Ever since former President Bill Clinton popularized attendance at a year-end Renaissance Retreat in the Carolinas, Renaissance Retreats have been popping up all over the United States. Advertised as the intellectual's New Year's getaway, they feature prominent speakers, authors, business leaders and philosophers along with a cadre of celebrities. Activities such as golf and tennis are interspersed between lectures, panel discussions, and networking and mixer opportunities. The Spiritual Renaissance Retreat in Monterey, Calif., is an Adventist version of this kind of getaway.

Founded by Pastor John Hughson and a handful of other enthusiasts over a decade ago, this New Year's retreat draws families from several Western states, including California and Hawaii, for a long weekend of lectures and worship, entertainment and recreation. Last year, I took my family to welcome in 2004.

Presenters at the Renaissance Retreat included exceptional speakers and scholarly experts. There were presentations on the rise of Islam in this post-9/11 world, on the future of Adventist young people, and on the convergence of liturgy, monastic prayer practices and Adventist piety. Speakers explored politics inside and outside the Adventist church. Where will our church be and what will it look like in years to come? Bill Loveless delivered a stimulating, if not controversial, look into the future and took questions which led to a conversation I wouldn't have been willing to miss even if you had paid me to leave the room.

Some wonder if there is 'intellectual life' after college, especially in the church. This Spiritual Renaissance Retreat was a testament to the fact that there are people who love our church dearly and are intellectually honest and authentic. They demonstrated you need not leave thinking behind when you go to church. The retreat reminded me that we are called to love God with all our hearts and souls and minds. Wrestling with modernity, being responsive to science, and maintaining our fidelity to the Bible must all be taken on without flinching or fear. We are not called to avoid controversy but to think it through. A faith that cannot stand up to tough questioning isn't worth having. The life of the mind is not only for philosophers in their Ivory Towers but for Everyman and Everywoman. The meaning of life is too important to leave to paid professionals.

My wife enjoyed the talk of books, worldviews and paradigm shifts and the like, but she also enjoyed the fellowship, food and fun. The retreat offered a wonderful balance of play and scholarship, worship and recreation. My kids thoroughly enjoyed the children's programming, which included not just play but learning and creativity. (Keep that a secret. So long as they don't know that it's good for them, they'll have more fun. My young nephew and even younger daughter could not wait to get up in the morning and head on over to their group to do crafts.)

Participants included young and young at heart, single, married, with kids and no kids. Doctors, lawyers, politicians and pastors were there, but please don't hold this against the retreat. (I can say this as one who is a pastor, plaintiff's lawyer and politician.) We came from all sorts of places and professions, but we all came with the hope of being refreshed, rejuvenated and renewed. I left with rich memories of memorable conversations and new friends. I left with my spiritual gas tank filled to the top and my spirit energized for a new year. My love of and ?faith in God was affirmed and my commitment to my church, the Seventh-day Adventist Church, was strengthened.

This year's Spiritual Renaissance Retreat will be held at the Hyatt Regency Monterey Resort, Dec. 30 through Jan. 2. Presenters currently scheduled include John McLarty, editor of Adventist Today; Ivan Blazen, Loma Linda University division of religion; Hawaii state Rep. David Pendleton; Richard Osborne, president of Pacific Union College; Doug Ammon, head of the counseling center at PUC; and Bailey Gillespie from La Sierra University school of religion. Worship services will feature Bill Loveless, Lonnie Melashenko of the Voice of Prophecy and the For Heaven's Sake quintet. 

For more information, contact Pastor John Hughson at Pacific Union College Church, P.O. Box 297, Angwin, CA 94508. Phone: (707) 965-7297. Fax: (707) 965-6774. E-mail: jhughson@puc.edu.