One of the great joys of Iona House is getting to see elements of the property redeemed and repurposed. This post is about one particular story: the wood stalls in the village barn.

Upon purchasing the property 18 months ago, we inherited a barn that needed some renovation. Within the barn were some stalls / dividers that were made out of rugged, rough-hewn lumber of an unknown variety - perhaps fir. These planks were more than 2 inches thick and as long as 10 feet. They are from slow-growth, high quality trees… beautiful lumber. When we took down the stalls, we set these aside as potential benches.

Fast-forward to this summer: we had a few guests begin to help us refinish a couple of these planks: cleaning, planing, sanding, cutting. But the work was slow. A little over a month ago, a new local volunteer named Kevin Park started coming on campus weekly to assist. I showed him this project and he jumped at the opportunity. Over the past 4-6 weeks, Kevin has poured himself into completing this project. It has been a labor of love and the results are stunning.

We now have 3 new benches with backrests along with two new bench seats. These have found a home in the village prayer chapel allowing us to squeeze in as many as 24 people for prayer. Like our own lives, which God is in the business of redeeming, we are seeking to redeem, restore, and repurpose everything we can on this property. It’s a key part of cultivating a place to reimagine all of life in reference to Christ.

It is written in Genesis 2:15:

The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.

The one of the earliest instructions for humankind that occurs in the Scriptures is to assume responsibility for the stewardship of the land.  The Iona House community has been blessed with 71 acres of biologically-diverse forest land.  The tree species represented on the property include Douglas-fir, black oak, ponderosa pine, incense-cedar, sugar pine, Pacific madrone, and flowering dogwood.  In an effort to be good stewards of this land, we now have a forestry team that is currently conducting a preliminary inventory of our forest.  This team is led by Harlan Young, a Humboldt State University forestry graduate and a Certified Arborist, who began working in the forestry profession in 1986.  He is being assisted by two forestry aids, Catherine (“Cat”) Young and Joshua (“Josh”) Brindley, whom Harlan has trained in basic forest sampling methods.

In contrast to industrial forestry, which prioritizes maximizing the yield of merchantable timber and forest products, our team is practicing what is called ecological forestry.  Ecological forestry is primarily concerned with the perpetuation of healthy, diverse, and whole forest ecosystems.  With this approach, the harvesting of timber is designed to mimic naturally-occurring cycles of disturbance and recovery, such as a low to moderate intensity lightning fire, followed the germination and growth of new vegetation.  Such cycles not only promote the regeneration of trees, shrubs and forbs, it also helps prevent high concentrations of fuel that can cause high-intensity, catastrophic fires.  However, environmentally responsible timber harvesting can also generate revenue for the land owner.

The manipulation of the forest environment should never be done without a plan that includes specific management objectives.  Such a plan can’t be developed without a scientifically valid assessment of the current condition of the forest, which is the purpose of this forest inventory. A grid has been laid out consisting of 1/10th-acre plots which are roughly evenly-distributed throughout the entire property, providing a representative sample of the forest as a whole.  The combined area of all of the sample plots will equal 14.2 acres, which is 20% of the entire 71 acres.  Within each plot, the team identifies tree species, counts the number of trees, and measures the heights and diameters of merchantable-sized trees.  With this data, the team can determine tree species composition and calculate forest density (the number of trees per acre), basal area (the square footage area that is occupied by tree trunks), and the volume of potentially merchantable timber.  The tree height data also provides information about the forest canopy structure.  All of this information is essential for making management decisions that are ecologically and economically sound.

What’s particularly unique about our forestry initiative is that the spiritual formation and health of the forestry team is just as important as the care of the land.  Crew members take time out of their field work to participate in the morning, afternoon, and evening prayer offices, as well as special, Iona Community events.  

There’s room on the team for more volunteer forestry aides!  Anyone interested in gaining some knowledge and skills in forestry and desiring to contribute to the care of the land can contact Harlan by email at harlanyoung63@gmail.com.

From the moment we first laid eyes on what we have come to call the “village barn”, we knew it had potential to become something special. It was a diamond in the rough. Most of the “rough” was enormous amounts of junk, clutter, and filth that often take over a country barn. But it had great bones and was located in a central space. Over the past 18 months it has become the “watering hole” of the Iona House Village.

This week, the barn took a huge leap forward. It got a floor! We had a donor come forward who was willing to sponsor the floor and yesterday the concrete got poured. It turned out beautiful. The project was more complicated than we thought - involving jack-hammering out unhelpful old stem-walls, replacing rotting posts, setting new concrete bases, and much more. But now this space is incredibly usable. Timing couldn’t be better as rain is predicted next week!

Here are some pictures showing the barn transformation over time… (there’s still a lot more to do. Anyone want to sponsor new windows?!)

The barn as we found it when we purchased the land.

Full of lots of old, dusty stuff... much of it of no use to us.

Adding gravel to the barn floor to address the dust and mud

The volunteer crew from Holy Trinity Church in Silicon Valley

New paint and new front stained glass (the old window is now inside the barn featured with a light box)

getting ready for concrete

Over the past number of months have had a lot of random tools and supplies that didn’t have a home at Iona House - especially after we cleared out the barn to make way for some upgrades (a slab floor, new windows, etc. - a project coming soon, Lord willing). Our tool shed, where these things were supposed to live, was a disheveled mess. Our stuff was disorganized and hard to find. Nothing had a home and it was frustrating to any person who went looking for a particular item.

