“Courage” Theme of Annual Anglican Men’s Retreat
As many as 300 Anglican men from around the nation are expected to gather in mid-May in California for a spirit-filled retreat rich in world-class teaching, led by the dynamic Henry Luke Orombi, Archbishop of the Anglican Church of Uganda. The weekend, set for May 16–18, is being planned and convened again this year by the Men’s Commission of St. James Anglican Church, Newport Beach, California. St. James is a member of the Network’s International Conference.
The retreat setting is the famed Forest Home Christian Conference Center in Southern California. Organizers say the retreat program will give participants the “feel of solidarity among Anglican men for the journey ahead” in leading the orthodox movement in North America. John McLaughlin, the Men’s Weekend chairman, says the retreat seeks to fill men with the “courage to weather the storm” that swirls around the movement for orthodoxy.” He emphasized the pan-Anglican nature of the retreat, which attracts members from a variety of anglican Common Cause groups within the United States.
Presenters for the retreat, in addition to the Ugandan Primate, will be the Rt. Rev. John A. M. Guernsey, Bishop for Congregations in America, The Anglican Province of Uganda, The Rt. Rev. David C. Anderson, Bishop, Convocation of Anglicans in North America, and Rt. Rev. Robinson Cavalcanti, Bishop, Diocese of Recife, Province of the Southern Cone. Planners say the retreat affords a rare opportunity for participants to share personal time “with leaders of such quality.”
McLaughlin says the weekend will be filled with “great teaching,” participation in small group discussions, liturgical and sacramental services, confession, prayer teams and informal activities. Fr. Richard Menees, a retreat planner, underscores the weekend’s international touch, not only through attendance and teachings by Bishops Orombi and Cavalcanti, but also by the presence and participation of five Ugandan churchman expected to accompany Archbishop Orombi for the event.
That the retreat occurs so close to Pentecost “was not an accident,” Menees points out. To those present at Pentecost, as described in Acts 2, “tongues of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit.” McLaughlin says the weekend is all about “encouragement, hearing the truth, and feeling the Spirit of God moving these men. That,” he beams, “is what it is all about.”
Fr. Menees also indicated that there is a scholarship program available to assist any man who wishes to attend, but who may face financial challenges. “We don’t want anyone,” he stated, “to stay away because they may not be able to afford to come.”
The annual Men’s Retreat began some years ago as an event for the St. James Parish. For the past three years, however, the retreat has broadened to include orthodox Anglican men wherever they are. The aim is to help establish wider connectivity and solidarity within the entire Common Cause membership, as noted earlier, “to help weather the storms ahead.”
For Retreat Information, contact Registrar Jim Carlson or Chairman John McLaughlin, or download the brochure [PDF].