United Women in Faith - Western North Carolina Conference

We believe love in action can change the world.

2025 Spiritual Growth Retreat

Thursday, June 12 thru Saturday, June 14, 2025
Lake Junaluska

Theme: My Name is…God

Retreat Leader: Rev. Aryn Williams-Ruebel
Mission Speaker: Maggie Armstrong
Music Leaders: Catherine Ritch and
Charlie Harnish

Our retreat will have new features this year!

Click here to download a flyer that you can share with your friends!

Our Spiritual Growth Retreat Leaders

Rev. Aryn Williams-Ruebel
Pastor, Cashiers United Methodist Church
Smoky Mountain District
Retreat Leader

Maggie Armstrong
Director of Recovery
Western North Carolina Conference
Mission Speaker

Catherine Ritch
Circuit Riding Musician Ministry
Metro District
Music Leader

Charlie Harnish
Music Director, Weaverville UMC
Blue Ridge District
Music Leader

Retreat Details

Retreat Registration: 

Retreat Dates: Thursday, June 12 thru Saturday, June 14, 2025

Online Registration is OPEN and will be open thru June 9, 2025

  • Important: See our Health Safety Measures on the second tab. 
  • Coming Soon! Download – Spiritual Growth Retreat Program Book 2025
  • Retreat Registration Fee (In-Person):  $25 per person thru May 15, 2025$40 per person from May 16, 2025 thru June 9, 2025. Registration is ONLINE ONLY; there will be NO ON-SITE REGISTRATION, and registration will close on June 9, 2025. Registration fees are non-refundable, and non-transferable.
  • Register yourself AND others! Our online registration is for one person at a time, but one person can do multiple individual registrations using the same email address. Thanks for helping other members of your local unit to register online — especially those who may not use a computer!
  • Our online registration process through the conference website using Stripe to securely process payment of the registration fee. Stripe is a secure, widely used processor of online payments. You will enter your registration information, and then complete your registration by paying online within one hour. 
  • For events at Lake Junaluska, we have to pay a grounds fee for any of our participants who are not staying in one of the Lake Junaluska hotels or apartments. That grounds fee helps to maintain and pay for all of the amenities that visitors use and enjoy as they visit the Lake and participate in events. The room rate for persons staying in Lake Junaluska facilities includes fees that help with those costs. For the Spiritual Growth Retreat, that grounds fee for persons not staying in Lake Junaluska hotels or apartments is $15.00 per person. We need to add that to your registration fee so that we can make that payment to Lake Junaluska. This is an honor system, but we will receive a list of all reservations for persons staying in Lake Junaluska facilities.
  • Need Technical Assistance? Click here to submit request so we can help you.

Health Safety Measures

The health and safety of our members and attendees is a top priority for United Women in Faith. We all want to meet in person, and experience the special gift of sharing time together for our retreat. To do that, we will continue to lean into doing no harm, and making efforts to keep everyone safe. With that in mind, the following health safety measures will be in place for our retreat. You will be asked to confirm that you will follow our health safety measures:

  • Mask wearing will be by personal choice for participants while inside buildings.
  • Participants agree that they will stay home if they have any symptoms of illness, have tested positive, or have a known recent exposure.

    Thank you for your understanding and help as we work to provide the safest possible environment for all in-person attendees at the 2025 Spiritual Growth Retreat.

    Lake Junaluska Housing Reservations:

    Reservations for housing at Lake Junaluska must be made separately from our retreat registration. Important note: The prices for The Terrace and Lambuth Inn that you will get on a phone call reservation DO INCLUDE the room rates, the required five meal package, plus taxes and fees. For the Lake Junaluska Apartments, all prices include taxes and fees, but the meal package is optional.

    To book Lake Junaluska lodging for the Spiritual Growth Retreat:

    • Use the 800 number to call and make your retreat reservations.
    • Beginning April 1, 2025, call the Lake Junaluska reservations department at 1-800-222-4930. Then the Reservations Department, and the next available agent will be glad to assist you. Tell the agent that you are making reservations for the Western North Carolina Conference United Women in Faith Spiritual Growth Retreat. The Lake Junaluska reservations team is on duty from 8:00 am until 5:00 pm, Monday through Friday.
    • Housing Rate Information:

    • Housing in Lake facilities may fill up quickly, so make your reservations early. We encourage you if at all possible to stay on the grounds to help support the facilities at Lake Junaluska. If the Lake facilities are full, there are lots of motels near the Assembly grounds, visit the Haywood County Chamber of Commerce or the Maggie Valley Area Visitors Bureau for more information on available accommodations

    Retreat Leader:

    We are excited to announce that Rev. Aryn Williams-Ruebel will be our retreat leader for the 2025 Spiritual Growth Retreat. Aryn currently serves as Pastor at Cashiers United Methodist Church in the Smoky Mountain District.

    More about Aryn…

    Rev. Aryn Williams-Ruebel comes from a long line of faithful women.  She is the  daughter of David and Sara Williams, she grew up in East Bend, NC and attended Prospect United Methodist Church.  She started attending United Methodist Women with her mom and grandmamma as a young girl.  

    Aryn attended East Carolina University where she achieved a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a Masters in Health Education.  Aryn was very active in the formation of a Young Women’s UMW Circle at Trinity, UMC in New Bern and a new UMW group at St. Luke’s UMC in Hickory.  She was also briefly the communications officer for the Catawba Valley District. After working in various careers she received the call to go into ministry in 2011 while a member at St. Luke’s UMC.  After attending a formative walk to Emmaus experience, Aryn began serving as a local pastor in 2012 in Sylva, NC while attending seminary at Candler School of Theology.  She was Ordained in 2018 and has served in the local church in Haywood and Jackson County.  She has been married to Jay Ruebel since 2015 and together they are proud to have three wonderful daughters, Gracie, Norah and Journi.  

