Meet us in the mountains (again)!

Did you join us for the Colors of Hope Retreat in 2022? Will this be your first Colors of Hope Retreat? Gather with LGBTQ+ people of faith and allies from across the Church to hope in color at the most colorful time of the year at Christmount Retreat, Camp, and Conference Center in Black Mountain, North Carolina.

This second annual retreat will explore and expand upon queer spirituality and “hope as resistance.”

In the Introduction to Colors of Hope, a devotional journal that draws upon the iconic Pride flag and calls us to embody our beliefs, August Laperche writes, “Hope is an act of resistance, challenging and dismantling systemic injustices that rob people of wholeness and wellness – that deprive us of hope. It resists the depression and despair that swirl within us and around us. To hope is to imagine and shape a new reality: a brighter future, a more just and inclusive world.”

Hope is an act of resistance. Joy is an act of resistance.  Rest is an act of resistance. 

There’s an emphasis on connection over content but the themes of hope, joy, and rest will guide our retreat. The 2023 retreat hosts include the book’s editor, Rev. Melissa Guthrie (she/her), and queer faith leaders Rev. Tyler Heston (he/him) and C Stonebraker-Martinez (they/them/elle/ella). Additional voices will contribute to our sessions, sermons, spiritual practices, and conversations, to our learning and unlearning.