Enter Amy Lin, who was on retreat at Iona House and mentioned that she knew the amazing folks at Trinity - a storage / organization system company whose products you may have seen at Costco amongst other places. Anyway, she was able to make a connection to the owners of this business who then graciously and generously donated a bunch of phenomenal storage / organizational systems to Iona House.

The result: A transformed tool shed where everything fits and everything has a place. It has been an amazing gift. It’s one of the many gifts that makes Iona House happen - as everything here happens in an economy of generosity / gifts. We’re so grateful to Cze, Cindy, and the whole Trinity crew. Your gift has transformed one small, but important part of Iona House.

Pictured below are the folks who spent a few days building, sorting, and organizing all of our tool / storage shed.

We were blessed to welcome approx. 125 guests to joyfully celebrate a phenomenal first year of the village (the village being the 40 acres that have homes, outbuildings, animals, etc. on them). We offered tours, a chance to meet our animals, appetizers, evening prayer, and a delicious dinner. We also featured a couple of panels to hear about the experience of various folks: participants in Iona House and Residents at Iona House.

Executive Director / Cofounder Rev. Ryan Jones shared a few thoughts on the importance and purpose of Iona House at the event. You can find a transcript below.

Vision Comments - 1 Year Celebration (5/18/24)

When I think about Iona House and what we have to offer, it strikes me that what we have to offer might seem somewhat mundane or even trivial. We have land, a few houses, a bunch of animals, a garden, and a lot of trees. 

We don’t have a solution to world hunger; we don’t have an answer to the wars in Gaza and Ukraine; we can’t solve drug addiction, gun violence, political polarization, cancer or homelessness. 

What we have to offer is something far more basic and foundational… but I might argue important: We have a place to encounter God… a place to learn a way of life characterized by Communion. We offer sacred space and sacred time - amidst a beautiful, ongoing community of others who all desire the same.

We are convinced that amidst many challenges in our world, our most acute need is not first and foremost a solution to our next pressing set of circumstances or the next urgent crisis. Our most pressing need is union with Christ. Our most pressing need, the thing that is most important, most vital is to learn to abide in Christ. 

As Jesus tells Martha in Luke chapter 10 in the famous story of the two sisters from Bethany: “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things, but few things are needed - indeed only one.” He is, of course, referring to what Martha’s sister Mary is doing - sitting at His feet, completely enraptured by Him… totally attuned to Him.

In a world full of many, many needs and concerns, Mary of Bethany shows us the way. The long history of the Christian tradition tells us that one thing takes priority over everything else: Contemplation. Contemplation precedes action… both in priority and, ideally, in terms of chronology, because contemplation informs and guides right action. Our invitation is to sit at the feet of Jesus, to gaze upon Him, to delight in Him, and to make our home in Him. 

But here’s the thing, while many of us will likely nod our heads in agreement (in theory), what we discover in practice is that it can be quite difficult to live this way. We might learn a few disciplines and read some books. But to really learn to live this way, we need more. 

And this is where the vision of Iona House fits in. What we are partnering together to cultivate here is a place to learn this way of life. It’s a place where everything about what we’re doing is seeking to draw ourselves and others into the contemplative way of life. The way we talk about it is that Iona House is a place to reimagine all of life in reference to Christ. 

What we’re pointing to in that phrase is the Mary of Bethany way of life. Jesus is the reference point for everything. We’re a little village that lives not in reference to the agenda of your boss or in reference to the political drama playing out in our society. We’re a little village in which all of life is oriented toward Christ. And this little colony of heaven is not so much a retreat from the challenges of life as it is an advance toward what matters most in life. 

I might be a bit biased, but I believe with all my heart that what we are cultivating here matters. It has eternal weightiness to it. 

The vision that God gave me and Elizabeth nearly 6 years ago now was not merely a “retreat center”, but a place that had the potential to reshape imagination. Because what matters most about Iona House is not what happens here, but ultimately how it reshapes peoples’ lives back home in their domestic settings. 

And the key to this is imagination. Imagination is that unique capacity that we have been given by God to picture, feel, sense, and conceive of a life that is different from how it currently is. This is not primarily a cognitive thing. Imagination is rich and multifaceted. And if you drill into it, imagination is most potently shaped by experience, particularly holistic communal experiences. We are, after all, social creatures. 

It’s one thing to read a book. It’s another to go and taste and see a different way to live… to feel it in your body and to experience it in action. This is why Iona House is not merely the equivalent of a Christian AirBnB or a remote cabin in the woods. No, this place is a living community that can only happen because of on-site residents and a local community that is engaged in the rhythm of life happening here. The communal nature is essential… as is the rhythm of life that includes mundane things like manual labor and shared meals. 

Our vision does not merely stop at Iona House. It continues into households and churches. We believe that part of our mission is to inspire a richer, more beautiful communal life in churches back home. This is a place to see, taste, and experience that vision. 

We want people to be able to imagine a life that exists beyond consumerism and the greed of capitalism. This is why it’s not accidental that everything about Iona House happens according to a gift economy, which is anchored in the very character of God and is most prominently exhibited in the sacrificial generosity of Jesus Himself. 

