Associates Retreat

and to re-connect with others seeking wisdom, inspiration, and creative energy in these challenging times.  Reflective time will help us to see what Teilhard de Chardin called “the slow work of God” in us, as individuals and as communities, to ask questions that will guide us toward greater creativity, and to be instruments and ambassadors of hope,
not because we believe in what seems impossible, but because we do what needs to be done.

Dr. Gillian T. W. Ahlgren is a church historian and specialist in the Christian mystical tradition.  She received her doctorate from The Divinity School of the University of Chicago in 1991.  One of the world’s leading experts on Teresa of Avila, she is the author of seven books, including Teresa of Avila and the Politics of Sanctity, Enkindling Love: The Legacy of Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross, The Tenderness of God: Reclaiming Our Humanity, and Spiritual Exercises for the 21^st Century: A Workbook.  Gillian is particularly interested in how spiritual practices derived from Christian contemplative traditions empower the transformation of self and society.  Over the past fifteen years she has focused on pastoral work with women in transition.  A founding member of the Cincinnati Women’s Team of the Ignatian Spirituality Project, she facilitates retreats and support meetings for women in recovery from substance abuse.  She has developed spiritual enrichment programming serving survivors of domestic violence and has been facilitating workshops supporting the emotional, psychological and spiritual needs of this community since 2013.  She continues to create and offer enrichment workshops and seminars through Resources for Renewal and in partnership with churches and non-profits across the country.