Retreats » Spring 2009 Retreat

The At-Large and Friends Retreat team, led by John Keating and Elizabeth Malone and John and Gevene Hertz, warmly invite you to join us at the Sol Cress Center on the hillside above the beautiful town of Spa, Belgium, one of our favorite retreat sites.

                        CLICK HERE TO REGISTER - DEADLINE EXTENDED TO MARCH 12th !!!!

Speaker 

Our speaker, the Rev. Brian Kiely, is the current President of ICUU, the International Council of Unitarians and Universalists. Ordained in 1988, he has served as the Minister of the Unitarian Church of Edmonton, Alberta, since 1997. Before that he was the founding minister of a congregation in Surrey, British Columbia. Brian has served on the Board of the Canadian Unitarian Council and was CUC President from 2004-2006. Formerly a journalist and photographer, he is a past Editor of "The Canadian Unitarian". Brian is happily married to Teilya and is the proud father of two little girls. In his spare time he enjoys cooking, golf and Canadian football.

Saturday theme talk: 

Saturday workshop:

Brian plans to offer a workshop on the topic "Spirit of Life" - young people are most welcome to attend this.

Sunday service: 

Brian's sermon is titled "Across the Divide: Humanism and Spirituality in UUism".

What Happens at a Retreat?

EUU retreats offer something for all ages. People begin arriving late Friday afternoon, but the first event is dinner that evening. After this, an evening activity helps everyone get to know one another. The theme talk takes place on Saturday morning, and after lunch there is a choice of various workshops and other activities. Saturday evening generally includes a youth presentation and will be followed by a cabaret-theme talent show. On Sunday morning, there is a worship service. The retreat ends in the early afternoon after lunch.

The entire weekend is filled with activities but also opportunities to relax, meet fellow Unitarians from all over Europe, and generally have a good time. EUU retreats have been described as family reunions where newcomers feel at home right from the beginning.

Where?

The retreat will take place at the Sol Cress Conference Center, Spaloumont 5, B-4900 Spa Belgium, +32(0)87 77 23 53, http://www.solcress.be/.

Spa has been known since Roman times for its healing waters. Since the 16th century it has been world-famous as a resort town for "taking the waters." Fountains of various springs are found throughout the town and we will have bottles of Spa water on the tables at Sol Cress.

EUU has hosted many retreats at Sol Cress and we are excited about returning to this lovely site in the Ardennes forest with its views and hiking trails. Playground equipment behind the main building entertains the little ones, and a soccer field, pool table and ping pong table occupy the bigger kids. The bar, which is open from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. with billiard, video games, and board games, welcomes you in its dining area or its living room with open fireplace.

There are many tourist attractions and recreation areas near Sol Cress. You can arrange to stay another night at Sol Cress by contacting directly our English­-speaking liaison at Sol Cress, Nancy Vertommen (+32(0)87 77 23 53; n.vertommen@solcress.be). Mention that you are participating in the EUU weekend.

The modern spa complex ("Les Thermes") is a stone's throw from Sol Cress. Their pools (Les Bains) are open to the public daily (17 Euros for 3 hours, 27 Euros for full day) and you must bring your bathing suit and two bath towels. For spa health or beauty treatments (Soins), reservations are required. All information is available at http://www.thermesdespa.com/.

How do we get to Spa?

Located in the French-speaking province of Liège, Spa is situated in a romantic valley, some 35 km (22 miles) southeast of the city of Liège, and 45 km (28 miles) southwest of Aachen. There is plenty of parking space at the site, which is located up the hill from the town center.

You can come to Spa by train either via Brussels or via Liège. Two websites for trains are: www.thalys.com/fr/en and www.b-rail.be/main/E (both come up in English). We will arrange for rides to Sol Cress from the Spa station.

Youth Programs

Our UU children and teens are an integral and very important part of the retreat. Youth activities are scheduled to coincide with adult activities so that parents can participate fully while their youngsters are having a great time. Contact Michelle Poiani at c130cnd@hotmail.com. for details of the program or if you wish to help out.

Child care will be provided for children under 3 and is coordinated separately from the Youth Programs.

Music

Enjoy a variety of musical opportunities, both listening and participation, throughout the weekend. We are fortunate that many of our members and friends are talented musicians. Please bring an instrument if you play one, and volunteer to perform at the Saturday cabaret talent night. All are welcome to join the EUU choir which will sing at the Sunday service. In the evenings after the official program, we gather informally to listen to and sing along with music until the wee hours of the morning!

Workshops

If you would like to offer a workshop on Saturday afternoon, indicate it on your registration and you will be contacted. Workshops in the past have been quite varied, including such topics as journal writing, yoga, UU or local history, poetry, fellowship building, and spiritual practices.  One of the workshops will probably be a walk in the forest with a local guide. 

EUU Annual General Meeting

At the spring retreat, we always have our Annual General Meeting where new officers are nominated and elected and the business of EUU is discussed. While all are invited to attend, only members may vote.

Registration

The deadline for registering has been extended to Thursday, March 12th! If you register after that, we would still like to see you at the retreat, and we will try to give you a room if we can arrange it with Sol Cress, but room choices will be limited, and you will also have to pay an additional €15 late fee per adult. We strongly encourage you to register as early as possible. Click the link at the top of this page to register.

Paper invitations: To keep the budget under control, invitations will be sent by email wherever possible, but we will send a paper invitation to people without email. If you do not have email or your account is not functioning well, please contact John or Gevene Hertz (+45 4589 4184) for a paper invitation. 

Rooms: Most people will stay in 2-bed rooms, with private or shared bath. The number of single rooms is limited - be sure to register early if you want to reserve one of these.

It is also possible to have more than 2 people in most rooms (though it can be a tight fit). If, for example, you are a family of 3 and all stay in the same room, there is an extra discount for the third person. This can make the price for a child (already quite low) even lower. Three people who want to share a room must all register together. Please register as if all three will share a 2-bed room. Then, in the space for additional information in Step 3, give the details about which people are sharing a room. You will receive a second confirmation email from Tina Huesing, the registrar, stating the total cost for the three people sharing a room (the online registration cannot handle this calculation, so your first email confirmation will have an incorrect total).

Prices for the weekend include your room for Friday and Saturday nights, all meals from Friday evening through Sunday lunch, and coffee breaks. EUU members (adult and young adult) receive a €10 discount. Note the really low prices for children! There is no charge for infants under the age of 2.

PRICE TABLE

For questions contact the retreat committee at EUU Retreat Committee

Social Action and English Book Exchange

• We continue to collect used eyeglasses and cases for Burkina Faso, and used corks and used postage stamps for charities in Germany.
• We'll have the usual used book exchange at the retreat. Bring those books that are just taking up space on your shelves - crime novels are always popular! Make a small cash contribution for each book you take - we will donate the money to a worthy cause.

EUU Retreat Grants

EUU strongly believes that no one should miss a retreat because of a lack of funds, so we have a grant fund. If you can contribute to this fund, please include your contribution when you register for the retreat. To apply for grant assistance, simply write to EUU Treasurer Peter Jarrett at peter@jarrett-net.com or (+33) 01 30 82 02 80 stating the reasons for your request. All grant applications are handled confidentially.

Questions?

• Send them to: euu_retreatcommittee@europeanuu.eu 

We really hope to see you in Spa. It's going to be a great weekend!
The registration deadline has been extended to March 12th!!!