ICS: Courses and Retreats
Cultivate Summer Book Club: What Grows in Weary Lands
Online: Monday, June 22, 6:30-8:00 p.m. CT via Zoom
OR In-Person: Tuesday, June 23, 6:30-8:30 p.m. CT
About the Course
Spiritual directors, save the date and join us in June for the Cultivate Summer Book Club as we gather to explore Tish Harrison Warren's new book, What Grows in Weary Land—a timely meditation on finding hope and cultivating spiritual resilience in seasons of exhaustion and uncertainty. Warren explores ancient wisdom from the Desert Fathers and Mothers that can help us find our footing in seasons of the Dark Night or disorientation. As spiritual directors, we will discuss what it means to tend the soul when the ground feels hard and the way forward unclear. Whether you're navigating your own weary season or walking alongside your directees in theirs, this book offers profound insights into God's surprising work in barren places. Come be refreshed, encouraged, and equipped as we read and reflect together.
Purchase the book, read it, and come ready to discuss.
Facilitated by spiritual director and ICS team member Jodi Thomas.
The Cultivate Collective is a community of spiritual directors in the Nashville area who gather bi-monthly for training, networking, and mutual support.
Event Details
Price
$25 per person. Registration required by June 22.
If you would like to attend but are experiencing financial hardship, please email us at ics [at] lipscomb.edu for a scholarship.
Lipscomb faculty and staff: email ics [at] lipscomb.edu (ics[at]lipscomb[dot]edu) for a $10 discount code.
Location
6/22: Online via Zoom
6/23: Private home in Mt. Juliet
Capacity
This event is limited to 25 participants.
About Jodi Thomas
Jodi Thomas is a certified spiritual director and supervisor. She received her BS in Education from The University of Texas at Austin and an MA in Spiritual Formation and Direction from Richmont Graduate University in Atlanta, GA. Jodi has served with ICS since 2024 and loves all things spiritual formation and spiritual direction. She loves to study and teach the Bible, read, hike, play with her dogs, and spend time with her husband of 28 years, JT. She and her husband have one adult son and reside in Mt. Juliet, TN. For more on Jodi, see jodikthomas.com.
Julian in July: A Four-Week Online Introduction
Led by Alden Bass, Ph.D.
Tuesdays, July 7, 14, 21, & 28 • 6:30–7:30 p.m. (CT) • via Zoom
About the Course
"All will be well, all will be well, all manner of things will be well." This July, explore the visionary spirituality of Julian of Norwich, who wrote these words, with Hazelip School of Theology professor Alden Bass, Ph.D. Over four Tuesday evenings, we'll meet this 14th-century English mystic through the illness that sparked her revelations, consider her surprising vision of a "homely" and maternal God, examine her novel theology of sin and salvation, and discover why she remains one of Christianity's most hopeful voices.
Session Themes:
- July 7: "God Sent Me a Bodily Sickness": Meeting Julian and her Visions
- July 14: "Christ Our Mother:" Julian's "Homely" God
- July 21: "Sin is Behovely": A Different Story of the Fall
- July 28: "All Will Be Well": A Theology of Hope
Course Details
Price
$100 for four sessions.
Lipscomb faculty and staff: email ics [at] lipscomb.edu (ics[at]lipscomb[dot]edu) for a $40 discount code.
Location
Online via Zoom
About Alden Bass
Alden Bass, Ph.D., is the Koonce Distinguished Professor of Bible and Ministry at Lipscomb University, where he specializes in early Christianity. A scholar and translator of Augustine's works, he brings both academic expertise and pastoral experience to his teaching. Dr. Bass has served churches in Missouri and Oklahoma, and currently preaches at the historic Lindsley Avenue Church in downtown Nashville.
Summer Breeze: Be Refreshed by God's Loving Presence: A Contemplative Retreat
Led by Sally Sharpe
Saturday, July 25, 2026, 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. (CT) • In-Person Event
About the Course
When life feels noisy, and our souls feel parched, we need refreshment. Summer Breeze invites you to slow down, breathe deeply, and experience God's loving presence in the present moment. Through guided contemplative practices, silence, reflection, and conversation, you'll release striving, quiet inner noise, and let your soul be refreshed.
