ARC Retreat Community is in an exciting time of renewal.
Strategic Plan 2023-2026
A Deepened Self in a Widened World
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the silent retreat experience that, for Ruth Halvorson, produced the inspirational spark that became ARC. It is the ideal occasion to articulate Board of Director organizational strategic goals for the next 3-5 years to ensure that ARC remains a thriving destination for all those who seek to become a “deepened self in a widened world.”[1]
Throughout its history, ARC has responded to challenging real-world forces – financial, structural, and social - and has flexed and adapted to every crisis it has faced. ARC has even remained vital and steady during the recent pandemic, and has responded proactively to current racial and social conflict and unprecedented global change. The Board of Directors will build on this institutional foundation to focus on the following strategic directions:
Hospitality – the Dynamics of Staffing
Radical hospitality has always been of central importance at ARC. The original ARC vision of intentional community (responsible even for its initial naming – The ARC Retreat Community) is not currently sustainable to achieve a consistent, high-quality ministry of radical hospitality. The Board intends a staffing model supported by financial resources adequate to attract and retain long-term staff in the key areas of executive, organizational, program, kitchen and facilities management. Adequate financial resources includes the ability to pay competitive salaries and provide access to health care and retirement benefits. In order to ensure that this staffing model continues to direct ARC along a trajectory compatible with its original vision, the Board intends to develop an in-depth, integrated system of staff training which equips all personnel, including volunteers, to understand and manifest the extraordinary effort and presence that is exemplified in radical hospitality.
Outcome: Ensure ARC has the workers and volunteers needed to meet current and future goals and aspirations and to sustain its mission of radical hospitality.
Goals:
Hire and retain sufficient staff to comprehensively meet ARC’s mission and vision.
Design, implement, and potentially market comprehensive training for staff and long-term volunteers for competence in radical hospitality and deep listening.
Provide employees with professional opportunities, compensation, and benefits that fit with ARC’s core values and market standards.
Infrastructure: Container and Foundation
At ARC’s founding, the prevailing method for the work of enabling the deepened self in a widened world was the model of small group retreats primarily led by religious and spiritual institutions. The physical infrastructure built at that time was ideal for this kind of work. But social transformations have changed the needs and expectations of spiritual seekers. The COVID-19 pandemic functionally culminated the shift from primarily small groups to individuals, and this has left ARC in need both of more individual and more multi-use spaces.
The land on which ARC was founded is of essential importance to the living spirit of ARC. The forest and wetland, and the living beings who inhabit these spaces, help create the sense of sanctuary felt by visitors to the property. This land must be stewarded for future generations. However, continuing development pressures on the land surrounding ARC poses a significant existential threat to ARC’s ability to provide a haven for either groups or individuals.
Outcome: Ensure a sustainable organization, well-managed grounds and facilities, and ongoing commitment to stewardship of the ARC property.
Goals:
Complete comprehensive facilities master plan and include building and acreage expansion goals.
Expand the number of individual Hermitages in order to meet increasing demand from visitors.
Purchase/acquire additional land surrounding ARC as a buffer to ensure continuity of retreat space and future growth.
Continue upgrades to existing buildings, including accessibility.
Sustainability – Widening our Community
Community at ARC includes not only staff and volunteers, but also the many individuals who have attended retreats or programs as well as all those near and far who have contributed in any way to ARC’s sustainability. In a world fractured by rampant individualism, the building of healthy and effective community is a revolutionary task. The work of radical hospitality at ARC has and will always depend on volunteers to support it with their service or their funds. This being said, ARC will continue to thrive only if it remains financially sustainable.
Outcome: Ensure ARC is financially viable and able to fulfill its mission.
Goals:
Achieve a 50/50 ratio of earned/contributed income by 2026.
Seek out new financial donors/benefactors who support ARC’s mission and vision.
Promote ARC in appropriate markets while remaining flexible and responsive to emerging social needs.
Explore potential profit opportunities that are aligned with ARC’s mission.
It is rare for a small non-profit like ARC to survive 50 years after its initial inspiration – or to survive the transition from the controlling influence of a founder, now 26 years past. Yet ARC has consistently surmounted any crisis, including those most recent, with broad community support and the more nebulous but essential support of the land itself. The Board of Directors looks forward with excitement to implement these strategic initiatives over the next several years to ensure that all are welcome at ARC to becoming a deepened self in a wider world.
[1] This is the title of a book of essays collected to honor Ruth Halvorson in 1996 upon her retirement as ARC’s founding director.
