Fall Coursess

October 8-11, 2010

Associates Thanksgiving Work/Study Weekend
The Sockeye Circle of Life: The Eternal Return
with Derek Ellis

The Associates’ Thanksgiving Work/Study Weekend is one of the highlights of the year at Sorrento Centre.

This is a time when Associates of the Centre gather to work, pray and celebrate life together as we ready the Centre for winter. There is plenty of fun and work for children and families too, including the chance to enjoy our traditional pig roast. The study portion of the weekend takes the form of short morning and evening sessions. This year’s study section will be led by Derek Ellis.

Derek will lead a course that illuminates the wonders of the annual Adams River salmon run, one of the largest fish migrations in the world. There will be optional field trips to Roderick Haig Brown Park on the north shore of Shuswap Lake and talks, video presentations and discussions on the ecology of the salmon run and on our Christian duty as stewards of the natural world to protect it. Together we will examine the amazing phenomenon of the salmon migration and look at the deeper meanings of natural cycles in our own spiritual journeys.

Derek Ellis was a professor in the Biology Department, University of Victoria, from 1964-1996, and is now Professor Emeritus. He graduated with a BSc from Edinburgh University, Scotland in 1951, and an Honours Degree in Zoology in 1952. He obtained an MSc degree from McGill University in 1954, and a PhD from McGill in 1957.

Course Fee: By Donation

For more information on becoming an Associate please click here.

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November 11-14, 2010

Autumn Prayer: A Contemplative Retreat
with Wendy Eyre-Gray

Autumn is a season of beauty and loss, harvest and fallow, emptying and waiting: It is a time that reflects the hope-filled spiritual journey with God.

This retreat time will include reflections on the spiritual journey from Wendy Eyre-Gray and will involve practice in centering prayer, Lectio Divina and contemplative worship. Silence and solitude will be an important and blessed part of this retreat. Afternoons will be a time to experience various prayer forms, including Sorrento Centre’s beautiful outdoor labyrinth and lake-side trails. Wendy invites you to “come, be still, rest... and know love.”

Wendy Eyre-Gray serves as priest for the parish of St. John, Squamish. Her background as a parent, early childhood educator, family systems counselor, spiritual director, enneagram teacher and conference leader has prepared her to offer contemplative retreats and workshops to churches and dioceses for almost twenty years. Wendy founded and directed Dayspring House of Prayer and Retreat on the Sunshine Coast, and continues to teach and facilitate retreats for Contemplative Outreach Greater Vancouver.

Course fee: $350 (includes course, meals and accommodation)

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