How do we learn the way of grace and generosity that we know to be the theological heart of the gospel if everything about our life is transactional and driven by profit or motivated by fear of scarcity?

Anyway, the point of what I’m saying is that we must EXPERIENCE a different paradigm. And it must be a potent enough experience to reshape our paradigms. Otherwise all we’re left doing in life is trying to cram a little bit more of Jesus into an American, consumerist, individualist paradigm of life. 

We’re convinced there is a better way. A way that is filled with wonder and spaciousness and joy. A way of life that is shaped by hospitality and generosity. One that is rich in relationships and which requires interdependence. A way of life that is holistic… that honors the head, heart, and hands… not just one part of our humanity. And most importantly of all, a way of life that has as its reference point Jesus - not the news cycle; not technology; not economic profit or our boss’s agenda… and most importantly, NOT OURSELVES. 

We desire a place where Jesus is the center of everything - the One who is the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. Who is the bread of life, light of the world, who is life itself. 

If Iona House is doing things right, we will operate as a little colony of heaven… a place that gestures toward the future… toward the telos… the end of all things… toward the New Creation where Christ is all and in all. Toward a way of life that is defined by Communion and abiding in Christ.  

Here in the present we are easily confused about what matters and what life is actually about. So Iona House exists to bring clarity to what actually matters. 

So I say all of this to tell you that what you are partnering with us to do could not be more important. In the words of Jesus “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things, but few things are needed - indeed only one.” 

Thank you for your incredible generosity, your enthusiasm, and for your participation in this mission. We are so overjoyed by the beautiful community that God is bringing together to make all of this happen. We are absolutely thrilled by what we see God doing in the lives of people here at Iona House. It’s hard to express the joy of getting to be on the front row of what is happening here.

The village barn

When we purchased the Village side of the Iona House campus a year ago, it came with a barn. In the barn was a beautiful stained glass window that featured an “omega” sign that almost certainly came out of a chapel at some point in the past. The interesting thing was that the previous owners of this land were not Christians, which might explain why we found that the window was actually upside down (probably unknowingly). The omega sign was flipped over and looked like a fancy “horseshoe”.

The original “Omega” window - now cleaned, repaired, and right-side-up

When we took ownership we quickly turned it right-side-up to remind us of the famous biblical title of Christ: the Alpha & Omega, the Beginning & the End, the First & Last (Rev. 22:13). We always wished we could find the corresponding window (the alpha), which we almost certainly knew existed at one point. Since we had no way of finding it, from time-to-time we casually mentioned to visitors of Iona House the possibility of creating an “Alpha” window to correspond to the “Omega”.

To our great surprise, two local volunteers jumped on the idea. Michael Jones and Jim Pimentel are local residents in the Placerville area who are part of the Placerville Seventh-day Adventist Church. They took it as their mission to create this missing Alpha window. Over the course of a couple of months they both repaired and cleaned the old window and created a new one! The results are beautiful. We’re now thrilled to have a barn with BOTH an Alpha & Omega stained glass window.

The result of this labor of love: A craftsman style Alpha stained glass window that features in the front of the barn.

Many thanks to Michael Jones & Jim Pimentel for their dozens of hours of labor in order to give Iona House this amazing gift! May the Village Barn - and all of Iona House - always be an icon directing us to Christ.

The following is a reflection and pictures by one of our beloved Residents: Danielle McGuire. A version of this was what she shared at the 1-year of the Village Celebration.

I slip on my work gloves and step out into a brisk winter morning. The chilled air shakes awake my senses and fills me with new mercies, as promised each day. Walking up the hill toward the Village that beholds our humble farm life, I hear Festus in the distance bellow out his signature bray, echoing across the acres. This quirky, restless mule - I’m on my way, sweet boy!

Mink, the twenty-one year old mare, gets fed first and she is already waiting for me, stomping a foot and whinnying with urgency. I toss alfalfa hay into her stall from a nearby stockpile and I marvel at how she doesn’t tire of the same meal as I do. How do I know? Because each time, she rips the bundle from her feeder and throws it to the ground for faster consumption. I admire her faithful fervency to go after the all-too-familiar. How she communicates and asserts her need that has grown louder overnight. And I pray for that same spirit of expectancy, that I may resist the temptation to think my daily bread will become stale to my sensibilities, that I too may eagerly receive. 

Next, Festus, the 17 Nigerian Dwarf goats, Joan the llama, and Mr. Duck. Their bales of feed are kept in a nearby shed. When they hear my footsteps and the shed door slide open, they lift up their voices in a chorus of bleating, quacking, and braying to announce their readiness for the day. I reflect on how black the night gets here. The darkness robs us of all vision, and the animals huddle in the cold waiting for the skies to light up their lives again. In the morning, their eager voices cry out for freedom. A simple lift of a latch and I have released them back into the light. They funnel out into joyful sprints and gallops, and I get a glimpse of what the entrance to Heaven could feel like. 

During the repetitive motion of moving orchard grass into the wheelbarrow, I’m burdened by a sudden thought: the entirety of humankind has had to carry out these tedious chores. Across timelines and timezones, countless caregivers have performed these necessary duties of sustaining animal life, a life not our own. Day after day, rain or shine, it needs to be done. Why must we shoulder this responsibility?

