Service Retreat Weeks
Our service-retreats are focused around our four cornerstones. You can expect to experience discussions and hands-on work relating to social justice, sustainability, housing issues and direct service with our neighbors. Participants with be challenged to engage with daily prayer, communal lifestyle, and neighborhood action.
Group Weeks
School and church groups are invited to spend a week at Jerusalem Farm during their summer break. Service-retreat weeks throughout the year are also encouraged.
- The total participation fee for a week-long Service-retreat at Jerusalem Farm is $400 per participant*, with a $50/participant deposit required to secure your reservation, and the remaining $350 per volunteer due two months prior to your chosen group week.
- If you have any questions about our group weeks, please email our Volunteer Coordinator.
Click to schedule your group for a Service Retreat:
*Please inquire about discounts if needed*
Family Week
Families are invited to spend a week at Jerusalem Farm. During this week, we focus on the context and experience of family life in connection with our four cornerstones.
- The participation fee for each adult is $200 for a family week.*
- For children older than 5 years of age, the participant fee is $150 per child.*
- All children 5 years old and younger are free.
- If you have any questions about our family week, please email our Volunteer Coordinator.
Click to make a family reservation for a Service Retreat:
*Please inquire about discounts if needed*
Retreat Week FAQs
When do you host Service-retreat weeks?
Whenever your group would like to visit, we would like to host you! Most of our Service-retreats are in the summer. However, we can host groups in the fall, winter, or spring.
When do retreats begin and end?
A typical week begins between 7 and 8 pm on Sunday and ends around 9 am on the following Saturday. If your group wants to come in a nontraditional time, we can tailor the starting and ending times as needed.
Basic group week information can be found in the FAQs above. However, we are committed to hospitality and can make accommodations, if need be.
Please contact us at volunteer@jerusalemfarm.org with further questions. We look forward to working with you!
How We Live Out Our Cornerstones in a Service Retreat Week
Prayer
Each morning and evening will contain time for prayer and reflection. Some prayers will be led by our Community; others will be led by volunteers with our Community available for guidance and formation. As an organization that is Catholic in heritage and identity, we will typically have mass at least once during the week. It is important to us that persons from all faiths and other Christian denominations feel welcomed to serve with us. Please communicate to us any needs to make this possible. As part of our Mission we desire and look forward to all people openly sharing their faith experiences with us. There will be an overall focus on God in our lives, how God is calling us to serve and love one another, and how all our actions can point us to God and call us to prayer.
Community
A full time Community of individuals live and work at Jerusalem Farm. They act as retreat leaders and mentors for the volunteers. At the beginning of the week, students will be introduced to the principles of Catholic Social Teaching through an interactive discussion. It is from these principles that we form our community and respond and act to serve in the surrounding community. Your group will be mixed in with other groups of volunteers (up to 30) and we will focus on "building community". This will be fostered in how the work crews are structured, and in the attitudes and reflections at the Farm. By building community, we are able to better communicate and organize for a common purpose.
Service
Jerusalem Farm has a focus on home repair. This includes the construction or repair of wheel chair ramps, decks, siding, painting, etc. Worksites will be led by a trained member from our Community, and the volunteers will be fully involved with the service. We emphasize that our work is with the homeowner; therefore we encourage interaction between volunteers and homeowners while at the worksite. Other projects may include working at a soup kitchen/food pantry, working in community gardens, parks, tutoring youth and any other needs in the community which have been identified by Jerusalem Farm. There will also be work each day in our kitchen and in our garden, bringing on the dialogue of hospitality and sustainability.
Simplicity
It is through simplicity that we are all made aware of our capabilities and the needs of others. Simplicity will be found in the all the work we do; working the earth in our gardens, and with our hands as carpenters. Volunteers will feel empowered by the tasks they accomplish and the simplicity in manual labor. We will also ask that volunteers refrain from cell phone usage, watches, and other electronics. This will center our attention on those around us with whom we are forming community with, and those we are serving. Finally, volunteers will learn about the importance of sustainability and stewardship of our earth. They will be challenged to take only three showers during the week, one normal shower and two bucket showers.
Some Other Resources To Check Out....
Readings That Shape Us and What We Do
Documentaries of Flight and Gentrification in Kansas City
News Write-Ups of Jerusalem Farm Programs
Climate Emergency
Nexus
compost - degraded land restoration - electric vehicles - electrify everything - girls education - localization - migration - plastics - regenerative agriculture - rewilding - solar - urban farming - war industry - wasting nothing - women and food