Discipleship, Bible, Christian, Studies – C.S. Lewis Institute

C.S. Lewis: The Lay Ministry of a Mere Christian
A Retreat at Glenside Farm in Troy, PA with Dr. Chris Mitchell

C.S. Lewis was neither a professional minister nor theologian. Rather he was in his own words simply a lay member of the Anglican Church.  And yet it can safely be said that few individuals, whether as lay persons or professional clergy, have made as significant an impact for Christ’s Kingdom in the English-speaking world since the middle of the twentieth century. Admittedly, Lewis had extraordinary literary and intellectual gifts, but much of what made him so effective as a lay minister can be emulated by the ordinary person who fills a pew each Sunday. This week we will look closely at these aspects of Lewis’s life and ministry with a view of growing in our own effectiveness as responsible lay ministers.

A letter from the retreat hosts, Jim & Cynthia Eckert:

The retreat is run by the C. S. Lewis Institute, a thirty-five plus year old organization that seeks to '...develop disciples who can articulate, defend, and live faith in Christ through personal and public life.' A part of this mission is achieved by their Fellows program, which is a one year program of lectures, guided readings, small group and individual meetings with a mentor. While living in Northern Virginia, Cynthia and I were mentors in this program and developed many strong friendships with fellow believers. When we moved to Troy, to the farm where Cynthia grew up, and built a large farmhouse to accommodate our extended family, we found an opportunity to continue our relationship with the Institute by hosting these small summer retreats. This August will be the fifth held in the last six years. The first three were limited to fellows and mentors of the Institute, and starting last year we opened up the retreat to the wider community of believers. We host the retreat as a private, not for profit, gathering of old friends, and hoping to add new friends each year.

This will be the third retreat led by Dr. Chris Mitchell, the Director of the Marion Wade Center at Wheaton College, and while he has spoken often on C. S. Lewis, who is one of the seven authors the writings and memorabilia of which are collected at the Wade Center, the focus of this retreat follows after the Institute's present focus on discipleship. Chris' article in the Spring 2011 issue of Knowing and Doing, the Institute's teaching quarterly, will give you some good insight into his writing and speaking style.

Chris is drawing from the wider corpus of Lewis writings, and casting them somewhat in a classical setting, using the image of Plato's Cave analogy. In the tradition of Lewis we want to stimulate all present to think critically as Christians on how to engage our world today, is a winsome and wise way. Lewis is often spoken of as a brilliant intellect, yet his disarming understatement of argument has often 'slipped past the watchful eyes of modernities lions' and delivered the truth in a hearable fashion to a wide audience. We will look at some of Lewis' approaches to discipling, and some of his struggles as a believer.

The facility is, as I said, our house, which will accommodate about twenty attendees in a variety of room settings. We have a few queen size bedrooms for couples, two single rooms, and several two to four bed rooms, and some eight full baths, and two half baths. We eat family style, with retreaters helping some with the preparation, and have allowed for free time for walking the fields and woods of the farm, 212 acres, with a waterfall glen. Most attendees have found it a good place to retreat from the business of the work world and reflect on God.

The cost of the retreat covers all room and board for the six days, 18 meals, snacks, etc., and a portion of the honorarium for the speaker Chris Mitchell. Depending on the number of attendees we may over subscribe the honorarium, and will pass the remaining funds to the C. S. Lewis Institute General Fund for ministry. Glenside Farm gets reimbursed the actual cost for the meals, and a housekeeping fee for cleaning and supplies. We do not charge for our labor or any other fees.

Hope you will join us for a great week of discussing, thinking, and reflecting.

In His Grace,

Jim & Cynthia Eckert

To view retreat teaching schedule, click here.

To view retreat suggested reading list, click here.