A weekend of revelry and restoration

[Welcome letter]

How to reach the Anselm staff throughout the weekend:

[answer]

Friday, September 19

Holy Trinity Anglican Church, 13990 Gleneagle Dr, Colorado Springs, CO 80921

lord of the rings trivia night (6 pm—8 pm)

A chance to greet new and old friends around the table while we enjoy conversation, dramatic recitations, trivia, and more.

This is more of an after-dinner event, but will include drinks (including alcoholic options) and munchies. Please bring something to share if you can!

 Saturday September 20

The Peel House at First Lutheran, 1515 N Cascade Ave, Colorado Springs, CO 80907

setting the table for the feast: a retreat (8:30 AM—12:30 pm)

• A contemplative retreat filled with your choice of extended workshops; time to be filled, to grow in knowledge or craft, and connect your vocation to the life of God.

• View speakers and workshops (see full schedule here)

lunch hour (12:30 pm—1:30 pm)

• Grab a friend or join a group for a leisurely lunch out and about in Colorado Springs. (Lunch is not provided onsite.)

Afternoon adventures (1:30 pm—3 pm)

• Take time to process! We’ll have excursions, options back onsite at the Peel House, or just time to be alone or with a friend.

• See afternoon adventure options here

middle earth pub night (5 pm—8 pm)

• An epic evening of Middle Earth feasting, tales, poems, and songs as only the Anselm Society can do.

• Formal conference program ends

Sunday September 21

Morning

• Church!

  • Worship with Anselm families: Holy Trinity Anglican Church, International Anglican Church, Holy Theophany Orthodox Church. Other recommended options depending on your denominational proclivities: Village Seven Presbyterian, Woodmen Valley Chapel Downtown (non-denominational), Corpus Christi Catholic Church

Afternoon

• Second breakfast, anyone?

Our Gathering

The Peel House is located in the Old North End neighborhood just north of downtown Colorado Springs, an area filled with ancient trees and beautiful old buildings–almost Shire-like.

Transportation

It’s an easy 20 minute drive or Uber ride from the Colorado Springs airport. (Denver International Airport is about 75 minutes away and there’s a shuttle service, Groome Transportation, from there.)

Lodging

Nearby hotel options (we do not have room blocks at these hotels because we know everyone’s needs and budgets are different): 

• Budget: Best Western Plus

• Extended stay options: Home2 Suites

• Local flair: Kinship Landing, St. Mary’s Inn B&B (walking distance!), or the Mining Exchange

• Splurge: Glen Eyrie or the Broadmoor

Need help with lodging or transportation?
We don’t want cost or logistics to be the reason you don’t come. Email us at events@anselmsociety.org and let’s see if we can help.

After a morning of workshops, take time to process before our evening pub night fun, whether alone or with some of these suggested community-based activities. We will send out signups for these to all ticketholders shortly before the event.

Feasting on Words: Rediscovering the Virtues and Vices

keynote by dr. grace hamman

As medievalists, Tolkien and Lewis both knew how the meanings of words naturally shift, change, shrink, or grow over time. Some of the words that have shrunk the most in modernity—as both eminent medievalists would agree—are those that describe virtuous or vicious action. How can we as Christians reclaim words like meekness or temperance as not just blandly, boringly “good,” but beautiful, forming true human wholeness? And reject concepts like gluttony or greed without being preachy or judgy, but reflective about how such habits destroy full life in community?

The art and poetry of the past offers a way forward. In the Middle Ages, virtues and vices were a hot topic. Medieval preachers, poets, and artists conceptualized these words in creative, surprising, even funny ways: Envy resembled a basilisk, mercy worked like olive oil, avarice acted like a hedgehog! These medieval metaphors from poetry and art can help us to relish these words, to savor them as full-bodied concepts worthy of our attention and even our love.

To intentionally feast upon language and art, to create a hospitable and inviting portrait of the whole and holy life, is more important than ever for Christians in the age of AI and headlines and soundbites.

Inviting Children to the Feast

Matthew Mellema

How can we, as authors and aspiring authors of children’s literature, invite children to a banquet of truth, goodness, and beauty? What elements and devices are present in our favorite books written for children? This session will guide us to solid ground as we draw from a broad sweep of authors, from Byzantium to Kate De Camillo, Rick Riordan, and Stephen Lawhead. How do we lay a groundwork of principles to follow as we write for this important audience?

Stirring the Unseen: Song, Story, and a Joy Beyond the Walls of the World

Matthew Clark

In Tolkien’s work, song is given special prominence. His Trilogy contains around 50 songs. In fact in The Silmarillion, we discover Middle-earth itself is made out of music. Why was music so important to Tolkien? Why so central to the story he wanted to tell? Is Tolkien’s focus on music an arbitrary quirk of his fiction, or might there a note of truth in it? A clue to the nature of reality?

Making Room for Kairos in an Age of Efficiency: Three Feasts from The Lord of the Rings and Our Practice of Fellowship

amy baik lee

Many of the conditions of Middle-earth in its Third Age mirror those of our own day: grapples for power, technological advances used for good and ill, and a high opinion in many circles of efficiency and maximized production. What does a feast signify and entail in such times? In this session, we will take the time to linger at three festal tables in The Lord of the Rings, drawing what we can learn from them about the practice of sharing art, celebration, and fellowship — and ponder why this practice is vital to the journey of the Church and its saints.

A Table Set in the Presence of My Enemies: Feasting in the Midst of Trouble

Lancia e. smith

As a concept, feasting is associated with laden tables in celebrations of peace and abundance, and we do this when life is good. Yet there are very hard seasons in our lives that are marked by struggle, difficulty, and trouble. We are faced with real enemies, both visible and invisible. During these seasons, feasting might seem like something for another time or other people. Worse, it might even feel like a mockery. 

But our Good Shepherd sets precedents in Scripture about feasting. In Psalm 23 we find a very particular reference to this. “He sets a table for me in the presence of my enemies.” It is a statement about the Lord Himself and about a greater reality to which His people are called. Feasting is a declaration of Who is King. It is an act of trust and worship. It is a rehearsal of the life to which we are called. Feasting is also a visible act of faith in the Holy One and His Kingdom coming.

Let’s explore why we are called to feast even in the presence of our enemies and lean into practicing this even in seasons of trouble.

Feasting on Prayer Through Our Imagination

Deacon Terri Fisher

As artists and art lovers, we know and love the power of a good story, a stunning image, or a tune that evokes an unexpected emotion. Jesus set an example for us by teaching stories to engage the imaginations of his audience. We will explore the feast of prayer given to us through church tradition and teachings, as well as, modern neurological science, as we set the table to feast on prayer using the gift of our imaginations.

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