Reflections on the 21st Century Discernment Retreat

by Karen Marsh, Executive Director of Theological Horizons

Collegiate ministers? We’re the grownups in every room. We serve searching, struggling, hopeful young adults. We’re the godly guides, the spiritual pros, the energetic recruiters, the responsible planners, the trustworthy counselors, the knowledgeable teachers. College students expect us to deliver solid theological instruction and reliable counsel. And so we do a whole lot of speaking in the name
of Christ.

Well into my third decade of ministry, I arrived at the 21 st Century Collegiate Ministry Discernment Retreat feeling awfully tired of talking. Tired of fretting over the future of Christian faith in America, over the broken world. Over the prospects of my own ministry. I’ve wondered: how will Theological Horizons, a small outfit at the University of Virginia, address the wounding conflicts and deepening questions of our current moment? What more, in the end, is there to say?

Rimes, Kathryn and Nathan met us, collegiate ministers all, not as experts with ready solutions but as friends with complex stories. We’d been brought together to discern the movement of God across the landscape of collegiate ministry. To pay attention. Even to be silent. What a relief!

As it turns out, we did a whole lot of talking during our days together. Between wonderful meals, worship and sabbatical hours, the retreat facilitators led us into a new way of speaking: a speaking rooted in deep, responsive listening. We observed touchstones of healing conversations, returning always to our wonder, wisdom and wit’s end.

My peers at the retreat offered uncommon kindness to one another. Because of their willingness to receive each person’s contributions and to freely offer their own insights, our work felt, well, not “productive” in the usual way, but fruitful in the
most meaningful way.

I am grateful to Kathryn, Rimes and Nathan for teaching innovative methods and modeling fresh vocabulary. What I gained at the discernment retreat has already served me well upon my return to Charlottesville.

As all the world knows, our University and our city has been torn apart by violence rooted in race. After August 11 and 12, in the wake of white supremacists, tiki torches and Nazi slogans, we are left to hash out very painful exchanges around race, privilege, guilt. Even within Christian circles there is conflict. As recently as this morning, a close ministry colleague was called out by another pastor, condemned for “sitting on the sidelines” and failing to fight the good fight.

Hurt. Anger. Right. Wrong. Guilt. Innocence. Allies. Enemies. Where will the healing begin? As collegiate ministers, we are called not so much speak words of expertise and authority as to embody God’s authentic presence and patience. I recall Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s witness when he said, “What is bothering me incessantly is the question what Christianity really is, or indeed who Christ really is, for us today. The time when people could be told everything by means of words, whether theological or pious, is over is over.” I am truly grateful for all who made possible the 21 st Century Collegiate Ministry Discernment Retreat-- -for showing me a new path into ministry, a path beyond words.