———  

In the beginning, before man was made, God created living creatures of water and land, blessed them, “and saw that it was good” (Genesis 1). These creatures breathed life before us, they prefaced our creation, yet it was humanity that was given dominion over all - the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and over every living creature that moves on the ground. Some call it the great chain of being. But I am beginning to see how our care for them brings us under submission to their tutelage. The horses, the goats, the llamas…no wonder they came before us. We have so much to learn from them. This duty to animal care was not meant to be burdensome. Their existence teaches us the role of priesthood - we are creation, and we are responsible to the rest of creation, and represent creation back to God. And in learning to attune ourselves to creation and its care, we begin to understand how God cares for us. It has always circled back to the Creator. 

Midday arrives and I’m looking for a nature walk companion - I halter Festus and lead him out of his gated pen. Once again, I’m amused by how short and gawky his stature is. At over 300lbs, he comes up to just my waist! And in that moment, the character of Jesus becomes realized: out of all the animals, the Lord of Lords showed favor to a donkey. He chose this animal (appointed, even) to escort him into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. Not a white stallion, not an elegant lofty horse like Mink, not a throne for a king. Instead, a short-legged, stooped-necked, slow-paced, unassuming creature known for its service and commonplace functions. And before this, Jesus in the womb was gently and vulnerably carried on a donkey into Bethlehem, held within his mother Mary and brought safely to his birthplace. Did these donkeys know the significance of whom they carried? Have I ever marveled at how God’s creatures played a part in ushering in the weight of salvation to our world?

Tearfully, I cradle Festus’ head in my arms to say ‘thank you’ for his blessing today - he leans into me in response. 

A reflection by Danielle McGuire
All Rights Reserved • March 2024

They finally arrived: five baby goats. We had two pregnant mama goats who gave us three boys and two little girls. They’re adorable.

The Village Chapel at Iona House

We had almost no snow this winter… it was a warmer winter than last year when we had multiple storms with 6+ inches including one with almost 18 inches. But this year it was just rain. Until last Thursday and Friday when we got a couple of inches in an out of season storm that came through. It made for some pretty pictures.

The presence of a resident community has always been foundational to the mission of Iona House and it is truly thrilling to be able to welcome the first cohort of six residents (including two children) into the fold. The communal life of Iona House, with it’s daily rhythms of worship, prayer, and care and stewardship of the campus, is inhabited by the residents. Guests and visitors are invited into these rhythms, led by the residents.

The residents arrived on January 3, 2024 (see photo above left) and began settling into the Resident House, aka “The Dome.” They quickly found themselves integrating into life on the 71-acre campus by caring for the animals, managing firewood, starting cozy fires in the guest houses’ stoves to welcome guests, assisting with construction tasks to complete the Village Chapel, etc. The Feast of Epiphany was hosted in the Resident House on January 6 (see photo above right), giving the local community a chance to meet the group, pray blessings over them and the home, and share a meal together. The residents’ daily schedules are filled with praying the Daily Offices together and with visitors, working around campus, group spiritual formation and direction led by Ryan and Elizabeth, silence and solitude, and undertaking a personal project to be completed during their residency.

Below the residents share why they’ve decided to join the cohort. Please keep them all in your prayers as they live into this season at Iona House.

• The Thomas Family is excited to join the Resident Team as the first step of their permanent move to the Placerville region. They're looking forward to forming new family rhythms centered around prayer, community, and work, as well as more time in nature and helping Iona House grow. 

• Danielle first heard about the residency program during a group retreat, and she felt immediately compelled to learn more about it. At the time, she was longing for a career break and a space to be still and hear from God. With prayer and time, Danielle realized that she could spend her sabbatical purposefully at Iona House - resting and abiding in belovedness, building a sense of wonder, and reimagining her relationship to work/vocation.

• Although Jack could not have planned or foreseen doing the residency at Iona House, due to a series of circumstances over the past year, it felt that God was trying to get his attention. All normal activities of the year - his health, his job, his car - came to a rather abrupt halt. Yet, he was still alive and began to take a step back to see that this looked like a season of serious pruning. Jack saw that the opportunity to restructure his previous rhythms of life to one where regular prayer, silence, solitude, nature, physical labor, creative projects, feeding the animals, and the chance to grow in love and virtue - could re-shape his life upon returning home.

Learn more about Residency.

Pat and Becky Hudak have been sprucing up the garden in the Village since Iona House acquired the property in April. We are beyond grateful for their care and efforts. As you can read below, Pat and Becky have done so much and have big plans for the garden!

Q: What drew you to volunteer in the garden?

Becky: It’s a garden! I couldn’t stay away! I love gardens. I never refuse a garden tour. When we go on vacation, my family knows if there is a garden, I want to see it. When our daughter was in elementary and middle school, I loved volunteering in the school garden and seeing the wonder and joy it brought to students as well as their families. I knew that the Village Garden at Iona House was just waiting to bless many people and I wanted to help that happen.

Pat: 1) getting caught in the excitement of Iona house and volunteering with others there. 2) seeing the potential of beautifying this special place. 3) I think I am semi-handy, but I do have experience with irrigation and making garden beds that could be readily applied in the garden. 4) Becky made me!  ;-) Okay…not really but it was an opportunity for us to do something that we care about and enjoy doing as a family

Q: What is your experience with gardening?

