Nurture & Rest: An Invitation — A Women’s Retreat Story

This fall, women from Mennonite Women USA joined with the women of Portland Mennonite Church (PMC) for their annual retreat, held in the lush beauty of Canby Grove, Oregon in the great Pacific Northwest (click here for pictures and video). The partnership began through Nelly Ascencio, our Northwest regional representative, whose congregation shares a building with PMC. From the first welcome, it was clear this would be a weekend of warmth, curiosity, and spiritual connection—a sacred time to rest together. 

The retreat theme, “Nurture & Rest: An Invitation,” drew inspiration from Tricia Hersey’s book Rest Is Resistance and the 2025 MCUSA Women’s Summit. The organizers designed the weekend intentionally: every activity was optional, creating space for women to discern what their bodies, minds, and spirits most needed—whether that was conversation, creativity, a nap, or quiet reflection by the river.

Over 50 women gathered from Friday evening through Sunday morning worship. To open the weekend, participants introduced themselves through an object that symbolized how they find nurture or rest—a small ritual that invited laughter, storytelling, and vulnerability. Some shared light-hearted items, others deeply personal symbols. This opening flowed into a “friend wheel,” a playful, rotating circle of brief conversations that helped strangers become sisters.

Saturday morning’s worship and learning session, led by Cyneatha Millsaps, Executive Director of Mennonite Women USA, was the heart of the weekend. Cyneatha invited the group into an experiential exploration of Hersey’s central themes: rest, dream, resist, and imagine.

She began by reminding participants that rest is not indulgence—it is a spiritual and political act of resistance against systems that commodify bodies and time. Quoting Hersey, Cyneatha reflected, “I am tired. I am angry. Tender rage comes from what these systems have done to our bodies, ancestors, and culture.” Through this lens, she invited the group to examine how white supremacy and capitalism shape even our most personal experiences of rest.

Participants moved through four guided cycles of teaching, meditation, and creative response—listening to songs like Andra Day’s Rise Up and Sweet Honey in the Rock’s Ella’s Song, reflecting in small circles, and then expressing insights together at the mic, on a collective mural, and in personal journals. The room became a sacred studio of color, silence, music, and honest conversation.

In the REST circle, women discussed how grind culture defines worth by productivity and how choosing rest—especially for women and people of color—is a countercultural act. In DREAM, we considered how reclaiming imagination can be an act of liberation: “Daydreaming isn’t laziness; it’s divine creativity,” Cyneatha said. In RESIST, she led reflection on how women can use their power—quiet or loud—to challenge unjust systems and honor ancestral strength. Finally, in IMAGINE, participants envisioned a church and a world where everyone thrives, writing visions and prayers for the future. Each cycle ended with music, meditation, and art—a rhythm of reflection and renewal.

Throughout the weekend of connection and creativity, the retreat offered a variety of ways to rest and relate: a silent nature walk interspersed with poetry readings, yoga led by a professional instructor, crafts like papermaking and bookbinding, and a serene labyrinth hand-painted by one of the planners. Some read and discussed Rest Is Resistance in an optional afternoon book circle, while others lingered over puzzles and games or enjoyed a nap.

Saturday night brought laughter and joy during the beloved “Menno Mic”—an open mic tradition full of songs, poems, and stories that celebrated the quirky, creative, and communal spirit of the group. The weekend closed Sunday morning with movement, worship, prayer, and blessings for the journey ahead.

The retreat offered a living example of how to gather women in ways that nurture authenticity and belonging. By emphasizing rest, choice, and creativity over rigid programming, the planners created an environment where participants could connect deeply without pressure. Intentional icebreakers, shared meals, and open-ended creative practices fostered community across backgrounds.

Just as important were the insights about living “rest as resistance.” Participants left challenged to: See REST as a spiritual discipline—a way of reclaiming one’s worth and humanity beyond productivity; DREAM boldly as a form of liberation, allowing imagination to guide new ways of being; RESIST injustice by disrupting patterns of overwork and scarcity that harm bodies and communities;  IMAGINE collectively, trusting that small circles of women, resting and creating together, can reshape the world.

As one PMC leader reflected afterward, “We are so very grateful for the deep and challenging wisdom we drew from Rest Is Resistance this weekend. May we continue to find ways to rest and nurture our bodies, minds, and souls, drawing on God’s loving presence in our daily lives.” The retreat ended not just with renewal, but with a shared conviction: resting together is holy work.

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Women's Voices blog is a community journal. This entry documents a recent retreat experienced by many women. Read the archives for past reflections by diverse women: https://www.mennonitewomenusa.org/blog and consider offering a piece about your own story of faith: https://www.mennonitewomenusa.org/post/call-for-writers.