The Benedictine Spirituality and
Conference Center (also called the Retreat Center), sponsored
by the Benedictine Sisters, shares a 66-acre wooded area with St.
Scholastica Monastery which is located in the heart of Fort Smith,
Arkansas, a city with a population of 80,000. When originally built
in 1958, St. Scholastica Academy was a boarding and day
school for girls.
When the Benedictine
Sisters closed the Academy in 1968, the building was adapted and
remodeled for multi-purpose uses. Among those uses are
Center-sponsored and Center-hosted retreats, workshops, and days of
recollection, a large Book and Gift Shop, an office for Project
Compassion, and meeting rooms for educational, humanitarian,
recreational, and religious purposes. The classroom section is
now rented by Trinity Junior High School.
The Center is a totally smoke-free
campus.
Statement of Purpose
The overall goal of Benedictine Spirituality and Conference Center is to
provide a Christian atmosphere where all who receive service or are
employed here may grow in an awareness of who they are as well as in
the knowledge of the Good News that we have been redeemed and
forgiven through Christ out of God's immeasurable generosity. We
strive to nourish the whole person by enabling quality education,
spiritual growth, and development, by caring for the beauty that
surrounds us, by providing a sense of order and harmony, by sharing
our resources, our selves, and our way of life.
The Retreat Center
The residential section of the
building was converted into a Retreat Center during the mid-1970s when
Sister Macrina Wiederkehr, author and well known retreat director, and
several other Sisters began the retreat ministry at the
Center. The Center can house 53 people in private rooms or 89 people
in semi-private rooms. The Center policy is to provide a private room
for all Center-sponsored retreats. Bath facilities are common for each nine rooms.
There are a few rooms with shared or private
baths.
The Retreat Center has been recommended by many
retreatants for its quiet and peaceful environment and for the easy
access to daily Eucharist and Liturgy of the Hours with the
Benedictine Sisters. The Center is wheelchair-accessible.
Individuals unable to pay the established fee for any retreat may
request a partial scholarship or time payments. Arrangements can be
made to pick you up at the airport (only ten minutes away) if you
fly into Fort Smith.
DIRECTED RETREATS Arrangements can be made for a directed retreat by
any person of any denomination by calling 479-783-1135 or emailing
the Center
. The director will meet with
you daily for 30 minutes to an hour, giving you Scripture texts and
selections from the spiritual classics for your prayer and sharing.
Breakfast and lunch are in the retreat kitchenette; dinner is with
the monastic community. Retreatants are invited to the Eucharist and
the Liturgy of the Hours with the Sisters. Grounds are spacious and
beautiful at any season. $75.00 per day includes room, meals, and
director's stipend.
PRIVATE RETREATS
Individuals looking
for a quiet place to spend a few days away from their regular
schedule can call 479-783-1135 or emailing
the Center
to make
reservations. The difference between a private and a directed
retreat is that private retreatants are on their own, resting,
walking, reading, reflecting, praying. They, too, are invited to
celebrate the Eucharist and the Liturgy of the Hours with the
Sisters. Breakfast and lunch are in the retreat kitchenette; dinner
is with the monastic community. Private Retreat $ 50.00 per day
ST. SCHOLASTICA BOOK AND GIFT SHOP The St.
Scholastica Book and Gift Shop is a convenience for both sponsored
and hosted programs as well as for local churches and area
residents. Merchandise includes a large display of spiritual and
religious books, religious articles including rosaries, statues,
medals and chains, bibles, children's books, prayer books,
crucifixes, First Communion veils and accessories, vestments, and
some crafts.
No shipping orders.
Hours: Open 9:30 am --
3:30 pm, Mondays --
Fridays
12:30
pm -- 3:00 pm, Saturdays (except first Saturday
of
the month)
Regular Lease or Rental
Groups
TRINITY JUNIOR HIGH, grades
7-9, is co-sponsored by the Catholic parishes of Fort
Smith, Barling, and Van Buren under diocesan auspices. Reverend Tom
Elliot is the administrator; Sharon Neufield is the principal pro tem. This school
moved from very cramped quarters downtown into the Academic Section of the
building in the fall of 1990 after the asbestos
had been removed. St. Scholastica Monastery and Trinity Junior
High have a 50-year lease agreement.
Phone number: 479-782-2451 or web site: www.TrinityCatholicJH.org
PROJECT COMPASSION, INC rents office and storage space
in the Center. This one-to-one nursing home visitation program was
begun in 1972 by Gloria White, a Benedictine Oblate now deceased.
Observing that some residents had no family, Gloria and others who
believed in her dream established the program so that not one of the
residents would be without an occasional visitor on whom they could
count for friendship and conversation. Project Compassion, Inc., is
a non-profit United Way Agency and also receives some assistance
from the Area Agency on Aging. The program has an outreach to 34
nursing homes and retirement centers in western Arkansas and eastern
Oklahoma. Jennifer Britt is Director, and Annette Mackey is
Administrative Office Assistant.
Phone number: 479-783-2273 or
web site:
www.ProjectCompassionInc.org
Available Facilities for
Outside Groups
- Large and small meeting rooms
- Overnight Rooms: 1 person per room--53 rooms
- 2 persons per room--89 semi-private
- Meals
- Music Recital Room
- Chapel
For more information, call 479-783-135 or email
the Center.
Directions to the
Center
FROM THE NORTH (Fayetteville)
South on I-540 to I-40 near Alma
From I-40 exit on
to I-540 West to Grand Av
Turn right on Grand Av (You will pass
Westark college on your left).
Turn left onto Albert Pike. On
Albert Pike you will cross Free Ferry Av, then take 1st Entrance on
your left
at the Center & Trinity signs--- Stay on this
drive all the way to the east end to the Center Retreat Entrance.)
FROM THE SOUTH (Texarkana)
Hiway 71
north to I-540 to Rogers Av exit
Turn left on Rogers Av, then
make a right on Albert Pike at the 5th light
3rd entrance on
your right (Center & Trinity signs...)
Stay on this drive
all the way to the east end to the Center Retreat Entrance.
FROM THE WEST (Oklahoma)
I-40 to Fort
Smith/Roland exit
East on 64 to Fort Smith Garrison Av
At
Immaculate Conception Church, Garrison flows into Rogers Ave
Stay on Rogers to Albert Pike
(About 6 more lights)
Left
on Albert Pike
3rd Entrance on right (Center)
FROM THE EAST (Little Rock)
I-40 to
I-540 (Van Buren/Fort Smith)
Take Grand Av exit, from ramp veer right onto Grand
Ave.
Go about 3 lights to Albert Pike and make a left onto it
After crossing Free Ferry Av take 1st Entrance on left at Center
& Trinity signs)
Stay on this drive all the way to the east
end to the Center Retreat Entrance
Monastery
There
are three entrances on Albert Pike into our campus
between Rogers
Avenue and Free Ferry.
The Monastery is the middle (or 2nd)
entrance.
For further information
contact:
Benedictine
Spirituality and Conference
Center
Sister Hilary Decker, OSB Director
1205 South
Albert Pike
Post Office Box 3489
Fort Smith, Arkansas
72913-3489
Telephone 479-783-1135
Fax 479-783-8138
E-mail
the
Center www.stscho.org
