Vacations with spirit

Now that it finally looks and feels like summer, people are thinking about how and where to spend their vacation.

Many folks head for the beach or some other recreational oasis where pent-up stress is blown away by fresh air or the right golf club. Some look for a change of pace or scenery to pursue their passions — going to the theater, shopping for antiques or even exploring old graveyards.

Still others are beginning to seek a different kind of retreat — one that offers spiritual benefits as well as physical and emotional relief.

"People are looking to escape the pressures of our hectic pace in the United States," said Phil Stone, founder of findthedivine.com.

His Web site features a directory of nearly 1,600 spiritual retreat and conference centers sorted by region, state or Canadian province. It also includes a list of people across the United States, Canada and Europe who provide spiritual direction.

Stone believes many Americans' renewed interest in spirituality since 9-11 is influencing their choice of leisure activities. His was one of the first Web sites of its kind, but now it's just one of thousands that pop up in an Internet search for "spiritual" or "religious" vacations.

Religious vacations can be as different as Pentecostals are from Presbyterians. One person's itinerary might include a week of exploring the great cathedrals, shrines and monasteries of Europe. Some people dream of a Holy Land tour — now available in Jewish and Christian formats — and others might choose to visit sacred Buddhist sites in India or Tibet.

People who want to look inward as well as outward can find an abundance of faith-based retreat centers that offer both spiritual enrichment and beautiful scenery.

At the Ghost Ranch conference center in Abiquiu, N.M., visitors can attend seminars on topics such as "The Psalms in Contemporary Life" and "Sabbathkeeping" in the morning and hike nearby mountain trails in the afternoon.

Other holistic, health-centered vacations take people on two-week retreats to Bali, India and other exotic locations to focus on developing raw food diets, yoga training and cleansing techniques. And at the Wattle Hollow Retreat Center near Fayetteville, Ark., visitors can commune with nature by hiking a Peace Path and learning how to "cob" — build structures out of clay, sand and straw.

Volunteer vacations offer people a chance to practice what they've heard preached. A multitude of programs welcome folks who will pay to help build schools in Tanzania, install modern water systems in Jamaica or teach English to immigrant children in Minnesota. Volunteers spend most of their time fulfilling the Golden Rule and any sightseeing they can squeeze in is done after hours or on the weekend.

High gasoline prices and busy summer schedules, however, may keep families in the mid-Willamette Valley from taking advantage of these opportunities.

Though the Northwest is not well known for religiosity, there are still plenty of opportunities to encounter the sacred here. This is not intended to be a complete list, but it offers a range of spiritual experiences, all within a few hours' drive of Corvallis.

Mount Angel Abbey

Benedictine monks from Switzerland founded the Mount Angel Abbey in the small town of St. Benedict in 1882. Many of the monastic community's facilities are open to the public, including a retreat house that sits atop a mountain overlooking the Willamette Valley and snow-capped mountains.

Private retreats of one to three days can be arranged during which visitors can use the prayer chapel, wander along a meditation path in the woods or read and study in the extensive abbey library housed in a renowned building designed by Finnish architect Alvar Aalto.

Retreatants of all faiths are welcome in the monks' prayer services each day or to participate in special events, such as the annual Abbey Bach Festival set for July 28-30. The festival, which is often sold out, features three nights of evening Vespers sung by the monks, instrumental concerts of Baroque music and outdoor basket suppers.

Information about lodging, meals and the use of the retreat house is available by calling 503-845-3025. Private retreats cost $60 a day.

For details about the Bach Festival, call 503-845-3321. The abbey's Web site is www.mtangel.edu.

Shalom Prayer Center and Queen of Angels Monastery

Not far from the Mount Angel Abbey is the home of the Benedictine Sisters of Mount Angel. The grounds of the monastery offer 15 acres of flower and vegetable gardens, fruit and nut orchards and wooded areas — places where visitors are welcome to walk, enjoy the variety of birds or pick seasonal fruit and berries.

The prayer center houses a meditation chapel, a reading library and a yearlong roster of workshops and retreats led by licensed counselors, chaplains and spiritual directors.