Becky: Pat and I have been growing veggies on and off for 30 years. Our first backyard veggie garden was an enormous success and we didn’t realize until later that it was all due to the fertile soil of the valley we lived in. We just thought we were great gardeners, but we have since learned that veggie gardening can pose many challenges! Also, in the 22 years we have lived and gardened in El Dorado County, we have been learning about protecting and restoring native habitat. I have become very passionate about gardening in harmony with our ecosystem.

Pat: Making garden beds for our home garden and installing and fixing drip irrigation; planting trees

Q: What has been the most rewarding part of working in the garden?

Becky: I really enjoy observing the rhythm of seasonal changes in the garden. I appreciate the care that was taken by the former owners in selecting perennials for blossoms in every season. It’s been very rewarding this summer and fall to watch the garden produce a bountiful harvest to be shared, and to invite guests to explore and enjoy the garden. Also, I am so thankful to be able to work with Pat and our daughter, Jana, as well as all the special people on the garden team.

Pat: Fellowshipping and working with other volunteers; seeing children get excited about growing things and harvesting the bounty; hearing from others that the garden is looking better; it is a nice respite to do physical labor and get my hands dirty, especially when I was teaching; learning about new plants that I haven’t seen before

Q: How have you experienced God in the garden?

Becky: Nature and gardens always point my thoughts to God. I just have to walk into the garden to feel God’s presence, but when I have a huge to-do list on my mind, I have to remind myself to talk to Him as I work. Having time to fellowship with other volunteers as we work in the garden reminds me that God is with us. And the chance to witness growth, listen to singing birds or observe busy bees always feels like a gift from God.

Pat: through the fellowship of others and through the beauty of the garden—the trees, the fruits, the flowers, the bees, the birds…

Q: What are your goals for the garden?

Becky: We have too many goals! Some big ones are 1) taking good care of the soil by composting to restore nutrients and living organisms, 2) planting and harvesting as much food as the garden will give, 3) welcoming more volunteers to the garden team, 4) being a place where people of all ages and abilities can participate in creation care.

Pat: Oh so many…. Almost endless…re-doing the irrigation and extending it; pruning the grapes and fruit trees (winter activity); continuous clean-up of overgrown vines and dead branches; poison oak removal; fixing broken beds. Longer term: Adding more garden beds and extending irrigation to back area for possible-- summer crops and fruit trees; making the garden more educational—labeling plants and trees, making the pathways nice—DG?  Stones? Both?

It was a rainy and chilly day, but that didn’t put a damper on the Advent festivities! Highlights of the day included tours, a blazing campfire, a goat escape (don’t worry, we coaxed Cosmo the goat back to his pen!), and wreath making. Elizabeth’s cousin, Kathleen Fong, is a professional florist and was a fantastic teacher, instructing us how to create wreaths made of pine branches, holly, and pinecones foraged from the Iona House grounds. We wrapped up the day listening to the real story of St. Nicholas gathered around the heaters in the barn with Mink the horse looking on.

It was a true joy to gather with friends to prepare our hearts for Christ’s coming. We will continue the celebration on December 16 with Lessons and Carols in the Barn. Our animals will star in a manger scene while we have a service of singing, readings, and prayers. Visit the events page for more details and to RSVP.

Vivian and Brandon came all the way to Iona House from Philadelphia in late October. We asked them to share a bit about their stay with us. If you’re interested in a personal retreat, please visit the Retreat page.

Q. How did you hear about Iona House?

Our connection to Iona House was a friend of a friend of a friend -- 3 degrees of separation! We were looking for places to go on retreat and a friend of a friend recommended checking out Iona House, even though they hadn't been themselves. When we read the description on the website, in some ways it reminded us of other ministries we've been blessed by in the past, but it also had a distinct vision that wasn't quite like anything else we had come across, so we were intrigued! And the farm animals had us sold.

Q. Why were you interested in visiting?

We had already known that we wanted to spend some time on retreat in October and were thrilled to discover Iona House. As part of her emergency medicine residency program, Vivian had an "elective block" in October, which is essentially unstructured time in her schedule without any hospital shifts. Her original plan was to go on a service trip in South Africa with other doctors. When the original plan had fallen through, Vivian tried to arrange other alternative plans to still make the most out of this opportunity. However, while at a wedding earlier this year, a friend encouraged her with a word they had received in prayer around "rest", and upon receiving that word Vivian knew immediately that instead of filling this time with activity, that God was inviting her to draw near to Him and experience rest. At the same time, Vivian also had a big decision to make related to career as well as where we would be in the future. Iona House felt like the perfect place to slow down, rest, and create space to contemplate this decision, as well as to receive anything else God would have for us.

Q. What were the highlights of your stay?

There were so many great highlights, it's hard to concisely summarize so we'll just list them out:

• The overall daily rhythm was truly restorative and rejuvenating. Being in that environment and disconnected from technology also meant that we went to bed naturally at 8:30 PM each night, which was extremely unusual for us high-strung East Coasters but also exactly what we needed. We felt amazing when we left. 

