Covenant for a Common Order

04/18/2026

The happy Monks of the 45th annual retreat, 2026

04/07/2025

The Monks of the 44th annual retreat, at Blessings Lodge, Camp Overlook, Keezletown, VA.

02/22/2025

The 44th annual retreat of the Covenant for a Common Order will take place March 31, 2025 -- April 4, 2025 at Blessings Lodge, Camp Overlook, Keezletown, Virginia. The Reverend Doctor James Jeffrey Butcher, of Fluvanna's Lake Monticello and of James Monroe's Highland, will be the Abbot.

For more information, contact the Prior, the not very reverent but frequently doctored Brooke Willson.

02/25/2022

The Happy Monks of the 43rd Anniversary Retreat at Blessings Lodge, Camp Overlook, Keezletown, VA February 21 - 25, 2022

11/17/2020

The Forty-Second Annual Retreat of the Covenant for a Common Order, scheduled for February 8-12, 2021, has been postponed until 2022. Thank you, COVID-19.

If the world returns to health and sanity before then, we may have a shorter "catch-up" retreat sometime during 2021. In the meantime, pray for healing, for leadership, and for mercy.

08/31/2020

Sisters and brothers:

I write with sad news, via Brother Ambrose of Midlothian. John Lane, an Episcopal priest from Staunton, VA, who attended several of our retreats, died yesterday from lymphoma. John was a smart, wry, and delightful guy who was pastor of Trinity Episcopal Church for 20 years.

Blessed are those who die in the Lord.

I offer this recording of the Pie from John Rutter’s Requiem — my favorite.

Peace and health be with you all.

Brooke

"The Requiem by John Rutter is a musical setting of an adaptation of the Roman Catholic Requiem Mass, which Dr Rutter completed in 1985. The third movement (...

02/10/2020

Let it be written, let it be done. The elect for this year's 40th anniversary retreat are:

Tab "Lindsay Graham is my Senator" Brown
Jeff "Ask me all about James Monroe" Butcher
Larry "What Retirement?" Buxton
John “Where’s the Abbot?” Copenhaver
Bill "What’s a Methodist?" Davis
David "Carry me back to Old New Brunswick" Erickson
Bill "They’re making me an honorary Hokie" Finley
Jeanne "Hanging out with Noel Paul Stookey" Finley
Tom "Why did Butcher get me into this?" Frost
Tony "Luther loved beer, too" Forstall
Jim "Two championships!" Hewitt
Bill "Never say never" James
Ron "Tanker pilots rock!" Lanman
Harry "the bear" Spear
Sue "I look up to all of you" Tyykila
Roy "They’re not dummies!" White
Brooke "surgery of the month club" Willson

Amen, saith the Spirit.

01/25/2020

The following saints are guaranteed salvation by registration for this year’s gathering on the mountainside:

Hoffman “retirement, here I come!” Brown
J. Jeffrey “didn’t really send two checks after all” Butcher
Lawrence “Back in the saddle again” Buxton
John “Payday Lending” Copenhaver
William Ambrose “Mother Church” Davis
David “I’m only coming because New Brunswick is snowed in” Erickson
William “I wish I could stay for Charades” Finley
Jeanne “I wish I could leave Bill for Charades” Finley
Tony “leave me alone so I can paint” Forstall
Tom “how soon can I get back to Toledo” Frost
Brooke “It’s ok: I have another knee” Willson
Ron “Fill’er Up” Lanman
Roy “I love astronomy nerds” White
Jim “Who else misses 3 a.m. Vigils?” Hewitt
Bill “I’m just a boy who can’t say no” James

Don’t be Left Behind. It’s wouldn’t be Right. Registration eschaton is February 8.

12/07/2019

The Fortieth Anniversary Retreat of the Covenant for a Common Order will be held February 17-21, 2020 at Blessings Lodge, Camp Overlook, Keezletown, VA. The Reverend Doctor Handsome John D. Copenhaver will be our Abbot.

For information, contact the Abbot or Brooke Willson, Prior.

02/17/2019

The Lamb's Book of Life is closed for the 2019 retreat. The elect are:

Hoffman "Happy Feet" Brown
J. Jeffrey "Pickleball" Butcher
Larry "Where the Hell Is" Buxton
Ambrose "Chainsaw Massacre" Davis
David "Naked Snow Dancer" Erickson
Tony "Watercolor" Forstall
Tim "I'm the Rookie" Gerde
Jim "Single Malt" Hewitt
Bill "Harley Ferguson" James
Ron "Fill'er Up" Lanham
Joe "I So MIss the Cabinet" Savinsky
Harry "Scarface" Spear
Roy "Meet My New Puppet" White
Brooke "I'll be in the Shed" Willson

12/23/2018

The 40th Annual Gathering of the Covenant for a Common Order will begin Monday afternoon, February 25, at Blessings Lodge of Camp Overlook in suburban Keezletown, VA. The Reverend Doctor W. Ambrose Davis, Curate of Chesterfield, Monsignor of Midlothian, will lead us as our Abbot this year, focusing on the theme “Learning to Walk in the Dark,” after the book by Barbara Brown Taylor.

Anyone interested in learning more may contact the Prior of the Order, Brooke Willson.