EFM Retreat

I’ve now finished my third year of EfM – Education for Ministry. Ministry in this context refers to service, not as many of my UK friends and family thought, ordination. Though I do have to admit I kept that snippet of information quiet when talking to my Buddhist uncle, it’s not often I get a chance to return the favor of the many tall tales and leg pulling he’s subjected me to over the years.

EfM is a four-year course, so I have one year left to go before I ‘Graduate’. The course and the wonderful people I’m taking it with, have provided me with a solid anchor and calm center for my weeks. I come away from our Thursday evening sessions feeling calm, refreshed and encouraged to go out and be a better person. I’m not sure I’ll ever really manage to achieve that last bit though.

At the end of each year, we have a retreat spending the day together and working through our year-end assignments. Our discussions range wide and we enjoy a lot of laughter. It was a great day.

The final picture (above) is a crop – I shot wide just in case someone moved around while we were taking the pictures. I should have come in a bit closer. It was also surprisingly dark I had to use iso 4000 to get a sensible shutter speed. Not what you’d expect taking a picture in broad daylight.

Unfortunately, Meg and Laura couldn’t be with us. I took a picture of Meg from last year’s retreat and Photoshopped her into one of the pictures. I’ve not got a picture of Laura – so I’ve had to leave her out. That’s a shame.   

Copyright © 2013 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. For Christ Episcopal Church