• Fixed hour prayer was not a familiar practice for us, but it ended up being surprisingly delightful, and we actually still do it back home at Philadelphia.

• Of course, feeding and spending time with the animals. Vivian enjoyed long walks with Festus the Mini Mule and Joan the Llama. Brandon is not even an animal person, but they were truly a delight (the duck that gathers with the goat herd was Brandon's favorite).

• Spiritual direction was super helpful. It helped us to identify some themes and points to focus on during our times of solitude and contemplation. Thanks Elizabeth!

• It turns out that Vivian just really enjoys raking wood chips. Strangely satisfying.

• Enjoying some delicious tomatoes from the Iona House vegetable garden. We also snagged some great produce and apple cider donuts at the nearby farms.

• We got to listen to a really compelling talk on creation care from Harlan Young (an arborist who volunteers at Iona House).

• Looking out at the beautiful landscape in the warm autumn sunlight.

• And finally, just being able to carve out some space for reading and contemplation.

Q. How did you experience God during your stay?

• We experienced a truly restorative rest that felt like the kind of rest God gives us as described in the scriptures. One reflection Brandon had while at Iona was that prior to coming to Iona, our lives were basically full of alternating between work and entertainment. We entertain ourselves as a reprieve from our work as our idea of recuperating, and then we work harder because we feel anxious about not having done enough. None of this, including entertainment, is necessarily restful. But while at Iona, it felt like we were able to break from this cycle with a third option of true rest. We were able to just receive God's care for us and experience a deep sense of peace and contentment.

• Vivian also received a lot of peace in particular with her decision involving future career direction. And she experienced a new warmth in her relationship with God the Father, something that was previously pretty unfamiliar and foreign.

• Brandon had some rich devotional times in Luke. He left with a new perspective on God's expectations for him, as well as a sense of freedom + patience with respect to the topic of "calling."

Q. What would you share with someone who is interested in having a personal retreat at Iona House? 

• For us retreat-ing at Iona as a married couple, it was actually really valuable to intentionally have times of solitude apart from each other. We still spent the majority of each day together at Iona House, but there was something to be said for also having our own time with God, especially for Vivian who -- as a strong extrovert -- was also processing her fear of loneliness.

It was a crisp fall morning when approx. 25 people arrived at Iona House to spend a day serving, praying, bonding, and fellowshipping together. We enjoyed delicious food, lots of laughter, celebrated two birthdays, and had a lot of memorable moments. Overall this was a fantastic day at Iona House.

The crew of workers was so industrious, I could barely keep up with the various projects:

• Prepping and Painting the barn

• Uncovering, cleaning, and moving tiles for the prayer labyrinth

• Moving, splitting, and stacking wood

• Cleaning the animal pens

• Organizing books in the library

• Spreading wood chips

• Building the drainage systems and foundation for the prayer labyrinth

• Cutting down dead trees

• Trimming back shrubs and greenery from the Dome

What was particularly enjoyable were the prayer times (morning, midday, and evening prayer) and the communal lunch. Getting to hear peoples’ stories, enjoying laughter, meeting new people - these were highlights.

We’re looking forward to more upcoming Community Days - Dec. 16 is the next one!

As you well know, if you have read this blog, the animals are an important part of Iona House. Also, you’ve probably gathered that the Christian saints are an important part of Iona House. On one particular day of the year these two important themes come together: the Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi (October 4). On this day, it is traditional for Christians to gather in order to bless animals - in honor of Francis’ renowned love and care for animals and all of creation. He is famous for preaching to the birds and seeing in creation “brothers and sisters” in the household of God.

So, this year we held our first-ever blessing of the animals. It was a delightful experience. We remembered the story of St. Francis, we read Scripture passages related to creation (Gen. 1, Ps. 148, etc.), sang “All Creatures of Our God and King”, and blessed the animals with prayers and holy water. We prayed for safety for these precious creatures, and that we would know how to rightly care for them.

This summer we offered our first residency experience. It was wonderful…

We hosted the Lou Family: Stephen, Mary, and their four beautiful children (Johanna, Tabitha, Amelia, and Toby). The Lou’s lived in the Dome (the house we have set aside for the resident program). It’s a huge geodesic style home that is simultaneously quirky and charming. Upon arriving, the Lou’s immediately dove into the daily routine of Iona House: Prayer (morning, midday, and evening prayer), animal feedings twice a day, caring for the garden, and much more. They offered the first line of hospitality to guests as they arrived in many cases.

Those who came for a visit during July / August / September know what a vital part of the experience of Iona House this family was. Their gifts were many: Stephen’s specialty coffee prepared for guests, Mary’s homemade bread, the warmth and kindness of a loving family, and the joy and curiosity of the kids. We discovered very quickly that Mary is a talented artist. She captured the essence of Iona House in watercolor and in poetry (see below). She added aesthetic beauty wherever she went. Mary & Stephen helped organize, clean, and beautify the entire barn area. They helped build fences and worked in the garden. They built planters, raked wood chips, and removed junk. More than what they did on campus, it was their presence that really ministered to people. They’re amazing listeners who were always willing to pray for whoever so desired.

