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See story and photo at: http://www.pcusa.org/pcnews/2006/06311.htm
Spiritual oasis
Ghost Ranch opens 'Casa del Sol' retreat center
by Toya Richards Hill
LOUISVILLE * Ghost Ranch Conference Center (http://www.ghostranch.org/) has opened a new spirituality and retreat center in an effort to go even further as it helps people find meaning for their lives.
The former Ghost Ranch director's house has been renovated and transformed into Casa del Sol, a seven-bedroom, four-bathroom center designed for individual or group retreats. The facility was officially opened May 1-3.
"People are searching for spiritual meaning that is not necessarily in the same formation as the church as we know it," said Jim Baird, director of programs at Ghost Ranch, the New Mexico-based education and retreat center of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
Casa del Sol (Home of the Sun) is a "quiet" space where the "views are magnificent" and "the stars are just unbelievable" * the perfect place where a spiritual search can take place, he said. And ultimately, it's where "a whole spiritual community" might develop, Baird added.
Located about two miles from Ghost Ranch's main campus in Abiquiu, Casa del Sol is a hacienda-style structure where individuals can go for guided or unguided retreats in the high desert. The space also is available for small groups.
Visitors can take advantage of a seminar held by Casa del Sol's resident companion/theologian, the Rev. J. Philip Newell, or develop their own plan for using the contemplative space, which includes a large living room, dining room and fully equipped kitchen.
"This is definitely a work in progress," Baird said of how the space will be used. "We have all sorts of plans."
Already scheduled is a program with Newell called "Keeping Sabbath and Holding Conversations with Philip Newell: A Personal Retreat," scheduled for July 3-9, 10-16, 17-23 and 24-30.
Converting the adobe home into a retreat center has been planned at Ghost Ranch for a number of years. A major donation in 2005 from Rob and Lyn Houck of Houston, TX, made renovating the space possible.
A first attempt at utilizing Casa del Sol was made in the mid 1990s, but the retreat center had to be closed after "the entire west wall started sinking back into the sand." Baird said.
"For the last eight or nine years we have had just the east wing where there were bedrooms," which were used for volunteer housing, he said.
Yet "we never forgot" the retreat center plan, and "we made that a part of our long-range dream," Baird said. The cost to renovate the structure was about $190,000.
"Support of spiritual life," broadly inclusive of inward reflection and peace and justice as a spiritual discipline, was one of the top five priorities that emerged from the long-range planning process that occurred between 2000 and 2002, said the Rev. Rob Craig, Ghost Ranch executive director.
That planning effort "made the pursuit of this particular facility that much easier," he said.
"There are a lot of people who desire a chance to be contemplative," Craig said, "and to be in a remote setting that allows them to be even more available to God."
For more information on classes or the use of Casa del Sol, call Sharon Craig at (505) 685-4333, ext. 179. You may also email her at sharonc@ghostr anch.org.
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