Orthodox Christian Fall Retreat

For over twenty years now, the Orthodox Christian Ministry at Georgetown University has held its annual overnight retreat at the Bishop Claggett Center in Buckeystown, MD. The center, a conference and retreat facility for the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland, is only a little over an hour from the main campus (well, that depends on the traffic, as you can imagine!) but provides a beautiful, relaxing, and rural setting for students to “retreat” from their usual routines. Alumni who attended retreats over ten years ago would be surprised to see how much the facility has improved and expanded, with numerous new buildings including a new dining hall. It is well suited for our retreat, and the staff is so well acquainted with everything we need to make our retreat successful.

We departed campus around 5:30 as usual, first driving in a small bus to Frederick, MD for a stop at the Cracker Barrel for dinner. This has become a tradition now and is very popular with the students. Then we proceeded to the retreat center. This year, the retreat took on a slightly different set-up. Usually there is a topic chosen in advance to discuss. This year, students were asked to submit questions anonymously, and these were then presented for discussion. Challenges in keeping faith in general and on campus seemed to be on many people’s minds. The discussion was thought-provoking and inspiring. The annual hike down (some rather steep slopes) to the Monocacy River took place as usual – although it has become a little challenging for the aging chaplain! We returned to campus Saturday evening, everyone refreshed from the opportunity to retreat.

V. Rev. Constantine White
Director of Orthodox Chaplaincy