Perhaps their greatest contribution to Iona House was the faith with which they live everyday life. Many of us were inspired by their humility and willingness to follow the Lord wherever He leads them… which is currently to Japan. Having served God in the heart of the Tenderloin (at YWAM) in San Francisco and as pastors for a house church in the We Are Church community, they brought a wealth of experience and big hearts of love to Iona House. It was hard to see them go, but we are overjoyed to see them carry on with the journey of obedience and faithfulness that brought them to us in the first place.

If you would like to support them in their missionary journey, you can do so through this website: https://meigiving.org/donate-associate. They’re particular “code” is “SM3932”. That will make sure that the donation goes to them.

Residency Going Forward

We are THRILLED to announce that we are building a cohort of residents for a 5-month residency that will start January 3, 2024. This cohort will consist of a family as well as an assortment of other individuals and perhaps a couple. For more about it, check out our RESIDENCY page. We are currently taking applications.

After this current cohort, we will begin a 2nd cohort in August of 2024 that will last 9 months. We will begin taking applications for this in the new year.

This summer we have been doing a number of simple things to improve the campus. These projects include cleaning and organizing the village area (barn and surroundings), working in the garden, fixing the animal pens, a deck project on the barn, converting the detached garage into a library, and more. These are low hanging fruit and have been simple adjustments to existing spaces. But the “pay-off” for these projects is huge. We’re seeing a more and more functional campus and a deepening of our vision with each passing day. Below are some pictures of what has been happening.

Also, great news! We got 10 new goats (and have the ability to night-pen them each night which keeps them safe). Some of these goats are as young as 9-10 weeks. They’re adorable. We now have 12 Nigerian Dwarf goats, 1 llama, 1 mini-mule, 1 duck, and 1 horse. It’s a great little animal family. We have discovered that certain animals have an inclination towards others - like the duck and the mini-mule. Who knew?! They’re surprising besties. The duck follows Festus the mule all over the place.

It’s been a truly wonderful summer at Iona House (animal losses aside). We’ve been watching with great joy as the Lord is building the Iona House community and shaping the identity / character of this marvelous place. We’ve welcomed guests from near and far while enjoying a regular, growing community of local volunteers and participants who are bringing life and vitality to our rhythms of prayer and life together. We have been so blessed to have a wonderful resident family (Lou Family) with us for the summer, bringing life and joy to this place.

The past few weeks our core leadership team spent some time reflecting on some of what we’ve been learning the past few months. Below are a few of the reflections. I’m not sure any of these are new ideas or significant pivots from what we set out to do. But these represent increasing clarity and a tightening of our focus.

Regarding our Identity:

• Echoing the ancient celtic monasterium, we are a center of Christian formation & contemplation. 

• We offer overnight accommodations as part of the mission of Iona House. But, we are not a conference center: we do not offer rental space for groups to come up and do an offsite; we are not a small boutique place for a church retreat or ministry team strategic planning retreat. We do not host other conferences. Groups can experience Iona House as a group. But they are always immersed into the existing ecosystem and rhythm that we practice. [All of this represents a sharpening of our vision]

• A Question we wrestled with: Is Iona House more of a retreat center in which local volunteers assist… or is Iona House an ongoing local community into which guests come to experience a retreat? We all agreed: the latter.

• At the core of our identity and mission is an ongoing rhythm of life sustained by a local community of participants, volunteers, residents, and staff. It is this rhythm of life, this ecosystem, that is CENTRAL to the identity of Iona House. It is what allows guests (whether day use or overnight) to experience a distinctive setting in which all of life is oriented toward Christ. It is INTO this ecosystem, culture, rhythm that guests are invited to enter. It is this distinctive ecosystem that carries much of the formational freight (regardless of how much individual guests choose to participate in it). 

Some Implications: 

• The rhythm of prayer, the ongoing pattern of prayer, study, and silence, the animals, the garden - all of it matters!

• The resident program is central to our mission and essential to the success of Iona House. It’s worth having less overnight guest capacity initially (until phase 3) in order to have an ongoing on-campus life into which guests can enter. Residents are vital to our mission.

• The continuous engagement of the local community is vital to the ongoing health and vitality of Iona House. These volunteers and participants are not “accidental” or “randos” who happen to drop in. They are vital members of the Iona House community and essential to its full fruition.

• Iona House is not a performance-based setting. - i.e. we do not “put on” retreat performances (which is inevitably exhausting). Instead, we extend monastic-style hospitality to guests and invite them into the life we’re already living. This gives the campus a sense of integrity and constant rhythm. We’d be doing most of what we’re doing even if guests weren’t there. 

• The campus development is a joyful co-creation between staff, residents, local community volunteers, and guests. It’s not a project to complete in order to welcome guests. 

• Eg. - We paint the barn because the barn needs painting… not in order to impress the next set of guests. 

• We seek to offer the highest quality guest experience possible because every guest is to be welcomed as though he or she was Christ (- from the Rule of St. Benedict). 

