On a cool autumn day, Latino pastors and missionaries from across Eastern Pennsylvania gathered at Gretna Glen for a day apart. Their purpose was to reconnect with God, with one another, and with all they had learned in the past.
It was God’s timing. Latino pastors and missionaries, worried about what the election might mean for the communities and the people they serve, were invited to step out of the worry, just for a moment, and connect with the living spirit of God.
Rev. Alicia Julia Stanley led the group in a mindfulness exercise. She invited people to connect with their bodies and with the present moment. She told the group, “Let go of this past week. The pain, it doesn’t exist. When you breathe in, breathe in the Spirit; breathe in the life.”
The room felt lighter and less tense after just a few minutes of mindfully grounding the presence of the Holy Spirit by attending to the body and the breath.
Rev. Lisa DePaz preached a sermon on Numbers 13:17-20, 25-27. In the scripture passage, “God sent twelve spies to survey the land: their mission was to ‘See, judge (discern, find out), and act (plan).'” She proclaimed to all who gathered, “Like the Israelites, we are called to act as ‘spies’ in our communities, observing and assessing in order to carry out God’s mission in our contexts.” She asked all those present to consider whether we are truly seeing the full possibilities and needs of our communities and to prayerfully consider whether the service we are offering is a true expression of love and justice.
It was a timely message that set the table for the work ahead. Rev. Bruny Martinez and Rev. Alicia Julia Stanley presented the next part of the retreat, revisiting the process of asset mapping. They invited everyone to listen carefully to the communities they served and to observe them with the eyes of God.
They were invited to consider: Where are the people gathering? Are they working at home or the office? Listen to the whole person.
As the pastors and missionaries were led to reflect on their communities, they were invited to do so from a spiritually grounded perspective. We don’t just analyze our communities with our minds. “Discernment is a spiritual process. Always.”
PowerPoint slides remained in view throughout the entire presentation, summarizing the essential points.
“The important thing here is that we understand that we alone do not have the solution, and that Jesus is already there before us, moving in the midst of the community of which we are a part.”
We must observe, and we must also pray, and attend to our own spiritual journeys. For it is through our personal transformational relationship with Jesus that others and our community will be transformed. “I need to hear God speaking to me to create transformational change.”
The message of the morning landed. Over lunch, retreat members processed what they learned and connected with one another. This retreat is “refreshing my thoughts and actions. I’ve been serving with the UMC for 12 years. Every day, you learn more and more,” shared Candida Torres, a lay member of Bridgesburg UMC.
Marcos Rios, lay missionary for El Buen Samaritano UMC, shared that the review of what was learned in the past was an intentional choice for the morning session. “It’s important because the Bible itself is a law of repetition. The seminar always has the same name. That gives an opportunity for different people to bring different ideas. That’s how we learn… We are always asking the Holy Spirit for direction. Even though we might be going through critical moments, we always ask the Holy Spirit.”
You could tell that the leaders had been seeking the Holy Spirit as they prepared for the retreat. The Spirit’s presence was palpable throughout. In the singing, in the praying, in the laughter, and in the sharing, the Holy One was moving— inspiring, refreshing, and renewing the spirits of those who gathered so that they might be strengthened to return to their communities and view them once more through the eyes of God.