An Experience of Transforming Community

Leadership is demanding—how are you staying connected to God?

Began in July 2025.

Step away from leadership and be with God and discover how to lead with clarity, strength, and a renewed spirit.

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.

Play Video

Through guided rhythms of silence, solitude, Scripture, worship, and community, this experience helps leaders:

Move from exhaustion to renewal by prioritizing their spiritual health.

Reconnect with God in a way that energizes rather than drains their leadership.

Develop sacred rhythms that sustain them for the long haul.

Experience authentic community with fellow leaders who understand the pressures of ministry and leadership.

Lead from a place of transformation rather than human striving.

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

Haven mark — features an infinity line art mark with a cross isolated in the middle

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.

Day 1

Day 2

Day 1

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

Day 2

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

3:00pm: Break Out Groups

3:30pm: Leaving Prayer

4:00pm: Departure

Topics and Themes

First Gathering (Online)

Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership: Invitation to Transforming Community

"If you don't come apart for awhile, you will come apart after awhile."
—Dallas Willard

Second Gathering (In-Person)

A Leader's Journey into Solitude and Silence

"Without solitude it is virtually impossible to have a spiritual life."
—Henri Nouwen

Third Gathering (Online)

Prayer: Deepening Our Intimacy with God

"The spiritual life has to do with how God relates to us and how we relate to God. Prayer is the essential expression of that relationship."
—Marjorie Thompson

Fourth Gathering (Online)

Engaging the Scriptures for Spiritual Transformation

"In informational reading we seek to grasp the control, to master the text. In transformational reading, the intent is to allow the text to master you."
—Robert Mulholland

Fifth Gathering (In-Person)

Flesh and Blood Spirituality: Honoring the Body as a Spiritual Practice

"We are not human beings trying to become spiritual; we are spiritual beings trying to become human."
—Teilhard de Chardin

Sixth Gathering (Online)

Transformation through Self-Examination, Self-Knowledge, and Confession

"[One] never attains to true self-knowledge until he has previously contemplated the face of God, and come down after such contemplation to look into himself."
—John Calvin

Seventh Gathering (Online)

The Art and Practice of Spiritual Discernment

"Finding God in all things in order that we might love and serve God in all."
—St. Ignatius of Loyola

Eighth Gathering (Online)

For the Sake of Others: Where Formation and Mission Meet

"Mission cannot be discerned without formation, nor can mission be sustained without an ongoing commitment to transformation in Christ's presence."
—Ruth Haley Barton

Ninth Gathering (In-Person)

A Rule of Life: Arranging Our Lives for Spiritual Transformation

"Ask me not where I live, or what I like to eat. Ask me what I am living for and what is keeping me from living fully for that."
—Thomas Merton

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 Tina Harris at tharris@transformingcenter.org or call (630) 588-8133 x307.

HOW WE WILL BE TOGETHER

The six online gatherings and monthly small group connections will be central to this community experience. The three 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.

Online Gatherings

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.

In-Person Retreat

Each of the three in-person retreats for Haven will begin at 5pm CST on Sunday and end at 4pm CST on Tuesday.

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

Content

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 the 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 apart 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.

Spiritual Discipline

Academic Credit

COMMUNITY

People

Worship

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.

WHAT TO EXPECT

How is this similar or different from the Transforming Community experience?

Haven was created to provide a new experience of Transforming Community by utilizing 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.

Hear from recent community members...

Community Dates

June 1, 2025 (orientation meeting)
1. July 13-14, 2025 (online)
2. September 28-30, 2025 (in person)
3. November 9-10, 2025 (online)
4. January 25-26, 2026 (online)
5. April 19-21 2026 (in person)
6. June 7-8, 2026 (online)
7. August 9-10, 2026 (online)
8. October 11-12, 2026 (online)
9. November 15-17 2026 (in person)

Online retreats begin Sundays 4pm and conclude Mondays 4pm.

In-person retreats begin on Sundays 4pm and conclude Tuesdays 4pm at University of Saint Mary of the Lake in Mundelein, IL.

Fill out my online form.

<a href="https://spire2.wufoo.com/forms/r1r9939i0ey6u77?entsource=wordpress" rel="nofollow">Fill out my Wufoo form!</a>

An Experience of Transforming Community

Leadership is demanding—how are you staying connected to God?

Began in July 2025.

Step away from leadership and be with God and discover how to lead with clarity, strength, and a renewed spirit.

Through guided rhythms of silence, solitude, Scripture, worship, and community, this experience helps leaders:

Move from exhaustion to renewal by prioritizing their spiritual health.

Reconnect with God in a way that energizes rather than drains their leadership.

Develop sacred rhythms that sustain them for the long haul.

Experience authentic community with fellow leaders who understand the pressures of ministry and leadership.

Lead from a place of transformation rather than human striving.

Sample Schedule for Online Gathering

Topics and Themes

First Gathering (Online)

Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership: Invitation to Transforming Community

Second Gathering (In-Person)

A Leader's Journey into Solitude and Silence

Third Gathering (Online)

Prayer: Deepening Our Intimacy with God

Fourth Gathering (Online)

Engaging the Scriptures for Spiritual Transformation

Fifth Gathering (In-Person)

Flesh and Blood Spirituality: Honoring the Body as a Spiritual Practice

Sixth Gathering (Online)

Transformation through Self-Examination, Self-Knowledge, and Confession

Seventh Gathering (Online)

The Art and Practice of Spiritual Discernment

Eighth Gathering (Online)

For the Sake of Others: Where Formation and Mission Meet

Ninth Gathering (In-Person)

A Rule of Life: Arranging Our Lives for Spiritual Transformation

Frequently Asked Questions

HOW WE WILL BE TOGETHER

Online Gatherings

In-Person Retreat

TEACHING AND PRACTICE

Content

Spiritual Discipline

Academic Credit

COMMUNITY

People

Worship

WHAT TO EXPECT

How is this similar or different from the Transforming Community experience?

Hear from recent community members...

Community Dates

Cookie Settings