Hard Day part 2…

Today (Saturday) we woke up to yet another killing. The Mountain Lion took our most beloved goat: Willow. She was bottle fed as a baby and more friendly than any other goat I’ve met. She was a great milker (produced a quart a day). Everyone loved Willow. She even let my boys ride on her. She would run up to you and just love being in your presence. Willow will be severely missed.

not a great picture of a phenomenal goat

We had a special memorial service for her today. To tell you how much she was beloved, 17 people showed up with one hour notice to gather and give thanks for her life and grieve together. We read scriptures, listened to a poem, told stories, and prayed. It felt better to grieve together. The time together ended by eating the last bit of goat cheese that Mary Shang-Lou had made from Willow’s milk. It was delicious, as usual - further emphasizing our collective loss. Hopefully all of this grieving over goats doesn’t sound ridiculous to you. I think it’s been surprising to us how much we quickly grew to love the animals.

The murderous mountain lion is officially legal to be hunted and euthanized as of this afternoon when we were granted a second deprivation permit. The trapper will be out either tonight or tomorrow morning. I’m sure the mountain lion is a magnificent creature… but he/she is a danger not only to our livestock but to all the neighbors and their animals. We’ll leave the fate of this lion to the trapper.

On our end, Mike Lewis and I spent all afternoon constructing a new shelter for the goats. We didn’t want another night of bloodshed. The shelter is a modified dog kennel with a corrugated metal roof (with a tarp to provide shade / weather protection). It won’t win any aesthetics competitions, but it will provide safety through the night and shelter when needed. The remaining goats and Llama will spend each night from now on locked inside of this protective shelter.

Thanks to the many of you who have reached out with kind words, prayers, and encouragement. We’ve learned a lot over the past 48 hours. We’re grateful that our beloved llama and mini-mule haven’t been hurt. We also give thanks for the two little remaining goats. They will need some new friends. We’ll begin that process soon.

In hope…

Today was a hard day. One of the worst I remember in this project.

I arrived just in time for morning prayer to discover that things were not ok with the animals. Our beloved milking goat was out of her pen (which was minor and easily remedied). But the real problem was found inside the electric fence enclosure (electric fence is both to keep the goats in and predators out as they do their important work of eating the undergrowth, especially the poison oak). Our guardian animal (Llama) was not acting herself. She always boldly runs toward people as they approach. Instead she sat in the dirt looking forlorn and distraught. Only two of the goats were visible. Usually all of them are loudly making their presence known. I knew something was wrong. I began to look around, and then I saw it: the first dead goat. After a minute more, I discovered a second dead goat. The two goats that were dead had no visible wounds. Just broken necks. A third goat was missing altogether. The fence was totally intact and operational; everything looked as it should.

I knew there was only one explanation: mountain lion (cougar).

a stock image… we haven’t seen our killer yet

I called a friend who knows about goats and predators. He agreed. It must have been a mountain lion attack. He recommended I call the El Dorado County Ag Department, who put me in touch with the county trapper (who knew there was such a role?) as well as Fish & Game. The trapper was out within an hour. Like a crime scene investigator, he poked around and quickly confirmed that it was indeed a mountain lion. He found tracks and said the crime scene was classic mountain lion. They can be savage beasts who kill just to kill (not even to eat). He was able to follow the trail where the lion dragged the missing goat and found the cat’s eating site. It was a mass grave of other animals, including our other missing goat from several weeks ago (which was, until today, an unsolved mystery). That means this brutal killer is responsible for 4 goat murders from our herd alone.

The State of California classifies Mountain Lions as a protected species, which means you can’t just trap or kill them. You must first get a “deprivation permit”, which gives us permission to “haze” the creature (chase it with dogs, or something fairly innocuous). If there’s another killing, then a different permit if sometimes granted that allows lethal action to take place (or perhaps trapping and removal to another region - though unlikely). As a property owner, you can only kill a mountain lion if it is in the act of predation against your animals.

The trapper strongly encouraged me to go out and buy a shotgun. His words were chilling. “The lion will be back.”

For immediate protection, we put the remaining herd back into the paddock with both the mule and the llama as protection (with the horse in the adjacent paddock). We also took the trapper’s recommendation and put out a battery operated FM radio playing music and then Stephen Lou helped create a scarecrow of sorts; I guess it’s a “scare-lion” - an attempt to make it appear a person is watching the herd. We’re praying against another murder tonight and feeling quite vulnerable.

The (actually) terrifying “scare-lion” made by the Lou family.

One of our next steps will be building a fenced shelter with a fenced roof that we can move around to be wherever the goats go. They will be locked in each night. We’ll need another locked shelter for the milking goats back at the paddock as well. These were complications and expenses we didn’t anticipate. But they’re solid solutions to this problem. This is a project looking for a sponsor - anyone?

To be honest, we are all pretty sad about the losses. It’s amazing how these creatures get into your heart.

I felt it appropriate to do a simple Christian burial (see the attempt at a crude wood cross, yet casting a beautiful shadow) and to pray a prayer of thanksgiving to God over each of them - for the precious creatures He entrusted to us, who have been our sweet friends, and who have quickly became an important part of the Iona House family. They will be missed.

All of this reminds us (lest we get hazy) that our world is aching and groaning for New Creation - where the lion and lamb can lie down together. Today’s newsflash: we’re not there yet.

At the big picture level: Today underscores that doing what we’re trying to do is inherently difficult; it involves substantial risk, massive effort, constant vulnerability, course corrections, and some painful losses from time to time. Today is a reminder of the difficulty of bringing this dream to fruition - one of many. Please pray with us that God will give us wisdom, provision of all kinds, and protection as we seek to carry out our mission.

Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy.