In-Town, October 17-18
PARISH RETREAT 2025
TBD
Friday night will be at Festival Beach in the Martin Pavilion. Dinner and Games.
About our Speaker
Prior to his election as Bishop of the C4SO Diocese, Jeff Bailey, Ph.D., served as a priest at Church of the Advent in Washington, DC. His background includes a decade in parish ministry as both pastor and church planter, followed by eight years in England, where he taught public theology at the University of Cambridge and later led the Centre for Social Justice, a London-based think tank addressing poverty and economic opportunity. A graduate of Duke University and the University of Cambridge, Jeff lives in Washington, DC, with his wife, Alicia, a psychotherapist in private practice. Together they have three children in high school and college.
Breakout Sessions
The following breakout sessions will be offered on Saturday afternoon. In the registration process, you'll be given the opportunity to select two sessions. Childcare is not available for breakout sessions, but there are two sessions for children and adults.
Breakout sessions will be located either on campus or within easy walking distance of Christ Church. Exact locations will be announced at the retreat.
Journey Out
East Austin Neighborhood Tour
and Prayer Walk
God has placed Christ Church in a unique location full of history, beauty, pain, and purpose. The East Austin Neighborhood Tour will help toot you in the redemptive history of our parish! You'll learn the unique history of our neighborhood and the pathways opened to us to be a blessing to the unhoused, chronically hungry children, the lonely aging, and refugees – all within a three-mile radius of our church. Get out, move your legs, and join us for a prayerful mini-pilgrimage through our parish!
Comal Park Clean Up
With Kit and Deborah Johnson
Join Kit and Deborah Johnson to learn more about a locally adopted park, Comal Pocket Park. Christ Church will "journey out" to love and serve our city in the most practical of ways. You are invited to get out, get moving, and love where you live!
Beauty and Brokenness
Kintsugi and the Art of Formation in Christ
with Mother Nancy Lewis
Kintsugi is a Japanese art form where broken pottery is repaired in a way that makes it more beautiful than before, mirroring Jesus' work in redeeming the sin and brokenness in each of us. Participants will learn and practice Kintsugi as a metaphor for formation in Christ. There will be reflection questions and journaling prompts around the experience.
Technology and our Children
with Olivia and Kurt Bruner
This breakout will examine the science of how technology affects children's brains, as well as the spiritual effects on their souls. We will identify solutions that address the problem at its core and look at how to create an environment that produces real-life fun, meaningful relationships, life skills, and strong family connections. Kids in 4th grade and older are welcome in this session!
Technology and our Children
with Olivia and Kurt Bruner
This breakout will examine the science of how technology affects children's brains, as well as the spiritual effects on their souls. We will identify solutions that address the problem at its core and look at how to create an environment that produces real-life fun, meaningful relationships, life skills, and strong family connections. Kids in 4th grade and older are welcome in this session!
Hang with Bishop Jeff
We have two special breakout sessions where you can spend time with our new bishop, Jeff Bailey. One of the joys of having Jeff be our keynote speaker is that we get to know our new bishop, who is our chief pastor, a little bit more and in a personal setting. This breakout session will meet in a parishioner's home just a couple of blocks from Christ Church. You can walk there, have some extended time over drinks and snacks to talk with the bishop, ask questions, and hear more about his heart for ministry, and introduce yourself. It will be a relationally rich time.
Contemplative Space
at the Greenhouse
Intentional quiet as a tool for spiritual formation can help create the necessary space to listen, reflect, and surrender. The Greenhouse will be set aside as a contemplative space where different stations will be set up to invite experiential prayer and reflection.
Holey Moley
Weekend Schedule
check back closer to the retreat for a more detailed schedule.
Friday: Get ready to kick off our Parish Retreat with Parish Fun Night at the Martin Pavilion, located within Edward Rendon Sr. Park at Festival Beach, 2101 Jesse E. Segovia St, Austin, TX 78702. We'll have delicious food, exciting games, and an intergenerational kickball game that's sure to be a blast for everyone! There's even a playspace right next to the pavilion for the little ones. Feel free to arrive whenever you can after 6 PM. Parking will be available...
Saturday: Saturday will kick off with breakfast tacos and our first two sessions with Bishop Jeff. The day will conclude with a very special, private concert featuring Sandra McCracken and Jon Guerra.
PARKING
The small parking lot connected to our backyard will be reserved for limited mobility parking only, please reserve those spaces for those in need. Additional handicap parking will also be available in the Christ Church Large Parking Lot.
Our large parking lot will be open and we have additional parking at the Terrazas Libray. Please see the map below for a detailed view.