By Barb Arland-Fye
In a quiet setting on eight acres of rolling hills in southwest Davenport, Eagles’ Wings Retreat Ministry has found a new home. Its five-member board celebrated by hosting an open house March 28, a beautiful day the board had prayed for.
Eagles’ Wings is a charitable organization whose Christian staff members volunteer their time and talent to serve the Lord through counseling, facilitating groups, spiritual direction, clerical work, maintenance and prayer. Supporting funds come from client fees, retreats and individual donations.
The board sought a new location for its retreat center, previously located near Donahue, to provide easier access for people desiring to make retreats at Eagles’ Wings, said Marcia Moore, M.S. Ed, the executive director.
One day, while driving to a garage sale, she noticed a property at 5816 Telegraph Road with a sign that she thought read: “Horse for Sale.” She drove past, but the Lord guided her back to the property with a three-bedroom house, horse barn and chicken coop. The property, which was for sale, would require substantial updating, but Moore and the other board members agreed it would be a great location for the center.
Moore’s husband, Tom, who died just 10 days before the open house, had also been supportive of the center’s relocation and the ministry itself. His framed photograph was displayed in the retreat center’s upper level conference room along with photos of the center’s renovation process.
Moore, a member of St. Alphonsus Parish in Davenport, greeted guests to the open house with a beaming smile. “This is so perfect,” she said of the retreat center. “It’s so close to where my office is and my house and (board member) Cyndi Jarvis’ home.”
In addition to the retreat center, Eagles’ Wings offers counseling services housed not far from the retreat center. “We felt the Lord was telling all of us that it was time, first of all, to move closer to town and we also felt he wanted the ministries to be close together,” Jarvis said.
Both Moore and Jarvis are counselors and also are certified in spiritual direction through Our Lady of Divine Providence School of Spirituality in conjunction with the Franciscan University of Stubenville, Ohio. The other board members of Eagles’ Wings are Father Daniel Mannhardt, who offers Mass and also is a spiritual director, and Mary Hurd and Craig Jarvis (Cyndi’s husband), who serve as prayer ministers.
“This is a ministry of healing,” Jarvis said. People might seek counseling first — be it for marriage or to deal with some other relationship that needs healing — and then participate in spiritual direction and Ignatian retreats, the latter being offered for three days, eight days or 30 days.
An Ignatian retreat is described as an intense, structured experience based on the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola. The Spiritual Exercises also are offered over a period of months; commonly known as the annotated 19th.
“The daytime retreats that we offer are based on various themes which lead participants to deeper self-knowledge and a closer relationship to God,” Moore said.
For more information about Eagles’ Wings Ministry, e-mail Moore at Marcia@eagleswings.ws or visit the Web site http//www.eagleswings.ws.
