May 3-5, 2026
Iowa First Call Theological Education Retreat
“Practicing grounded presence in your first three years of ministry”
Where: Being New Spirituality Center @ Grace Lutheran Church 5201 Urbandale Ave Des Moines
Hotel: Courtyard by Marriott 1520 NW 114th St. Clive, Iowa
Who: Rostered Ministers in their first three years of ordained ministry
Why: First Call Theological Education is a “requirement” in the ELCA and the three Iowa
Synods can offer an engaging retreat when all first call rostered ministers are gathered.
During this year’s First Call Retreat, we will be tending a variety of spiritual practices—each one an invitation to slow down, sink in, and listen. Centering prayer, yoga, art, quiet time, and walking the labyrinth will be offered as ways of inhabiting our bodies and our days more fully. Certified Spiritual Directors will be available for those who desire a twenty‑minute taste of spiritual direction—companionship for the journey rather than answers to be fixed.
The center’s library, donated by Joyce Rupp and her sisters, will be open to us, as will the garden, for those who wish to spend time with a book or with their hands in the earth. We will share meals. We will worship. We will rest together. And in all of it, we will trust that what truly gives life knows how to meet us—patiently, gently, and at the depth where our roots are growing.
So, we ask that you bring your whole, beautiful, curious, open being to Des Moines this May.
We also ask that you bring: comfy clothes, warm socks or slippers, your own coffee mug and water bottle, a bible, a journal, and if you have one, a yoga mat.
We ask that you register and send in any dietary restrictions ASAP.
A block of rooms have been reserved at the Courtyard West/Clive. King rooms are offered to us at a rate of $89 plus tax per night, and double queen rooms at a rate of $109 plus tax per night. Please make your reservation as soon as possible, as the cut off date is April 13.
