Center for Clergy Renewal

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Center for Clergy Renewal

Offering pastors renewal through contemplative practice at Holy Wisdom Monastery.

09/07/2026

Let everything that breathes under the sun,
Let the voices of our ancestors of old,
Let worlds unknown, within and beyond,
All on this glad day give you praise.
- Jim Cottter, Out of the Silence

Pause. Notice your breath. Take a moment to honor the movement of air into and out of your own body. Then take a moment to notice movement in creation that surrounds you: the flight of a bird, the ripple of the wind on leaves, the breath of another creature. Use your voice to join those who have gone before in giving thanks for what is, for the creation that surrounds you, for the beauty of the world.

09/03/2026

I’ll never forget someone on the retreat telling me that ‘when I go out into the prairie, remember you are outnumbered.’ That has brought me such a perspective on my life. I often think of that as I head out the door for a walk, or to run errands…anything I do as I head out into the world…I am already outnumbered by beautiful forms of life that speak of the very presence of God. I can never wander away from the life of God or from the communion of saints: both those people who have gone before me and those grasshoppers, birds and other creatures of our planet. I am reminded that I am never alone, always surrounded by the presence, always outnumbered, always enveloped in God’s love. - Episcopal Priest from MN

In a world with many needs, clergy are invited to come and immerse themselves in the reminder that we are surrounded by God's love in many forms. To learn more: https://holywisdommonastery.org/ccr

08/31/2026

“There is an ancient conversation going on between mosses and rocks, poetry to be sure. About light and shadow and the drift of continents. This is what has been called the 'dialect of moss on stone - an interface of immensity and minuteness, of past and present, softness and hardness, stillness and vibrancy, yin and yan.'”
― Robin Wall Kimmerer, Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses

Where do you sense the balance of an ancient conversation in your life? Where does the minuteness of today's work remind you of your place within the great scope of creation? Take a moment today to pause and observe something small and important, moss upon a stone, one flower in a vibrant garden, the gift of a single cherry tomato. Give thanks for the ways in which balance is found through the small, the soft, the stillness; as well as the big and showy, powerful work that commands our attention.

08/24/2026

There is no less holiness at this time- as you are reading this- than there was on the day the Red Sea parted, or that day in the 30th year, in the 4th month, on the 5th day of the month as Ezekiel was a captive by the river Cheban, when the heavens opened and he saw visions of God. There is no whit less enlightenment under the tree at the end of your street than there was under Buddha’s bo tree…. In any instant the sacred may wipe you with its finger. In any instant the bush may flare, your feet may rise, or you may see a bunch of souls in trees.”
― Annie Dillard, For the Time Being: Essays

Jesus tells us that we only need eyes to see and ears to hear the sacredness of God that is pulsing in the world all around us. Set an intention to see, to hear, to attune your heart to the Holy One breaking into your life, touching you with a finger, today.

08/17/2026

What I Have Learned So Far by Mary Oliver

Meditation is old and honorable, so why should I
not sit, every morning of my life, on the hillside,
looking into the shining world? Because, properly
attended to, delight, as well as havoc, is suggestion.
Can one be passionate about the just, the
ideal, the sublime, and the holy, and yet commit
to no labor in its cause? I don't think so.

All summations have a beginning, all effect has a
story, all kindness begins with the sown seed.
Thought buds toward radiance...

Shake off your sense of urgency for a moment and find a place to be still and look into the shining world. How does the world’s beauty cultivate in you a seed of passion for what is just, ideal, sublime, and holy? As you move through your day, notice what kindness begins from the stillness of your morning sowing. Notice what inside of you buds towards radiance.

08/10/2026

The temple bell stops--
but the sound keeps coming
out of the flowers.
- Matsuo Basho (1644-94)

When people come to work on the prairie at Holy Wisdom, they often notice time being marked by the sound of the monastery bells ringing out over the land. In the ringing, they are reminded that their work is hallowed. In the ringing, they sense the prayers of the monastery praying inside the flowers and inside of them. What simple task might you enter today as a prayer? Where does the sound of the bells ring over you and hallow what you hold in your hands?

08/07/2026

The prairie is steady, yet always changing. The community of the Sisters and rhythm of prayer is steady, yet always changing. Clergy keep returning to Holy Wisdom Monastery as cohorts, or individuals, to be held by the steady rhythm of prayer and the deep roots of the prairie. Here they are reminded of the steady love of God in all seasons and find sustaining strength in their work to proclaim God's love in our hurting world.

08/03/2026

It occurs to me more and more that everything I have seen is wholly gratuitous...an extravagance of minutiae. That there are so many details seems to be the most important and visible fact about creation.
Annie Dillard – Pilgrim at Tinker Creek

Our days are full of details on computer screens that we manage and sort and check off lists in a race against time. But the details of the natural world, like the precise geometry of the leaves of this woodland plant and its seeds hanging like tiny ornaments, call us out of time and into a slow delight at the gratuitous extravagance built into every living thing. You, too, are a part of this extravagance. Take a moment to turn away from your lists to look deeply at even one detail that makes up you and delight in your place within the finely woven beauty of God’s grace.

07/27/2026

The tree is my eternal salvation.
It is my nourishment and my banquet.
Admist its roots, I cast my own roots deep.
Beneath its bough I grow.
I flower with its fruits.
Its fruits bring perfect joy.
If I stumble this is my staff.
This is Jacob’s ladder, where angels go up and down,
And where the Lord himself stands at the top.
- John Chrysostom

Find time to rest beneath a tree today. It may only be for a few minutes. As you rest in the shade, picture the roots that reach out beneath you, the strength that you cannot see, yet you know holds this tree upright through storms and provides sustaining nourishment. Where are your own roots reaching out today? Where do you find strength and nourishment? How does God sustain you in ways you cannot see, but know are there? Give thanks for the tree and the wisdom it holds.

Photo credit: Kristin Rice

07/22/2026

Today we welcome back Cohort 2! This community began their walk together in July 2021 and continues to gather every 18 months at Holy Wisdom Monastery. As noted by one member after the last Cohort 2 Reunion in February 2025: "It is good to continue to develop deep friendships with this group. I appreciate our ecumenism, openness to one another, and grounding in contemplation alongside much laughter!"

Address

4200 County Road M
Middleton, WI
53562

Telephone

+16088361631

Website

https://holywisdommonastery.org/eccsr/

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