Day retreats
Day retreats at Rosemont Community Retreat House are single-day retreats intended to provide spiritual formation for those serving the Church, including musicians, clergy, seminarians, and anyone serving in ministry. Each retreat is focused around a particular theme, with presentations offered by notable retreat leaders and instructors.
For more information, please contact the parish office at 610-525-7070. For more information on getting to and from the retreat house, you can learn more here.
Suggested Donations
We ask for suggested donations to offset retreat costs and to support ministry at Good Shepherd, which allows this retreat house ministry to flourish.
Day Participants (outside groups): $200 per group, $150 for groups from within the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania
To inquire about a day retreat booking, please email the parish office (office@goodshepherdrosemont.com).
2023-2024 Retreat schedule
Please note that any cancellation requests less than 48 hours prior to the event will be honored by a refund of only half the suggested donation.
DEC. 16, 2023, 9:00AM to 3:00pm: advent quiet day: a day with george herbert
DONATION: $50-75/adult; $15/student (light breakfast, lunch provided)
George Herbert (1593 - 1633) is one of the most renowned poets in the English-speaking world. Both an Anglican priest and viol player, Herbert’s poetry is both musical and richly theological. In this day retreat, we will spend time looking at the theology of Herbert’s poetry, and we will hear viol music from Herbert’s day as a complement to the sonorous musicality of Herbert’s gift of language.
Presenter(s): Dr. Donald McCown is Professor of Health and Director of the Center for Contemplative Studies at West Chester University of Pennsylvania. He holds a Master of Social Service from Bryn Mawr College, a Master of Applied Meditation Studies degree from the Won Institute of Graduate Studies, and a Ph.D. in Social Science from Tilburg University (The Netherlands). He is author of The Ethical Space of Mindfulness in Clinical Practice; primary author of Teaching Mindfulness: A Practical Guide for Clinicians and Educators; New World Mindfulness: From the Founding Fathers, Emerson, and Thoreau to your Personal Practice; and primary editor of Resources for Teaching Mindfulness: An International Handbook, and presents and teaches internationally.
Presenter: Sarah Cunningham is recognized as one of the foremost viola da gambists worldwide. She trained at Harvard University, the Longy School of Music and the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, Holland. Since 2010 she has been on the faculty of The Juilliard School's Historical Performance Department, and since fall of 2018 she also teaches at Princeton University. Her long-time fascination with improvisation has led to collaborations with dancers Tara Brandel and Leah Stein, and with percussionist Kyle Struve, as well as with poets and story-tellers here and abroad. Her 2016 degree from Bryn Mawr College, in Interdisciplinary Arts and Performance, brought together visual art, creative writing, dance, and performance art as well as music.
REGISTER here for “advent quiet day”
Feb. 17, 2024, 9:00AM to 3:00pm: A Lenten Day of Prayer and Reflection with Biber’s ROSARY Sonatas
DONATION: $50-75/adult; $15/student (light breakfast, lunch provided)
Composed around 1676, the Rosary Sonatas of Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber are organized into three cycles based on the meditative mysteries by which the rosary devotion is prayed. In this day retreat, retreatants will listen to a live performance of one of the Glorious Sonatas, along with Biber’s Partita VII from the Harmonia Artifioso for two violas d’amore. Come and learn how to use musical meditation in your prayer. Reflections and instruction on the practice of musica divina will be offered by Donald McCown.
Presenter(s): Dr. Donald McCown is Professor of Health and Director of the Center for Contemplative Studies at West Chester University of Pennsylvania. He holds a Master of Social Service from Bryn Mawr College, a Master of Applied Meditation Studies degree from the Won Institute of Graduate Studies, and a Ph.D. in Social Science from Tilburg University (The Netherlands). He is author of The Ethical Space of Mindfulness in Clinical Practice; primary author of Teaching Mindfulness: A Practical Guide for Clinicians and Educators; New World Mindfulness: From the Founding Fathers, Emerson, and Thoreau to your Personal Practice; and primary editor of Resources for Teaching Mindfulness: An International Handbook, and presents and teaches internationally.
The musicians of Galline, with violinists Margaret Humphrey and Marika Holmqvist, cellist Rebecca Humphrey, and harpsichordist, Barbara Weiss, will play music of Heinrich Biber and his contemporaries. This repertoire, in its transcendent and experimental nature, intertwines both the humanistic and meditative culture of the time.