ARC RETREAT COMMUNITY: 2020 AND BEYOND
Vision
ARC Retreat Community (ARC) envisions a transformed world in which all people embrace and cultivate the spiritual nature of life through healthy, loving relationships with self, others, planet earth, and the Divine.
Mission
The mission of ARC is to serve individuals and groups seeking time apart for rest and spiritual renewal. ARC embraces people in their full diversity: including all faith traditions and spiritual beliefs. Founded in the spirit of Christian ecumenism, ARC is an inter-spiritual retreat community. It is nurtured on sacred land, promoting environmental sustainability, and exemplifying a just and inclusive world where every voice is valued and respected.
History
ARC Retreat Community was born almost 50 years ago from a visionary action that was ahead of its time. In 1972 founder Ruth Halvorson honored her spiritual vision. With the help and support of her family and many individuals, together they developed an organization that has enabled thousands of people to find rest and spiritual renewal through radical hospitality. ARC has been guided and sustained by many surprising happenings that have been described as “God events,” ARC continues to be a place for visioning so that the journey inward – nurturing one’s spirit – inspires the journey outward – nourishing the world in the quest for harmony, peace, and justice.
The ARC land is located within the traditional homelands of the Anishinaabe and the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ peoples. Over thirty years ago, sweat lodges were developed by indigenous people on ARC and continue to this day. ARC offers this land acknowledgement in order to affirm indigenous sovereignty, history, and experiences and is honored to be in contemporary relationships with indigenous communities.
ARC’s Symbol: The White Pine, Tree of Peace
White Pines are deeply rooted in the sacred ground that is ARC. To the Anishinaabe, original caretakers of this land, pine trees represent wisdom and harmony with nature. The White Pine symbol enables us to visualize ARC’s groundedness in its history, while its branches and needles demonstrate the expansiveness and vitality that is available to all who come to ARC. The spiritual significance of trees has been important in many human cultures. To the Iroquois people, the white pine symbolized the Great Peace that united their separate nations. The “tree of life” that connects all forms of creation is deeply rooted in Jewish, Christian, and Islamic scriptures, and it was under the Bodhi tree that Buddha achieved enlightenment. Many people who come to ARC comment on the sacred presence they feel as they walk through the white pines on the land.
The ARC Way: Action, Reflection, Celebration
The trunks of many trees grow in spirals, as do the needles of the White Pine. ARC (Action, Reflection, Celebration) can also be understood in these spirals. Actions radiate our present understanding of Divine presence. Reflections draw us back into ever deeper understandings of that presence. And the life we live in and through this process, whatever its challenges or rewards, becomes our authentic Celebration of the Divine in human life.
The Journey Inward (Reflection)
The practice of ARC is to welcome everyone, offer hospitality, and provide a safe, quiet place apart for rest, solitude, and renewal. ARC’s rural, 91-acres of woods, streams, and paths calm and nurture the soul. ARC staff help plan and facilitate retreat experiences for individuals and groups and invite guests to discover the healing and restoration that can be found through rest, silence and listening. Thousands of individuals have recounted profound experiences of transformation. ARC has been referred to by many as a spiritual home, a place of refuge. ARC is a place of solitude where we can become mindful of our inner resources and become mindful of the Divine both within and around us.
ARC encourages the Journey Inward by:
Providing stillness through silence, meditation, worship, centering prayer, contemplation, and other stillness practices.
Enabling ritual based on cultural and spiritual traditions including the sweat lodge, retreats, walking the labyrinth, daily worship, and creating sacred spaces supported by ritual and cyclic practices.
Offering generative and relational practices, such as prayer, tonglen, Lectio Divina, deep listening, dialogue, storytelling, journaling, and creative practices such as writing, visual art, music, dance, and singing.
Providing wellness practices, including nutritious meals, massage, spiritual guidance, yoga, and spending time in nature.
The Journey Outward (Action)
ARC is committed to helping heal the threats to our planet, and is dedicated to ensuring environmental, racial, and socioeconomic justice. All beings are interconnected and the suffering of one affects us all. Reflection enables participants to return to their daily lives strengthened and inspired to act for the well-being of others out of compassion and with a sense of purpose. We become instruments of the Divine working through us.
ARC encourages the Journey Outward by:
Offering workshops relevant to the issues of our time, including racial and economic justice, gender identity, environmental sustainability, public health crises, and recovery from addictions.
Working with other social movements, groups, and organizations for a resilient, sustainable, and equitable economy.
Providing seminars and teaching opportunities on topics such as specific spiritual practices; the craft of writing; how to create artistic media such as fabric dyeing, wood carving, weaving, or quilting; and healing practices to recover from trauma.
