Update: March 1 deadline extended!

Registrations for the Pilgrimage to Sweden are still being accepted.
Contact Carol Sexton at sextoca@earlham.edu for the latest update on space availability for this trip.

Overview

Sponsored by Earlham School of Religion and the Newlin Center for Quaker Thought and Practice, this trip offers participants a unique travel experience integrating visits to sites of spiritual and cultural significance in Sweden with retreat days and opportunities for individual and group reflection. Students, faculty and staff, members of the Quaker community and other interested persons are welcome to participate. Our home base will be Svartbäcken, a Quaker retreat center in a quiet, rustic setting 60 kilometers north of Stockholm, where we'll enjoy comfortable accommodations, home-cooked Swedish meals, lake swimming and wooded hiking trails. Day trips will include excursions to Uppsala, Norrtälje and Stockholm, local churches, a reconstructed Viking village, a nearby castle, ancient sacred sites, an island boating trip, and more. Scheduled activities at Svartbäcken will include daily worship, presentations on Swedish history, language and culture, a performance of traditional music and folk dancing, conversations with Friends from Sweden Yearly Meeting, guided labyrinth walks, and group reflection on spiritual themes. Three full retreat days will give participants ample free time for personal rest and reflection.

Leaders

Carol Sexton is the Campus Ministry Associate for Spiritual Formation at Earlham College, a 2001 graduate of Earlham School of Religion, and a member of Clear Creek Friends Meeting in Richmond, Indiana. Her interests include art and spirituality, teaching and retreat leading, individual and group spiritual direction, the labyrinth as a spiritual tool, and travel as a form of spiritual pilgrimage. In October 2002 she spent 10 days in Sweden overseeing the creation of a painted canvas labyrinth for the retreat center at Svartbäcken. She has also traveled extensively throughout western Europe and enjoys learning foreign languages (currently Swedish!). Carol will coordinate trip registration and travel arrangements for U.S. participants and co-facilitate group activities and spiritual reflection throughout the trip.

Julia Ryberg is employed as the Assistant to Sweden Yearly Meeting and is currently a student in the ESR Access program. She is an American-born Quaker who has lived in Sweden for more than 25 years and has also been actively involved with local leadership in the Swedish Lutheran church. Julia and her husband Mats are resident managers of Svartbäcken and have extensive experience hosting groups from the United States. Julia's interests include music, retreat leadership, spiritual direction, pastoral care and spiritual outreach to non-Quaker segments of Swedish society. Julia will coordinate the travel details for excursions within Sweden, make arrangements for guest speakers and performers at Svartbäcken, and co-facilitate the spiritual reflection aspects of our time together.

Trip Price

The total trip price, not including airfare, is $1,200.00 per person in shared rooms; $1,500.00 per person for single rooms. This price includes all group transportation within Sweden, admission fees for museums and cultural sites, 11 nights lodging, all meals served at Svartbäcken, and most meals during the day excursions. Participants will pay for their own lunch and dinner during the two day trips to Stockholm.

Payment and Refund Schedule

Cancellation Policy

A minimum of 10 participants are required for the Pilgrimage to Sweden. The trip may be cancelled if there are not enough people registered by March 1, 2004. The trip leaders also reserve the right to cancel the trip at any time, for any other reason they deem necessary. In case of trip cancellation by the leaders, any payments received from participants will be fully refunded.

Registered individuals may voluntarily withdraw their participation with full refund of payments made until June 11, 2004. After June 11, a $100.00 trip cancellation fee will be retained and the remainder of payments made will be refunded. After June 25, additional non-recoverable expenses incurred by the retreat center or trip leaders on behalf of the group may be withheld from the refund. Requests for refunds must be made in writing and addressed to Carol Sexton, Drawer 195, Earlham College, Richmond, IN 47374.

Transportation

Participants are responsible for the cost of airfare and should plan to arrive in Stockholm by mid-afternoon on July 12. Transportation between Arlanda airport and Svartbäcken will be provided on the arrival and departure days for participants who contact us ahead of time with their flight information.

All planned group travel within Sweden is included in the cost of the trip. On excursion days, the group will travel together in rented minivans. Any boat trips booked for the group are also included. Public transportation passes will be provided for the two days in Stockholm.

Local bus service is available to Rimbo and other nearby towns for participants who choose to plan their own excursions during the retreat days.

Meals

Most meals will be homemade, typical Swedish food, prepared and served at Svartbäcken. Participants will be asked to sign up on a rotation list to assist with meal set up and clean up.

Breakfast - served daily at Svartbäcken.

Lunch - served at Svartbäcken on retreat days; picnic or catered lunches provided for excursion days. Participants will purchase their own lunch during the two days in Stockholm.

Dinner - served at Svartbäcken on most days. Smorgasbord restaurant dinner provided in Uppsala. Participants will purchase their own dinner during the two days in Stockholm.

Accommodations and Facilities

Svartbäcken can accommodate up to 25 people in 1, 2, 3 and 4-bedded rooms, with shared bathrooms. The maximum number of trip participants will depend on the number of people requesting singles and shared rooms.

Linens, towels and hand soap are provided.

Laundry facilities are available for personal use.

Limited phone and internet access will be made available during designated hours.

The main building at Svärtbacken has a kitchen, dining room and large meeting space in addition to bathrooms and sleeping rooms. A painted canvas labyrinth will be available for walking meditation during a portion of each retreat day.

Other facilities include a lake for swimming, fishing and boating; wooded hiking trails and quiet country roads for outdoor walking

Program Information

Sightseeing

Day trips will include excursions to nearby sites of interest; most of these will not be more than 1-2 hours from Svartbäcken. Moderate walking is required during the day excursions. Admission costs for all planned group activities are included. Participants may incur additional costs for optional sightseeing in Stockholm, or for personal excursions during the retreat days.

Retreat Time

The retreat days are included as important and integral components of the trip experience. Retreat days and scheduled free time will allow us to set a somewhat slower and more relaxed pace than the average tourist trip, and will give participants the opportunity for needed rest, recreation and personal reflection.

Group Reflection and Worship Time

The group reflection sessions are scheduled times for us to reflect together as a group on our experience of another culture and of ourselves as travelers on a spiritual journey. The trip leaders will suggest spiritual themes and facilitate discussion during the group reflection times. Morning or evening worship times may also be scheduled, depending on the interests of the group.

Proposed Itinerary

(This itinerary is subject to change at the discretion of the leaders, depending on the availability of guest speakers, group bookings at tourist sites, boating schedules, etc.)