Come and See- Introducing Gateways to God

Program Details

The past two years of pandemic upheaval and challenge have radically shifted our perspectives on our world: who we are, how we are to live, and how we are being called to draw nearer to God and to our neighbors in love and service. These days we may find ourselves tired, yearning for sustenance and renewal of hope and energy.

Are you seeking nourishment for your soul? Do you yearn to deepen your relationship with God and your personal practice of prayer? Do you find yourself listening with others who long for a closer connection with God or who are seeking discernment of God's presence and call in their lives? Do you long to carry the gifts God has planted in you outward for the healing of the world? Are you looking for a community to support you in all of this?

If so, then take a look at Gateways to God: Training in Missional Spiritual Direction, a 20-month program that nurtures people's personal deepening in prayer and in centered living (spiritual formation) and introduces them to the practice of deep listening with another person or a community (spiritual direction) as they seek God's presence in their life and God's call to love and serve in a world in need of deep healing.

For a taste of the Gateways program, we invite you to attend “Come and See.” During this Day Apart participants will be able to sample elements of Gateways to God: time for personal deepening and for connection with others, time to discern God's call to mindful spiritual practice and to reflect on spiritual companionship with others, be that with one other person or with a community. We will offer information about the Gateways program and the ministry of spiritual direction, and will also respond to any questions you may have about them.

The Day Apart will be led by Gateways Staff. Anyone exploring applying to the program as well as anyone already accepted into the upcoming cohort is welcome to participate. We will gather at Rolling Ridge from 9:30am to 3:30pm. Lunch is included in the registration. You can expect coffee/tea and pastries when you arrive, and the beauty of nature to surround you all day long!

For more information contactRev. Beth Garnaas-Holmes, Gateways Director at gatewaystogod@rollingridge.org. Cost for the day is $50 which includes the program plus lunch, refreshments, materials and day-long access to the Rolling Ridge grounds. We look forward to welcoming you to the Ridge!

About the Leaders

Beth Garnaas-Holmes

Beth Garnaas-Holmes is an ordained Elder in the United Methodist Church. She has served congregations in Montana, New Hampshire and Massachusetts, with a focus on deepening people's connection to God, themselves and the world through spiritual practice, small group ministry and outreach into communities. She has also offered spiritual direction to individuals for 30 years, and was trained through the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation in Bethesda, Maryland. She has worked in program ministry at Rolling Ridge for 20 years, and is the former program director and a small group supervisor with the Gateways to God program. She lives in Wells, Maine with her husband and the many trees and animals that surround their home. Together they have a wonderful family of sons and daughters by marriage, grandchildren and grand-pets.

Gayle Kerr

Gayle Kerr has been involved in Spiritual Direction and Retreat Ministry since 1990. She is a graduate of Trenton (NJ) State College and Chestnut Hill College (PA) and holds degrees in education and Holistic Spirituality and Certificates in Spiritual Direction and the Supervision of Spiritual Directors. She has worked as a teacher, a Director of Christian Education and as a Spiritual Director at the Middleton Center for Pastoral Care and Counseling at the Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church in Bryn Mawr, PA. From 2000-2007 she worked at Princeton Theological Seminary in Princeton, NJ with a team of Spiritual Directors who were invited to help create a program for Spiritual Formation at the Seminary. Gayle and her husband moved to Cape Cod, MA in 2007 where she continues to provide individual and group Spiritual Direction as well as Retreat Leadership from her home on the Cape. She also serves as a small group supervisor in the Gateways to God Program for training Spiritual Directors at Rolling Ridge.

John Kiemele

John Kiemele, PhD, is a wellbeing educator and spiritual director who companions individuals, teaches seminars and classes on spirituality, lifestyle change and deep listening/spiritual direction, leads contemplative retreats, and serves as director of The Listening Collective at Rolling Ridge. John walks alongside individuals and groups assisting them with life-giving connections, wellbeing practices, and contemplative soul care. He is Director Emeritus of a dispersed community of contemplative companions in the greater Seattle area called Selah Center, former Executive Director of SoulStream Initiatives in western Canada, and is an ordained clergy having served congregations across the US and Canada. John received his PhD in education/spirituality with post-doctoral emphases in Spiritual Direction, Mindful Self-Compassion, the Enneagram Spectrum, and Wellness Coaching.