REGISTER here for “a lenten day of prayer and reflection”
march 2, 2024, 9:00am to 3:00pm. A Lenten Quiet Day of Visio Divina
DONATION: $50-75/adult; $15/student (light breakfast, lunch provided)
While the ancient practice of lectio divina is a prayerful way of meditating on Scripture, the related practice of visio divina might be less well known. Come and learn how to gaze on beautiful objects, in this case, liturgical artifacts from the collection of the Church of the Good Shepherd, Rosemont, as a window into prayer.
Presenter(s): Dr. Donald McCown is Professor of Health and Director of the Center for Contemplative Studies at West Chester University of Pennsylvania. He holds a Master of Social Service from Bryn Mawr College, a Master of Applied Meditation Studies degree from the Won Institute of Graduate Studies, and a Ph.D. in Social Science from Tilburg University (The Netherlands). He is author of The Ethical Space of Mindfulness in Clinical Practice; primary author of Teaching Mindfulness: A Practical Guide for Clinicians and Educators; New World Mindfulness: From the Founding Fathers, Emerson, and Thoreau to your Personal Practice; and primary editor of Resources for Teaching Mindfulness: An International Handbook, and presents and teaches internationally.
Davis d’Ambly has worked in the field of liturgical design for over forty years. A lifelong churchman, his work is a vocation in the Church. After graduating from the Tyler School of Fine Art and private studies in both painting and art history, he began designing for the church in 1972. His work includes innumerable commissions for churches, both old and new, including: paintings and altarpieces, woodcarvings, sculptures and furnishings, sacred vestments and altar hangings, murals and decoration. A partial listing of churches where his work may be seen: Saint Thomas Church, Fifth Avenue, NYC; Saint Rose of Lima Catholic Church, N. Wales, PA; The Church of the Advent, Boston, MA; Saint Mark’s Church, Philadelphia, PA; Saint James the Less, Philadelphia, PA; Saint Mark Catholic Church, Bristol, PA; First Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, PA; Saint Paul’s Church, Doylestown, PA Saint Hugh of Cluny Catholic Church, Philadelphia, PA; Saint Cornelius Catholic Church, Chadds Ford, PA; Christ Church, New Haven, CT; Trinity Church on the Green, New Haven, CT; Saint Frances Cabrini Catholic Church, Fairless Hills, PA; Saint Paul’s Church K Street, Washington, DC; Saint Paul the Apostle, Savannah, GA; Saint Jude’s Ranch for Children, Boulder City, NV; Saint Clement’s Church, Philadelphia, PA; Saint Mary Catholic Church, Delphi, PA; Saint John the Evangelist, Newport, RI; Cathedral Church of SS Luke & Paul, Charleston, SC; Saint James Cathedral, Toronto, Ontario; Bruton Parish Church, Williamsburg, VA; Grace Cathedral, San Francisco, CA, Church of Saint Mary Magdalene, Toronto, Ontario.
REGISTER here for “a lenten quiet day of visio divina”
JUNE 1, 2024, 9:00am to 3:00pm. FAMILY MINDFULNESS day retreat
DONATION: $50-75/adult; $15/student (light breakfast, lunch provided)
Join our parish family and friends for six hours of fun (and a chance for all to cultivate mindful attention, the very essence of prayer). Through mindful movement, non-competitive games, arts and crafts projects, read-aloud stories, and sing-along songs, we’ll build a community of the present moment. Together, we’ll identify new (and tried and true) ways of supporting and caring for ourselves, each other, and our children. So, round everyone up and come on out. We’ll transform “just come as you are” into “become just as you are,” through play, prayer, and praise.
Presenter(s): Dr. Donald McCown is Professor of Health and Director of the Center for Contemplative Studies at West Chester University of Pennsylvania. He holds a Master of Social Service from Bryn Mawr College, a Master of Applied Meditation Studies degree from the Won Institute of Graduate Studies, and a Ph.D. in Social Science from Tilburg University (The Netherlands). He is author of The Ethical Space of Mindfulness in Clinical Practice; primary author of Teaching Mindfulness: A Practical Guide for Clinicians and Educators; New World Mindfulness: From the Founding Fathers, Emerson, and Thoreau to your Personal Practice; and primary editor of Resources for Teaching Mindfulness: An International Handbook, and presents and teaches internationally.