Come reflect on Interfaith Spirituality in our Emerging Culture.  Pray for and learn about our sisters and brothers of different faiths.   Prepare for the Prince of Peace this Advent by focusing on world peace and visiting the World Peace Village.  Remember to bring your checkbook for the book table.  This year's Advent Retreat will feel familiar and be different at the same time!  Emmanuel, God with us, is a God of Peace.

This annual silent retreat will begin with dinner at 6 pm on Sunday evening, December 6 and concludes with lunch at noon on Wednesday, December 9 at the Waycross Conference Center.  The cost of the per person single occupancy cost of the retreat is $90 at the Conference Center and $80 at the Sleeping Wing or Main House.  Additional discounts are available by sharing a room.  Registrations are due by November 19.  Those who cancel a room after November 19 will be charged for their room.  The total cost for our speaker and a portion of your room cost is underwritten by the Commission on Education/Leadership Development. 

The Rev. Dr. Sheryl A. Kujawa-Holbrook, Professor of Religious Education of Claremont School of Theology, will lead our 2009 Advent Clergy Retreat. Kujawa-Holbrook, who is an Episcopal priest, recently completed her term as Academic Dean of the Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Mass., where she also served as professor of feminist pastoral theology and church history.

Kujawa-Holbrook is author, co-author, or editor of twelve books, handbooks and training manuals, including Seeing God in Each Other (2006) and A House of Prayer For All Peoples: Congregations Building Multiracial Community (2003). A new book entitled God Beyond Borders: Congregations Building Interfaith Community will be published by The Alban Institute in 2010. She also has over 40 published articles and nearly 50 book reviews on issues related to religious education, multiculturalism, inter-religious dialogue, youth, and pastoral theology.

Kujawa-Holbrook holds the Ed.D. from Columbia University Teachers College and Union Theological Seminary in the area of Religion and Education. She also received the Ph.D. in American Religious and Social History from Boston College. Additionally, she holds degrees from Marquette University, Sarah Lawrence College, Episcopal Divinity School and Harvard Divinity School.

Kujawa-Holbrook has a long history with the Episcopal Church at the parish, diocesan and national levels. She has served several local congregations in pastoral roles as well as held leadership positions in Episcopal ministries related to youth and young adults. She is also a popular speaker and workshop leader on issues related to multiculturalism, anti-racism, and inter-religious dialogue.