A Three-Month Renewal Experience for Spiritual Caregivers

Creating space for the caregivers of the soul.

Every day, chaplains, pastoral counselors, spiritual directors, and other spiritual caregivers spend their lives accompanying people through grief, transition, illness, uncertainty, discernment, and hope.

But those who create sacred space for others also need sacred space for themselves.

REFRESH Foundations is a three-month retreat experience designed to nurture the people behind the care. Through monthly online retreat weekends and a concluding in-person Day of Renewal, participants are invited into an intentional rhythm of prayer, reflection, silence, community, and rest.

This is not simply another webinar or professional development program. It is an invitation to step away from the demands of caregiving, attend to your own soul, and reconnect with the practices and relationships that sustain your vocation.

The Journey

Through three monthly online retreat experiences and a concluding in-person Day of Renewal, we'll journey together through:

Month One

Returning to the Source: Rest, Presence & the Inner Life

Before we can sustain the work of caring for others, we must remain connected to that which sustains us.

Our first gathering creates space to slow down, notice the condition of our own souls, and reconnect with the practices, relationships, and sources of meaning that ground our lives and vocations.

Month Two

Carrying What Is Not Ours: Boundaries, Compassion & Holy Limits

Spiritual caregivers are invited into some of the most vulnerable places in people's lives. Over time, it can become difficult to distinguish compassionate presence from carrying burdens that were never ours to hold.

Together, we'll explore boundaries not as barriers to care, but as practices that allow us to remain present, compassionate, and whole.

Month Three

Sustaining Hope: Meaning, Community & Resilience

Hope is not simply optimism. It is a way of remaining rooted in meaning, relationship, and possibility even when the work is difficult.

Our third gathering explores the people, practices, and convictions that sustain us—and how we cultivate resilient hope without denying grief, weariness, or uncertainty.

Closing Gathering

A Day of Renewal: Prayer, Silence, Reflection & Communion

Our journey concludes with an in-person retreat devoted to spaciousness, integration, and renewal.

Together, we'll step away from our usual responsibilities and enter a gentler rhythm of prayer, silence, contemplative practice, community, and rest—making room to receive what has emerged during our months together and to consider what we want to carry forward.

What to Expect

Each monthly online gathering is designed as a retreat—not a webinar.

Participants will gather on Friday evening and again on Saturday for an experience that balances guided content and community conversation with spacious periods for personal reflection, prayer, silence, and solitude.

Friday, 7:00–9:00 p.m. ET

A gentle transition into retreat through prayer, reflection, contemplative practice, and community.

Saturday, 9:00 a.m. – approximately 4:00 p.m. ET

A full retreat day including guided reflection, spiritual practices, conversation, and an extended period in the afternoon for silence and solitude.

The experience concludes with a separate in-person Day of Renewal.

Who Is REFRESH Foundations For?

REFRESH Foundations is designed especially for:

Chaplains
Pastoral counselors
Spiritual directors
Healthcare and hospice spiritual care providers
Congregational care ministers
Retreat and formation leaders
Others whose vocations involve sustained spiritual care and accompaniment

You do not need to be exhausted or in crisis to need renewal.

REFRESH Foundations offers space to tend your spiritual life before depletion becomes the only reason you finally stop.

What You'll Find Here

REFRESH Foundations offers:

Space to receive.
For a few hours, you don't have to be the one holding everything.

Practices that sustain.
Explore contemplative and spiritual practices that can become part of the rhythm of your everyday life.

Honest reflection.
Attend to what your caregiving vocation is asking of you—and what it may be costing you.

Trusted community.
Gather with others who understand the privilege, complexity, and weight of accompanying people through significant moments in their lives.

Permission to rest.
Not as a reward for finishing the work, but as part of what makes faithful, sustainable care possible.

Program Details

Format: Three monthly online retreat weekends + one concluding in-person Day of Renewal

Online Retreats: Friday evening and Saturday

Dates: September 25-26; October 23-24; November 20-21, 2026

In-Person Retreat: December 5, 2026

Participant Investment: [FEE]

Part of the REFRESH Initiative

REFRESH Foundations is one expression of REFRESH, a spiritual care initiative creating intentional rhythms of renewal, reflection, and community for clergy and spiritual caregivers.

Foundations is a complete experience in its own right. Participation does not require a commitment to any future REFRESH program.

For those interested in exploring additional opportunities for sustained renewal and formation, we invite you to learn more about the broader REFRESH initiative.

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