Name: One World Listening (in-person)
Start: 2025-04-25T19:00:00-05:00
End: 2025-04-26T16:00:00-05:00
Location: Franciscan Spirituality Center

Meets Friday, 7-9 p.m. and Saturday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.
Our ability to listen to others is both enhanced and limited by our ability to listen to ourselves: mind, body and spirit. Most people are very experienced at listening to the messages in our minds and thinking. Hearing the messages of our emotions is harder; for many of us, listening to our bodies and the wisdom contained within is the area where we need to grow the most.

Keynote speaker: Matthew Sanford. Additional presenters: Lynn Meinders (art), Chris Roberts (music), Char Peterson (nature)
Matthew Sanford is the award-winning author of "Waking: A Memoir of Trauma and Transcendence" and an internationally recognized teacher of yoga. He has appeared on NBC’s “Today” show, People magazine and “On Being” with Krista Tippett. Paralyzed from the chest down at age 13 and beginning yoga at age 25, Matthew knows firsthand the transformative effect that yoga can have on the mind-body relationship. He has learned to listen to his body at a deep and subtle level. This has given him a unique understanding of what the mind can do and what it can’t do. For those on a spiritual path, Matthew’s message will change how you understand yourself.
Lynn Meinders has worked as a counselor at Ascension WI Employer Solutions for 11 years. She has a master’s degree in social work from University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and work experience in hospice and palliative care, loss and grief, community mental health and disability services. She provides observant, compassionate listening and helps people see their strengths, innate gifts and resiliency so they can determine answers and strategies that are right for them. She is interested in research that helps explain the way our minds work and why we do the things we do. She enjoys helping people dig deep into understanding themselves as well as their emotional/behavioral patterns in an effort to make meaningful change. Away from work, she enjoys reading, creating visual art, walking with my dog, hiking trails, perennial gardening and meaningful connection with friends and family.
Chris Roberts began exploring contemplative spirituality during a challenging season facing infertility and the death of his father-in-law. This journey drew him toward apophatic prayer models and the importance of music/art/nature to engage with God. As he began to experience God in fresh ways, he decided to pursue spiritual direction certification as a way to introduce others to contemplative spirituality in everyday life. As a spiritual guide, he weaves together music, contemplative readings, nature and hospitality. Having served as a worship pastor and traveling musician for more than 20 years, he is drawn to the ways that music, both with and without words, speaks to the inner soul. Originally from Texas, Chris enjoys spicy foods, playing guitar, listening to music and spending time in nature (both solo and with his wife and three kids).
Char Peterson is a lifelong learner of a variety of healing modalities that encourage the recovery of our sense of the sacred in all of creation. She has practiced her soul care most recently as a hospice chaplain at Gundersen Health System. She has a master’s degree in theology and a master’s level Certificate of Pastoral Ministry from St. Catherine University in St. Paul, Minnesota. She also recently received her certification as a forest therapy guide through the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy.
Investment:
• OVERNIGHT: $210, includes private bedroom, breakfast and lunch on Saturday
• COMMUTER: $140, includes lunch on Saturday
www.FSCenter.org | 608-791-5295
Direct link to registration: https://fsc.retreatportal.com/calendar/event?programcode=25SBO09174
ALSO CONSIDER:
REST AND RENEW RETREAT OPTION (in-person)
APRIL 24-25, Thursday, 10 a.m.-Friday, 6 p.m.
One World Listening participants are invited to arrive a day early to rest and renew. Bring a book, create art, journal, take a nap or plan a hike on one of the beautiful paths near La Crosse — whatever fills your soul and deepens your connection to the Sacred. You will have a private, comfortable room, and you are invited to participate in spiritual direction (included in the cost of this retreat).
Investment: $182, includes an overnight stay; lunch and dinner on Thursday; breakfast, lunch and dinner on Friday; one spiritual direction session
Space is limited to 10 participants.
Direct link to registration: https://fsc.retreatportal.com/calendar/event?programcode=25SLO09443