     

    Music Leaders:

    Our music leaders for 2025 will be: Catherine Ritch and Charlie Harnish

    Catherine Ritch:  Catherine Ritch, a native of Matthews, NC, is a published composer and author of inspirational fiction, non-fiction and children’s books with 27 books currently in print, and 7 others currently in process. A frequent speaker/musician in a variety of venues, she has entertained or spoken for audiences around the globe. She was selected as the International Profile of The United Methodist Church for September 2009 because of her continual work and efforts with missions for schools in areas of natural disasters.

    A radio personality once said of Ritch, “Catherine’s lightning quick wit and musical talent are astonishing enough, but combined with her never ending source of positive energy, the woman is a ball of fire that’s sure to inspire.” Put Catherine on a piano, organ or keyboard and from Bach to Broadway to Boogie to the Best of Gospel, she’ll have the audience enthralled with the rhythms of life.

    One of Catherine’s most fun ventures is a comedy series featuring Miz Eudora Rumph of Smackass Gap, NC, which happens to be a real place (where Methodists have The Hinton Retreat Center). Dressed as Miz Eudora, she has entertained doctors and medical personnel, ministers and bishops, teachers and various other groups with “Laughter Is the Best Medicine” through the simple mountain wit and wisdom of her Appalachian grandmother. In Catherine’s words, “People in today’s society take themselves way too seriously or get caught up in unnecessary stresses. A good dose of Miz Eudora is a cure for all that ails you, and also for that which don’t!”

    Catherine has been introduced as an author, composer, comedienne, entertainer, teacher, musician, inspirational/motivational speaker, and volunteer-in-mission, but her favorite way to be acknowledged is “friend.”

     

    Charlie Harnish: 

     

    Retreat Schedule: (Approximate)

    Coming Soon!

    • Thursday, June 12
      • Friday, June 13
      • Saturday, June 14

      Breakout Sessions

      Friday, June 13:

      • 8:00am to 9:00am – Move 4 Missions Treasure Hunt with Valerie Prim. Meet outside Howell Center for a fun morning walk.
      • 9:00am to 10:15am – The very popular Book Club with Jennie Greenway. During this session we will discuss the book The Lucky Ones by Linda Williams Jackson. 
      • 1:30pm to 2:30pm – United Women in Faith Choir – Do you love singing? Make a joyful noise with your United Women in Faith sisters.
      • 2:00pm to 4:30 or 5:00pm – Ubuntu with Kim. Come participate in Ubuntu with a local community agency in the Waynesville area. It will not be hard labor, but it will certainly be a labor of love.
      • 2:30pm to 4:00pm – Labyrinth Walk – After a short video on the history of Labyrinths, we will silently transition to the Labyrinth beside the Memorial Chapel.
      • 3:30pm to 4:30pm – Jazzercizing 4 Jesus – No retreat would be complete without Jazzercise 4 Jesus led by LaDonna Butts. Come enjoy, exercise in a chair while worshiping Jesus.

        Retreat Love Offering
        A Gift to Undesignated Mission Giving…

        You may make your Love Offering gift in two ways this year:

        Mail it directly to:

        Bess Redmond, Conference Treasurer
        19 Wright’s Cove Trail
        Fairview, NC 28730

        Please make checks payable to:  Treasurer, WNCC UMW

        Or, make your gift online today using the Donate link below:

        • Click here to DONATE to the Retreat Love Offering
        • We use Stripe as our secure online payment processor. You may use any of several credit/debit cards to make your gift.
        • You will receive a email receipt confirming your gift to the Conference Love Offering.

        We invite you to give generously!

        Giving is a way for United Women in Faith / United Methodist Women to give expression to their faith. 

        Giving is a privilege – a gift of God’s grace. …from United Methodist Women in Mission

        Hands On Mission Opportunity

        Gift cards for Brooks-Howell Home in Asheville, North Carolina.

        • Bring gift cards for any amount for:
          • Lowe’s Home Improvement
          • Home Depot, or
          • Walmart

        Brooks-Howell is a non-profit, charitable continuing care retirement community owned and supported by the United Women in Faith of The United Methodist Church. It was established to provide a retirement facility for deaconesses, missionaries, and others approved by United Women in Faith. Originally established to provide a retirement community for United Methodist deaconesses and missionaries, it has now evolved into a diverse community that welcomes all seniors.

        Countdown to 2025 Spiritual Growth Retreat!

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        We all need a break from our busy lives, a time for reflection, a time to listen for God’s guidance. We are so busy doing all the things we are called upon to do, we don’t often take the time to slow down, to sit back and think about the things that are really important. Join us to pray, to listen, to study, to fellowship with United Women in Faith from across the conference, and to spend some quiet time in reflection.

        2025 RETREAT COMMITTEE:

        Betty Durham, Joanie Strohm, Lynn Alexander, Bess Redmond, Laquetta Barbee, Vickie Brown, Kim Eller, Cathy McCauley, Linda Greer, Sarah Lee, Deborah Brooks, and Lynne Gilbert

        A retreat is a time to reflect upon your relationship with God. It is a time to be attentive as God speaks to us. The committee has worked hard to plan an inspirational retreat. We anticipate a wonderful time together. We hope you will join us in June!

        Download our My Name is…God Logo:

        Basic Retreat Logo JPG

        Have a question? Need more information? Contact Betty Durham, our Mission Coordinator for Spiritual Growth