The Heart of the Retreat
Knowing God loves us is foundational—but transformation happens when we experience that love for ourselves. As Paul writes in Ephesians 3:17-19, we're invited to be "rooted and grounded in love" and to "know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge."
Contemplative practices create space to encounter the God who already loves us deeply. They're not about earning approval or becoming "better Christians"—they help us settle, center ourselves, and become receptive to God's presence, peace, and love.
What to Expect
You'll be guided through three contemplative practices and three simple centering tools. Each session includes:
- Learning and experiencing a practice together
- Personal reflection through journaling
- Sharing in community
During lunch, enjoy optional Lectio Divina in a quiet space (indoors or outdoors) or connect with others.
This day is an invitation to pause, breathe, and encounter God personally. You'll leave refreshed, renewed, and more deeply rooted in God's transforming love.
What you'll take home:
Three Contemplative Practices You Can Use Daily
Simple, accessible practices to help you connect with God's presence in everyday life—not just on retreat.Three Centering Tools for Calming Your Nervous System
Practical techniques to settle yourself when life feels overwhelming, creating space to receive God's peace.A Deeper Experience of God's Love
Move beyond knowing about God's love to personally experiencing it—resting in the truth that God's love isn't earned—it's received.
Course Details
Price
$75, lunch included
If you would like to attend but are experiencing financial hardship, please email us at ics [at] lipscomb.edu (ics[at]lipscomb[dot]edu) for a scholarship.
Lipscomb faculty and staff: email ics [at] lipscomb.edu (ics[at]lipscomb[dot]edu) for a $25 discount code.
Location
Lipscomb University, Club 1891, Bennett Center
About Sally Sharpe
Sally Sharpe is a spiritual director, retreat leader, and workshop facilitator with extensive experience in Christian publishing. Trained through the Selah Center for Spiritual Formation (2019) and certified in Ignatian Spirituality and Spiritual Direction Supervision, she offers spiritual direction to individuals and groups, supervises other spiritual directors, and guides others through the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius. Sally and her husband, Neil, live in Mount Juliet with two adult daughters.
Lance Bolay, D.Min.
A Year with Thomas Merton with Four Book Discussions
Led by Lance Bolay, D.Min.
January, April, September, & November
About the Course
Join us for A Year with Thomas Merton, an online series exploring the spiritual life through the writings of one of the twentieth century's most enduring voices. Across four seasonal book discussions in 2026, we'll trace the arc of Merton's life and thought—from the restless energy of his early years to the deep integration of contemplation and action that defined his mature vision.
Each four-week discussion focuses on one of Merton's major works and the key themes it represents:
- Conversion: The Seven Storey Mountain (January)
- Formation: The Sign of Jonas (April)
- Contemplation: New Seeds of Contemplation (September)
- Action: Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander (November)
Together, these readings invite us into Merton's unfolding discovery of what it means to be fully human, deeply awake, and responsive to the divine in a complex world.
Participants may join for a single book or for the entire year-long journey. Each session includes brief teaching, group discussion, and guided reflection.
Course Details
Price
Each 4-week book discussion will be $100.
August 2026 — New Seeds of Contemplation Book Discussion
Led by Lance Bolay, D.Min.
August 4, 11, 18, & 25 • 6:30 p.m. - 7:30 pm (CT) • Via Zoom
About the Course
The 2026 series continues with "Merton's Contemplation: New Seeds of Contemplation," which turns our attention inward, exploring what it means to become our “true self” before God. Merton helps us recognize how easily we get distracted by ego, pressure, and expectations, and he offers a clearer, freer way of living through prayerful awareness. This book invites us to live with greater honesty, compassion, and spiritual depth.
Course Details
Price
$100 for four sessions
If you would like to attend but are experiencing financial hardship, please email us at ics [at] lipscomb.edu (ics[at]lipscomb[dot]edu) for a scholarship.
Lipscomb faculty and staff: email ics [at] lipscomb.edu (ics[at]lipscomb[dot]edu) for a $40 discount code.
About Lance Bolay
Lance Bolay, D.Min., Director of Mission Impact at Mosaic Counseling Centers of East Texas, is a trained spiritual director (ICS & Shalem Institute), guiding others in contemplative formation since 2010 and an ICS instructor since 2015.