • Meditation
  • Solitude and silence
  • Mindfulness / self-acceptance
  • Lectio Divina
  • “Presencing”
  • Journaling
  • Communing with nature
  • Fasting
  • Spiritual reflection

You will also have support to explore grief, trauma, and recovery from compassion fatigue, and / or ministry burnout.

During your time you will practice the spiritual discipline(s) of your choice, and soak in the stunning beauty of God’s creation. This retreat is in response to our growing knowledge of self-care, pastoral care, and spiritual formation. Many ministers wait too long to tend to the God-given needs of their soul and suffer devastating effects of burnout and turn to longer sabbaticals to recover. Let’s reclaim our spiritual birthright and drink from the “Wellspring of Life” that God is calling us to!

We have limited availability to protect the integrity of each retreat week so please visit our registration page for more details: glccalaska.org or contact Shane Engel for more information at shane@glccalaska.org.

You are invited to this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to deepen your practice, refresh your soul and renew your spirit!

Sincerely,

The Silent Retreat Team
Robert Carrillo
Sajjan Sharma
Dr. Jennifer Konzen
Dr. Timothy Sumerlin
Michael Pope
Shelly Pope
Dr. Tracy Jones
Diana Steer
Joel Peed
Sara Engel
Shane Engel