School of the Prophets, 2007

I'm returning from a week in the Great Smoky Mountains with three other friends from seminary. Seven years ago, we met doing a chaplaincy internship in a hospital near our seminary in New Jersey. We've maintained a great relationship and meet together every 18 months or so to encourage each other, share concerns, listen deeply: in short offer each other the pastoral care we seek to give others. We all admit we need this relationship in order to remain balanced and healthy.

We started calling ourselves "The School of the Prophets" when we read Under the Banner of Heaven together for one of our gatherings.

Here are some photos of our week together:

It seems most years we get together, there ends up being a sport of some sort that occupies a lot of our time. Previous highlights have been foosball and basketball. This year was the recently installed Waynesville Disk Golfcourse.

This is where much of our work was accomplished: the view off the front porch at sunset. Four of us on deck chairs sharing stories, listening and encouraging each other.

In the Smoky Mountains, after a hike.

Getting ready to kayak down the Tuckaseegee.