Come, be fed in body and soul at Alton L. Collins Retreat Center
Nestled in among the mossy trees of the Pacific Northwest temperate rainforest, Alton L. Collins Retreat Center offers amazing hospitality in a beautiful setting. Groups of all types meet here to be fed in body and soul, to walk the trails, and gather in person.
As the retreat center is located only 45 minutes from the Portland airport, we welcome guests from around the world and from the greater Northwest area. We are close enough to the city to be accessible for day-use groups and far enough away that you can be in the midst of the forest while you are here.
Alton L. Collins Retreat Center engages in a ministry of hospitality, welcoming groups to our site and demonstrating God’s love through our actions. The staff shape the space and the experience to meet the physical and emotional needs of our guests. We strive to offer hospitality as Henri Nouwen puts it in Reaching Out. “Hospitality is not to change people, but to offer them the space where change can take place.”
One of the primary ways we show hospitality is through our meals. We craft each meal on site using high-quality ingredients and love, attending to most dietary needs at no additional cost while still maintaining our high standards. Quite simply, our food is one of the main reasons guests return year after year.
This August 21-24, we will offer a remarkable 4-day retreat, Time to Sow, for preachers that walks through the Gospel lessons for an entire lectionary year and sends everyone home with a binder full of their own work and a preaching plan complete with series and themes for the upcoming year. This program can be a remarkable gift to everyone who contributes to worship, to preachers as they design worship, and to congregations who will want to come back to continue hearing what God is saying to the people. Register for Time to Sow.
We welcome volunteers to help maintain this sacred space and assist in providing gracious hospitality. Volunteers are invited to enjoy the meals and stay on site as they support this ministry. Volunteer with us.
Our staff would love to host your planning or spiritual retreat, your crafting guild or choir, your family reunion or you by yourself. There are still vacancies available for this year, and we are booking events for next year. Please contact the Alton L. Collins Retreat Center office at 503-637-6411 or office@collinsretreatcenter.org to discuss availability and options.
Come, be fed in body and soul, experience God’s love, and engage with creation.
Rev. Dan Benson, Director, Alton L. Collins Retreat Center
Photo by Ed Hernandez