An Experience of Transforming Community
Beginning in July 2025
For over 20 years the Transforming Center has created space for pastors and spiritual leaders to cultivate sacred rhythms to sustain their life in leadership. While the Transforming Community experience is highly valued, the time and cost of travel has made it inaccessible for many.
Because of this, we’ve been imagining another way to create space for God to transform leaders using digital and in-person components — hopefully a more accessible experience of Transforming Community.
Haven is a community that meets alternately online and in person to create space for leaders to forge a stronger connection between their souls and their leadership.
Overview:
Six online community gatherings that include transforming worship, substantive teaching, and spiritual practices
Three in-person retreats with food and lodging included
Monthly small group connections facilitated by a Transforming Center ministry team member
Digital access to teachings
Investment:
$299/month for 21 months ($6,279)
This is 33% less than the current Transforming Community experience.
Apply now for the lowest one-time registration fee*:
- $250 (for applications received by December 31, 2024)
- $300 (for applications received between January 1 – February 15, 2025)
- $350 (for applications received between February 16 – March 31, 2025)
- $400 (for applications received on or after April 1, 2025)
*This non-refundable fee is due upon acceptance to secure your spot in the community.
Sample Schedule for Online Gathering
This schedule is subject to change but reflects the rhythms of prayer, teaching, conversation and spiritual practice that we will share.
4:00pm: Arrival, Welcome & Invitation
4:30pm: Break Out Groups
BREAK
5:00pm: Teaching Session
BREAK
7:30pm: Night Prayer
8:00pm: Rest / Great Silence
9am Morning Prayer
Spiritual Practice/Guided Experience
BREAK
10:00am: Teaching Session
Break Out Groups
BREAK
11:30pm: Large Group Sharing
12:00pm: Solitude, Rest and Reflection
2:00pm: Mid-Day Prayer
2:30pm: Teaching or Practice
BREAK
3:30pm: Break Out Groups
3:30pm: Leaving Prayer
4:00pm: Departure
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are answers to the questions being about Haven: An Experience of Transforming Community. If you can’t find your answer here, please contact Haley Page at hpage@transformingcenter.org or call (630) 588-8133 x311.
HOW WE WILL BE TOGETHER
The 6 online gatherings and monthly small group connections will be central to this community experience. The 3 in-person retreats (near the beginning, middle and end) will serve to further enhance the community’s connection and experience of spiritual transformation throughout the 18 months spent together.
Each of the six online gatherings for Haven will be facilitated over 24 hrs from Sunday, 4 pm CST to Monday, 4 pm CST. Each gathering will be hosted via Zoom and facilitated by our ministry community leaders.
These set apart times will include substantive teaching, guidance for spiritual practices, live worship experiences, and meaningful community connections. See sample schedule above for more Online Gathering details.
Accommodations
Retreatants stay in guest rooms at the University of St. Mary of the Lake. Each room is equipped with its own bathroom offering attendees a private place for rest and solitude. This beautiful campus will provide an excellent environment for your retreat experience and is conducive to reflection and refreshment.
If you would like to extend your retreat by arriving the night before the retreat begins or departing the morning after it ends, please call the USML Front Desk at (847) 970-4908 to reserve your room.
For those needing accessible accommodations, please contact Tina Harris, our Cultivator of Community and Connection at tharris@transformingcenter.org to discuss needs and arrangements.
Meals
All meals and snacks are provided (dinner the first night through breakfast the last morning). For those with dietary restrictions, the catering department takes every dietary restriction and need into consideration when planning the meals. You will be asked to provide any allergies or dietary restrictions when you RSVP for the in-person retreat.
You may want to bring a snack(s) with you. There is a refrigerator in the Residence Hall that the retreatants are welcome to use; please label your food with your name and the date.
TEACHING AND PRACTICE
The six online gatherings and monthly small group connections are central to this community experience. The three in-person retreats (near the beginning, middle and end) will serve to anchor the community’s connection and experience of spiritual transformation throughout the 18 months.
Each online gathering will be led by experienced leaders of the Transforming Center’s ministry community. This team is a combination of TC staff and seasoned Transforming Community alumni. The 24-hour online gatherings will include guided worship experiences and spiritual practices in real time, substantive teaching, and facilitated large and small group engagement. Additional content from Ruth Haley Barton will be accessible digitally to all Haven community members throughout the experience. Each member of Haven will also be placed into a small group that will meet in between online and in-person gatherings to practice Group Spiritual Direction, an experience of being present to God on behalf of one another.
Whether we gather online or in-person, we will establish rhythms of being together that will allow us to drop into a set a part time regardless of where we are. The Haven ministry community will be consistent through the entire 18 months, and Ruth will continue to fulfill her role as teacher and retreat leader for the in-person gatherings.
Each gathering (online and in-person) provides the opportunity to engage both the content and the spiritual practices that increasingly open us to God over time. Guidance and resources are given for the month between gatherings. At the end of this 18-month community experience, members will develop a “rule of life” that will sustain them in all aspects of their lives.
As this is a pilot program, we do not offer academic credit for participation in Haven at this time.
COMMUNITY
This Haven community will be a diverse group of men and women who are seeking to learn how to be in God for the world. For over 20 years, the Transforming Center has facilitated and cultivated communities who discover our unity within diversity in profound ways because of their willingness to journey together intentionally.
We embrace a liturgical style of worship that is highly participatory, giving everyone a chance to read and respond to Scriptures, pray, and be formed by the prayers of the church, listen to God in the silent spaces, and join their voices with others in song. While we have been holding this kind of space in person since the beginning, we will be exploring ways of bringing this same intentionality and spirit to worship during our online gatherings.
INVESTMENT
Leaders often face two hurdles - time and money - when considering a formational or educational opportunity. The Transforming Center is committed to helping eliminate the financial obstacle for qualified candidates through limited scholarships and sponsorships.
Signing up for nine gatherings over 18 months is a significant commitment, and that is intentional. Haven is for those who know that their deepest desires will not be met by reading another book, attending another conference or listening to another podcast. Transformation does not happen overnight. People change incrementally….over time…with others…in the context of spiritual disciplines that open us to God.
In addition to a commitment of time, Haven is also a financial investment. While we have worked to reduce the cost associated with this offering compared to Transforming Community we understand that it is still a significant commitment. If you would like more information about the costs associated with joining the Haven community or the limited scholarship that we offer, please reach out to our Wayfinder and Registrar, Haley Page at hpage@transformingcenter.org.
Haven was created to provide a new experience of Transforming Community by utilizing the digital tools in order to offer a more accessible ministry offering. For over 20 years, the Transforming Center has provided leaders with a safe place to be honest about the challenges of spiritual leadership, to experience rhythms of solitude, prayer and community, and to deepen an understanding of leadership that flows from our transforming selves. Each gathering of Haven will follow the same content structure and progression of Transforming Community, but with new ways to engage.
Community Dates
All retreats, whether online or in-person are required for completion of the experience. There will be a new community orientation April 28, 2025 (online). The three in-person retreats led by Ruth Haley Barton will be in Chicagoland.
- July 13-14, 2025 (online)
- September 28-30, 2025 (in person)
- November 9-10, 2025 (online)
- January 25-26, 2026 (online)
- April 19-21 2026 (in person)
- June 7-8, 2026 (online)
- August 9-10, 2026 (online)
- October 11-12, 2026 (online)
- November 15-17 2026 (in person)