Burnout among faith leaders is at an all-time high with 56% of those choosing to quit citing immense stress, 43% quitting due to loneliness and isolation, and 38% citing intense political polarization. While we don’t tend to think of faith leaders as the cultural military on the front lines of a societal war, that’s not a bad analogy based upon my experience six months ago spending a week with 30 faith leaders at a private MEA retreat in Santa Fe.
It was such a powerful experience seeing these faith leaders – Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist – bond and feel connected because of their shared experience. Many of them felt depleted and fear that they’ve lost their calling, but by the end of the week, a newfound hope and optimism had emerged in the group as evidenced by this summary of the experience of Carl Gregg, one of the faith leaders who attended.
We’re honored that one of our MEA alums has raised sufficient donations to offer two of these private personal retreats for clergy and spiritual leaders with denominations in 2026 – June 22-27 and August 10-15 – at our Santa Fe ranch campus. Called The Sacred Pause, these retreats are meant to be renewing for the faith leader and catalytic to the communities they lead which are typically 500-10,000 people per congregation.
The Sacred Pause was created specifically for seasoned faith leaders in midlife—those who have spent years carrying the spiritual and emotional weight of their communities. This is not a vacation or a typical conference, but developed in the MEA vision to be a carefully facilitated retreat centered on soul care, reflection, and renewal. Through guided dialogue, embodied practices, time in nature, and deep connection with a small, interfaith cohort, participants are given space to reconnect with their calling and restore the inner reserves that sustain their leadership. The result is not only personal renewal, but a ripple effect that strengthens the communities they return to serve.
This is a retreat by faith leaders for faith leaders, and a faith leader committee selects the cohorts based upon application. The Sacred Pause retreat is explicitly designed for midlife faith leaders at an inflection point and is a targeted, wisdom-stage retreat focused on midlife transition, seasons of leadership, and long-tenured leaders (10–25+ years).
If you know a faith leader who deserves a midlife pitstop to refuel and wants to be part of an on-going cohort of other clergy who support each other, please send them to The Sacred Pause website (linked above) where they can apply as almost all of the cost of these two summer retreats is being underwritten by our donors. It’s an experience they definitely deserve and it might change their life and the lives of those they serve.
-Chip