Posted 162 days ago

The Celtic Connection

by Christine Sine

Since Tom Sine first visited the island of Iona off the West Coast of Scotland in the mid 1980s, he has felt a strong connection to this ancient Christian tradition. All of us at Mustard Seed Associates are attracted to a form of Christianity that permeated every part of a believer’s life. For Celtic Christians, faith impacted every part of life, and not surprisingly believers developed prayers for every activity from lighting the fire to milking the cows. This Christian tradition was evangelistic and charismatic in expression. It also showed a deep love of creation and an incredible belief in the all-encompassing presence of Christ.

In 1989, Tom purchased 40 acres on Camano Island just north of Seattle, intending to create a Celtic Retreat Site. The flame has been kept alive as Mustard Seed Associates has held their annual Celtic Prayer retreat on the island, first at the Washington State Park and then on the land itself.

Now the vision is starting to take shape, and a small planning group is meeting regularly to pray and flesh out the vision. We are also visiting the land each month to work, pray and get a sense of God’s presence on the land. If you are interested in ways that you could be a part of this group please let us know.

Outlined below are the founding principles of how Tom and I would like to see the site developed. Please understand these principles do not rule out other dreams and uses for the site:

• We intend to create a monastic order that follows a Christian rule of life and creates a rhythm of life for the permanent occupants of the center.

• We intend to design and construct a residential monastic village in which elements of Celtic art and architecture are reflected in the physical and interior design of the structures.
  We also intend to design both land use and structures to achieve a high level of sustainability and make possible highly sustainable lifestyles for those who live at the site.

• We intend to design a 3-month, community based, educational process for college and post-college Christians to enable them to explore a broad range of Christian prayer traditions in order to develop their own spiritual practices and discern God’s call for next steps.

• We intend that the Celtic Retreat Center host directed prayer retreats on the weekends for all generations and Christian traditions led by the monastic community and the students.

• We intend the Center also serve as a birthing site involving students and others in giving imaginative expression to God’s new order in arts, design, innovation and social entrepreneurship to give imaginative expression to God’s new order.

• We intend the Center become an integral part of the community on Camano Island and to explore ways to collaborate with our neighbors.

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