Your Hosts
Facilitators
Eric Wilson
Co-Facilitator
Patrick Boatwright
Co-Facilitator
He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul.
For five days, a group of Black men enjoyed their freedom in Christ together, daring to be known and to know one another through play, conversation, and communion.
It is for freedom that we have been made free. This was a space simply to be: each man came as he was, where he was, how he was.
This was a retreat for Black men to be genuinely, bodily, spiritually free. What was most true in each man was not just permitted but expected, and the work of the days was to be present to God, to yourself, and to one another.
Each day moved through the same unhurried rhythm. Psalm 23 framed every session and the arc of the whole week, from arriving as ourselves on Monday to a closing blessing on Friday.
Days opened with a short, guided time of stillness. Some mornings it was silence and breath, others a reading held in quiet. It asked nothing but presence.
Time alone with a few questions and a journal, letting whatever was there surface without pressure before the group gathered.
The men gathered around a central question drawn from that day's turn in Psalm 23. Teaching, honest conversation, and space to listen and be heard.
The middle of the day was open. The pool, a walk in the gardens, cards, a cigar, a long nap. Whatever helped a man breathe.
The second gathering held the same shape: a question, the Psalm, a practice of prayer, and the slow work of processing it together.
Evenings were unhurried, around shared meals and good conversation. Cigars, laughter, and the plain pleasure of being men together without an agenda.
The men arrived by midday. The first gathering was that afternoon, and the evening was dinner and settling in with one another.
The week closed with a final morning gathering, a commissioning, and a send-off before everyone headed home.
1401 Oak Knoll Avenue
Pasadena, CA 91106
Historic grounds at the foot of the San Gabriel Mountains, with gardens, pools, and quiet corners that gave the week room to slow down.
Eric Wilson
Co-Facilitator
Patrick Boatwright
Co-Facilitator
This year's gathering is over. What it opened up is not. We are planning more, and we would rather hear from the people it is for than guess. If any of this is for you, or for someone in your life, tell us.
Another five days like this one, built for a new group of Black men.
The same contemplative rhythm, made for partners to share together.
Open to men of any race who carry the weight of leading others.
A gathering shaped around a specific group that asks for one.