Deepening the connections between the local and the global through workshops and events that connect to our local, regional, and global community.
Continually re-evaluating the mission, vision, and ideals of ARC.
Walking the Path (Celebration)
An ARC experience helps connect with the fundamental joys of life and opens an awareness of the beauty of the earth. We celebrate our opportunities to live in unity with all beings, and feel our connection to the spiritual sources of renewal and vision. The path to self-awareness and spiritual attunement can be demanding. ARC provides the crucible of community for this effort.
ARC encourages Walking the Path through:
Regular gatherings of support and celebration, in person and digitally, for laughter, encouragement, and to acknowledge our interconnectedness.
Retreats designed specifically to come together in celebration, such as a New Year’s Eve retreat, gatherings to mark the beginning of a new liturgical year, or a solstice gathering to rejoice in the change of seasons.
The daily practice and spirit of ARC manifests in unexpected ways. Those who are familiar with ARC can take solace in knowing each day someone is practicing loving-kindness meditation, or praying for humanity, or completing a ritual to bless the earth.
For more information about ARC please contact us: director@arcretreat.org or 763-689-3540.
Approved by the Board 11/14/20. This is a living document, reviewed and updated at least annually by the Board.
ARC Retreat Community Renewal Plan and Future
Beloved ARC Community,
In January 2019, when the Board of Directors began a discernment process and asked what must ARC do to
continue to be a sacred place of welcome, hospitality, community and renewal, you showed up! Just shy of 80 donors, retreatants, former community members, partners, board and staff attended four organized gatherings to share
your support, your serious concerns, and your suggestions for a sustainable future. An additional fifty presented similar information via email and/or phone calls with board members and staff. Bottom line – you love ARC and desire it to be here for the next generation, at least another 40 years. That said, the Board’s expected outcome was to energize and
galvanize people committed to a renewed ARC – the lodge, the cottage, the hermitage and 90 acres of sacred land with its 150-year old Grandy pines.
Where We Are Going
After careful consideration of the input from all who participated, the historical data, and the energy building
around a commitment to move forward, the Board unanimously decided that ARC will renew service to its mission of providing a ministry of hospitality, a welcoming presence for individuals and groups seeking time apart for rest and
spiritual renewal.
This decision was made based on these key assumptions:
The ARC Experience is life-giving for all involved.
ARC operates with transparency and integrity.
Volunteers contribute to the vibrancy and sustainability of the hospitality ministry.
Revenue to sustain ARC is must be raised not just through individual and group retreat fees, but also through partnership opportunities and best-practice fundraising techniques.
ARC’s financial management will rest on a solid foundation that includes both an operations budget and a capital improvements budget.
ARC is managed by paid staff earning a livable wage in accordance with Minnesota State and Federal labor laws.
An intentional community model is not currently part of staffing.
ARC land and facilities are maintained in accordance with a Master Facility Plan that is updated at least every three years.
ARC is governed by an engaged and informed Board of Directors
What We Have Done So Far
The ARC Renewal process is manifesting in several ways. For example:
1. Physical Plant Improvements
ARC closed for five months in 2019 to complete several upgrades to the physical plant, review and fill appropriate staff positions, and relicense the kitchen with the State of Minnesota.
2. Executive Director Hired
The Board unanimously chose Dr. Suzanne Begin to serve as ARC’s Executive Director effective September 1, 2019. Suzanne served as interim on-site manager from March through August 2019, holding space in support of the Board through the ARC transition process. She is committed to discerning, strategizing and implementing the future of ARC as
a viable and sustainable operation. Suzanne’s prior experience includes executive director of two major public hospital foundations, pastor of an inner city mission and interfaith church, certifications in family life education and evidence-based coaching, and Ph.D. in Organizational Development and Change.
3. Community and Stakeholder Engagement
Sustaining the spiritual vitality of ARC is important. To this end, the Board recruited Rev. Nancy Victorin-Vangerud, former ARC director and currently Chaplain and Director of the Wesley Center at Hamline University, to provide leadership in helping the Board articulate the ARC spiritual position and subsequent program alignment for the 21st century. Additionally, new and renewed partnerships are underway, and a revitalized Volunteer Program continues to be a robust source of support for ARC.
What We Need From You
Now is the time for action. We ask you to act on your commitment to ARC and its mission. Whether by volunteering, financial contributions, participation on working groups or helping to establish new partnerships, all these elements will support ARC’s renewal.
To volunteer, schedule a retreat or give, visit www.arcretreat.org, email Suzanne at director@arcretreat.org or call the office phone at 763.689.3540.