Leaning Into Grief: Personal and Planetary Sorrows

Personal and planetary grief are inextricable. Our encounter with the manifold losses that characterize the human experience can till the soil of our hearts so that we are more available to the suffering of other beings and the earth we share…Sorrow can be paralyzing at first, but compassion…is a wellspring that offers infinite sustenance. ~ Mirabai Starr

Leaning Into Grief: Personal and Planetary Sorrows

October 3-5, 2025 | Camp Burton on Vashon Island

A full weekend, in-person, facilitated retreat designed to introduce participants to the embodied and communal work of grief.

Registration Deadline: Friday, September 19 / Click to Register

Grief is an integral part of life that requires our attention if we want to be fully available for life. In our culture, however, we have forgotten how to share our grief with one another. When we add to our personal losses the experience of economic instability, ecological degradation, the extinction of species, individual and collective health crises, and the unrest and turmoil within human societies, the burden of grief that we are carrying as individuals can begin to feel unbearable. There are very few spaces where we are invited to experience and express this complex grief in community. This retreat will utilize Francis Weller’s “Five Gates of Grief” to connect participants to their distinct and multifaceted experiences of grief in the context of a co-created “village.”

The weekend will be facilitated by experienced grief mentors who have apprenticed in the grief ritual tradition of the Dagara tribe as brought to the U.S. and shared by Malidoma and Sobonfu Somé. We have been oriented to this tradition through mentorship with Francis Weller and others. Participants will be guided through chanting, poetry, teaching, writing exercises, small group sharing, and the creation of a grief shrine. Our time together will culminate in a communal grief ritual, in which we will witness and support each other as we move into the shared experience and expression of our sorrows and losses. All participation is invitational; nothing is “required” beyond being present with and sharing the griefs you are carrying, to the best of your ability.

Cost: $575 Early Bird (available to first 12 to register) / $675 Regular Registration

Lodging and meals are included in registration fees. If the fee presents a barrier to your participation, please let us know. A limited number of Discounted and Scholarship registrations are available.

Registration Deadline: Friday, September 19. Registration is limited to 30.  Click to Register

Facilitators

Peter Jabin, M.Div., LMHC, Pastoral Psychotherapist |  Cristina Manzoni, MA, CCC, FT, Palliative Care/Hospice Chaplain | Reve Shannon, Grief Mentor | Kim Warner, Grief Mentor

Those serving under appointment or assignment may use their formation grant funds ($3500 per quadrennium) to pay for this workshop. Learn how to apply for your formation grant funds here, under ‘Formation and Continuing Education’: https://www.pnwumc.org/ministries/board-of-ordained-ministry/resources-for-clergy-members/