A Doorway to Connection with Nature and the Divine
A Mary Oliver Poetry Retreat
Thursday, June 12 – Saturday, June 14, 2025
Retreat will start at 4pm on Thursday and end at 1pm on Saturday
Retreat fee: $400
Includes lodging at Schoodic Institute (single rooms in shared apartments) and six meals
“Before 500 BCE, religion and poetry were largely the same thing. People did not presume to be able to define the Mystery. They looked for words that could describe the Mystery. Poetry doesn’t claim to be a perfect description as dogma foolishly does. It’s a ‘hint half guessed,’ to use T. S. Eliot’s phrase. That’s why poetry seduces and entices you into being a searcher for the Mystery yourself. It creates the heart leap, the gasp of breath, inspiring you to go further and deeper; you want to fill in the blanks for yourself.” — Fr. Richard Rohr
The poet Mary Oliver understood, perhaps better than most, that to read and to write poetry is to give oneself over to the mystery of the living, breathing world. Throughout a life lived in careful observation and the cultivation of wonder, she offered her poems as containers for divinity — not some far-off, heaven-dwelling deity, but the divine who lives and dwells in all the abundant life on this gorgeous and fragile planet. With depth and reverence, Oliver’s poetry overflows with the sacredness of life. As she writes: “For me the door to the woods is the door to the temple.”
During this retreat, we will use Mary Oliver’s poetry as a guide to discover and explore our personal connection to nature and the divine. Through reflections on Mary’s poetry, small group discussion, time spent in nature, journaling, and being in community, we will remind ourselves of the sacredness of all of creation, including ourselves and our lives. We will be encouraged to see the divine in all things, and to consider how it is that we want to be in the world.
As Mary Oliver asks: “Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”
We invite you during this retreat — this time away — to slow down, to notice and appreciate the beauty of the world that surrounds us all, and to be inspired as you continue your spiritual journey. We’ll gather at the beautiful Schoodic Institute on the shores of Winter Harbor, Maine, for immersion in Mary Oliver’s poetry. Guided by Greg Rose, a personal friend of Mary’s, and accompanied by music and the wonders of the Maine coast, we’ll have the opportunity to contemplate the Mystery, as inspired by Mary’s poetry.
*Quotes are from “Upstream – Selected Essays” and “The Summer Day”, by Mary Oliver
Meet Our Retreat Guide
Greg Rose has an MA in theology and is a Spiritual Director. He lives in Boulder, Colorado, serves on the Board of The BTS Center, and is a community volunteer. Prior to pursuing his theology degree he worked in the corporate world for 30 years after earning his MBA. One of Greg’s great blessings in life was to have been personal friends with the poet Mary Oliver.
Meet Our Retreat Host
Rev. Ash Temin is an ordained minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) who serves as the Communications Manager at The BTS Center. She also offers spiritual direction through her independent practice in Portland, Maine.
Ash is a graduate of the University of Virginia (BA), the Irish School of Ecumenics at
Trinity College Dublin (MPhil) and Harvard Divinity School (MDiv). Her time at both the ISE and HDS sparked a passion for ecological theology and prompted her to begin delving more deeply into the experience of ecological grief. Prior to moving to Portland, she served as an Acting Associate Pastor at Hope Central Church, a UCC/DOC congregation in Boston. Before answering the call to ordination, Ash worked in various administrative roles at Harvard University. She also has worked as a hospital and hospice chaplain, an adjunct professor, and a freelance editor.
After time spent living in Texas, Virginia, Colorado, Ireland, and Massachusetts, Ash is grateful to make her home in Maine, where she spends part of most days walking on the shores of Casco Bay. When not absorbed in work, she can be found cooking with friends, laying in her garden hammock, hiking in the woods, playing in the ocean, or attempting to learn the Irish language with a cat on her lap.
Meet Our Retreat Musician
Rev. Liz Fulmer (she/her) is a musical storyteller and Lead Pastor serving Grandview Church in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Trained as a songwriter and vocal principle at Berklee College of Music and spiritually formed through the care and teaching of Lancaster Theological Seminary, Fulmer is passionate about facilitating divine encounter through the blending of breath, music, word, and community. A multi-instrumentalist, she has 3 albums of original music: Heaven Knows (2016), Ellipsis (2018), and The Bible Tells Me So (2023). Liz has been a guest lecturer at Millersville University and Lancaster Theological Seminary, teaching on the craft of songwriting and how to effectively combine music and visuals to create accessible and meaningful worship experiences. She was ordained in 2020 by the Movement of Inclusive Methodists. Liz feels called to the work of sacred space-making, particularly for those who have been made to feel unworthy or unacceptable in the eyes of the Christian Church for any reason.
About Our Venue
Schoodic Institute is part of a community vision for a revitalized Schoodic Peninsula that includes a focus on the arts, science, and education. When the U.S. Navy closed their Winter Harbor base on Schoodic Point in 2002, they turned the property back to the National Park Service, along with lodging, dining, and recreational facilities that now make up the largest of 18 National Park Service Research Learning Centers.
Visitors can view the Acadia National Park Welcome Center exhibits and gift shop in historic Rockefeller Hall, experience the surf at Schoodic Point, and explore miles of hiking trails and bicycle paths. Schoodic Institute’s year-round campus includes classrooms, laboratories, and a modern 124-seat auditorium surrounded by wild, rugged shorelines and thousands of acres of evergreen forest. Accommodations are in single rooms in shared apartments, and all meals are served buffet style in the dining hall.
