This past weekend, we ventured to Camp Buc for our spring retreat. The weather was perfect. The mountains were beautiful. We couldn’t have asked for more.

We began the weekend with games on Friday night. On Saturday, we explored our theme, “Living Lives that Matter,” with devotional times throughout the day. Some of us also went hiking for several hours in the afternoon. This is a picture of some of us on top of a mountain during the hike. We ended the day with a campfire and a movie.

On Sunday, we worshiped together in the outdoor chapel. As we left for home, some of us took a detour and hiked up Whiteside Mountain. It was a great weekend filled with meaningful conversation, good food, and plenty of time to relax.

Several students at the PSC have formed a community group around gardening (Gardening Group, 6:30p, Mondays). They are looking at ways of being better stewards of our resources here at the PSC. As you may know, we starting cooking for the Bigger Vision Winter Shelter on Wednesday nights. If you’ve been on the property lately, you know that we compost our food from Sunday evening dinners. The Gardening Initiative is hoping to bring all of these activities together over the next year in a circle of stewardship.

Pictured above are pots that contain seedlings of plants that the students hope to grow in the coming months (using our own compost). Our goal is to use the plants that we grow on our property in our cooking for the winter shelter. We’ll keep you updated in the coming months as our garden grows…

We had a great time tonight at the Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper. Our friends from the Episcopal Center, the Evangelical Lutherans, and the Disciples on Campus joined us. We had an army of cooks in the kitchen working on pancakes and bacon. Father Dann brought a king cake with the stipulation that the ministry of the person who found the baby would be responsible for the king cake and the Ash Wednesday sermon next year. Of course, one of our students found it. Thanks to everyone who came out! We’ll see you tomorrow at the Ash Wednesday service (5p at the Episcopal Center).

On Jan. 2-5, we went to the College Conference at Montreat. We worshipped, participated in focus groups, went to workshops, and heard keynote speakers. The theme was “God Without Borders” and our speakers were Cynthia Rigby (from Austin Seminary) and Eboo Patel (Interfaith Youth Core). Even though the temperature never got above freezing while we were there, we had a great time and we’re looking forward to next year!