Find out more by calling 503-845-6773 or see www.open.org/shalom.

Oregon Jewish Museum

The Oregon Jewish Museum was founded in 1989 to establish a repository of Jewish art and history and is the only Jewish museum in the Northwest. When it merged with the Jewish Historical Society of Oregon in 1996, it also became home to an extensive archive collection that documents Jewish life in Oregon over the last 150 years.

Located in Portland's Old Town at 310 N.W. Davis St., several personal collections are on display, including Jewish head coverings and silver jewelry from the Middle East, an assortment of original Miriam Cups and matzah covers, portraits of prominent Oregon Jews, ritual objects and photography collections from the Yiddish Theater in New York City and of the birth of the state of Israel in 1948.

Featured exhibits change every few months. The current one, "Life and Light: Congregation Beth Israel and the Founding of a Community," provides a history of the oldest synagogue and Jewish community in the state. In the fall, the museum will host an exhibit about Jewish businesses in Oregon.

The museum is open from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and on Sundays from 1 to 4 p.m. Admission is $3. For information, call 503-226-3600 or see www.ojm.org.

Kings Valley Family Guest Ranch

A new Christian guest ranch is opening this summer near Pedee, between Corvallis and Dallas. Experienced camp directors Ken and Dee Heil will lead a series of youth horsemanship camps from July 14 through Sept. 3, and they are offering families a chance to enjoy a "western ranch" vacation within a Christian atmosphere.

No riding experience is required for the weekly day or overnight camps for youths 9 to 16. Kids also get to swim, canoe, rope, do nature crafts, take archery lessons and participate in Bible devotions, skits, campfires and cookouts.

Three-day camps cost $65 and five-day camps cost $95; transportation is available from points in Salem and Dallas for an extra $5 per day. Residential programs cost $145 for three nights and $95 for two nights.

Families are welcome to participate in the same activities, including riding lessons and trail rides, during the same summertime camps and into the fall. Tents, teepees, bunkhouses or travel trailers are available to rent or families can bring their own. A daily fee of $10 (age 9 and above) or $5 (age 5 to 8) is charged for each person; the costs for horseback riding, housing and ranch meals vary.

Open houses are set for July 17 and July 24 and 25. Call for directions and times at 503-559-4637 or 503-580-5929, or see www.oregonadventurecamps.org.

Cloud Mountain Retreat Center

Three hours north of Corvallis, near Castle Rock, Wash., the rustic Cloud Mountain Retreat Center has been recognized by Time magazine as one of the premier Dharma centers in the United States where Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike can "deepen and enrich their spiritual lives."

The 20-year-old center sits on five wooded acres and includes two meditation halls, a teacher's cottage, guest lodge, a gas-fired sauna, small lake, an organic garden, greenhouse and a number of resident pets.

Visitors are asked to assist with daily chores, such as helping prepare vegetarian meals, washing dishes and sweeping floors, and are asked to clean their own guest room at the end of each retreat. No radios, alcohol, candles or incense are allowed.

Weeklong retreats are conducted primarily in silence and are guided by visiting teachers. A detailed schedule of this summer's offerings is available at the center's Web site, www.cloudmountain.org. For registration rates, call 888-465-9118.

Worship on the Web

Travelers who want to attend a church, temple or mosque while they're away on vacation might find the following Web sites helpful:

· www.findachurch.com — This directory lists more than 35,000 Christian churches throughout the United States and Canada. Search by location or fine tune your search according to the size of church you want to visit, its worship style, the Bible translation used in sermons, even the education level of the pastor.

· www.masstimes.org — Catholic services can be found at this Web site by city or zip code, plus you can search for services in specific languages or at various tourist locations such as airports, train stations, campgrounds or national parks.

· www.the churchfinder.com — This site provides an exhaustive list of faith communities sorted by city and state, including Christian churches, Jewish synagogues, Muslim mosques and Mormon temples and stake buildings.

Carol Reeves covers religion for the Gazette-Times. She can be reached by e-mail at carol.reeves@lee.net or by phone at 758-9516.