Colorado Springs, Colorado – Margaret Rand Hilpert passed away peacefully on October 7 2021, surrounded by her loving family. She was preceded in death by her parents William Roscoe Rand and Elizabeth Purnell Rand, her sisters Betty Rand Coward Stillwell and Billie Frances Rand, and her first husband Claude Phillips.

Margaret was beloved for many reasons — foremost, she was extremely devoted to her large family, whom she delighted in reuniting with every year at Ocean Isle. Appropriately, when she passed away, she was on a trip for a family celebration. Margaret grew up in Garner, where her parents were pillars of their community. She was a star basketball player at Garner High School, and is a member of the school’s Hall of Fame. She was baptized in the Garner United Methodist Church and was a woman of faith throughout her life, from following Christ’s teachings to care for the poor and those in prison to leading the singing at church.

After graduating from Meredith College, Margaret taught English and art at Garner High for many years, sharing her passion for both subjects with her students. She was loved by countless students and respected for playing a key role to integrate the school. This experience led to later work as a peacemaker with Witness for Peace and CITCA. She and her husband John led countless retreats, and were founders to establish the experiential Covenant Community Church in Raleigh. She, John, and many others worked over 40 years to create Cedar Cross Retreat Center, and were the first coordinators. She led in the design of several buildings, did major interior carpentry work, assisted in trail blazing, and created many gardens.

Art was a central part of Margaret’s life. She was a passionate and extremely talented artist, specializing in painting, collage, and felt-making. As chair of the Franklin County Arts Council, she guided a transition to a far more inclusive and broader mission. Her joy was in encouraging others’ creative expressions, and linking those to their spiritual journey.

Margaret was vibrant and whimsical, playful and fun with an incredibly adventurous spirit. She had great curiosity about people and the world and loved to travel with her sisters and with John. Margaret surprised no one when tackling a mountain water slide, riding with a grandchild on a roller coaster, or taking a spin on a merry-go-round at age 80. She was never without a deck of cards in her pocketbook for spontaneous game-playing. Everyone wanted Margaret along for whatever was happening.

She is survived by her husband and best friend of 40 years, John Hilpert, and by her beloved family – sister Mary Marshall Culp (Bob), daughters Suzanne Mitchell (Brian), Libby Phillips, Meg Dare (Mike), son Doug Phillips, stepson Mark Hilpert (Faye), 13 grandchildren, and 5 great grandchildren. Memorial arrangements will be announced at a later date. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests contributions to Covenant Community Church, Cedar Cross Retreat Center, Franklin County Arts Council, and Community Partners of Hope – Henderson.

This is a sample of Margaret’s work in the Art Studio at Cedar Cross. She used art in providing spiritual direction as well as for bringing more beauty into the world. 

The following is a poem written by Mac Hulslander in observance of Margaret Hilpert’s 70^th birthday. It is dated 10/17/2010.
 

• — Brother Mac

A retrospect of autumn at Cedar Cross

The mission of Cedar Cross is to provide a place for rest, reflection, and renewal. To use Rohr’s words, we could describe our mission as a way to provide a place where retreatants can be with ourselves and God. 

When we rest, we are preparing ourselves to listen. 

When we reflect, we are opening ourselves to whom we really are.  

When we are renewed, we are given an opportunity to live with hope and gratitude. 

Of course, Cedar Cross doesn’t do any of this. We simply seek to provide a place that is conducive for the three R’s to occur. We do that in many ways, including quiet places to sit along the four miles of trails through woods and across fields. 

During the pandemic, we are still welcoming retreatants for rest, reflection, and renewal. Individuals, couples, families, and small groups up to four people (with one person or couple staying in Heron’s Nest and each of the three suites in the Lodge) are invited.

If you want to schedule a retreat or want more information, just click on the button below, give us a call at 919-729-2586, or send an email to cedarcrossregistrar@gmail.com. 

We look forward to welcoming you!
 

A view from the trail

If you know someone who would benefit from a retreat at Cedar Cross, consider giving them a gift card. The suggested donation for an individual on retreat is $75 per night, or $50 each for two or more. Just send an email to cedarcrossregistrar@gmail.com. We’ll send an invoice to give electronically or you can send a check to Cedar Cross Retreat Center, 150 Cedar Cross Way, Louisburg, NC 27549. Depending on what you want, we’ll send a gift card via mail or send you a gift letter electronically that you can print out. 

A walk toward the North Pond

To give a sense of life at Cedar Cross in late autumn, you’re invited to join in a walk along a section of the Loop Trail from the Way of Jesus to the North Pond. Here is the link:
https://www.cedarcrossretreat.info/2020/12/19/autumn-walk/
 

Getting to know the Mission Group of Cedar Cross 

Note: We consider everyone who participates in a retreat here, prays for this ministry, volunteers to help, and/or offers financial support to be a part of Cedar Cross Retreat Center. In addition to the hundreds who are part of the Cedar Cross community, we have a Mission Group that oversees the ministry. This section is intended to give us all a little insight about these folks. The names of Mission Group members is listed at the base of each edition.

In this edition of Journeys, John Hilpert responds to a prompt to tell us a little about yourself. 

For 45 years, a good day at Cedar Cross was when Margaret and I would work out in the woods together.  A great day was when we built a new trail or created a sacred space along the way.

The Ridge Trail appeared by going off the driveway just to push down a dead tree, and then wondering what was just ahead.  The Oak and Holly Trail taught me a key lesson.  I was trying to connect what was to become the Village Green to Creekside, and was forcing my way through thick prickly holly trees.  Exhausted, I sat down.  Finally looking up and to my right, I saw a hint of an opening, and a pleasant trail emerged.  Not only did I learn about building a trail, this was a key insight for professional work and spiritual development. 

Our four miles of trails developed in response to a general need, but enhanced by a willingness to let the land speak.  The Mission Group wisely set a limit on building new trails since they all have to be maintained.  I’ve obeyed – sort of.  A trail blazer has to do what a guy has to do.  So there are other trails I’ve had fun creating, but these were not put on the map and are last to be maintained.

While I was tackling three careers, my first 25 years here focused on transforming a badly abused and neglected tract into a healthy forest.  For the last 20 years, a lot of a fourth career was devoted to coordinating with Margaret a retreat ministry.  Most of this was enjoyable though parts felt like work.  Now that Jimmy has taken over operational responsibility and I only help out now and then, I am returning to my first love of being a forest steward.  I do want the record to note that the new trail being cut out along the north side of the creek flowing out of North Pond was strictly Jimmy’s idea.  The fact that we had a ball and played off each other’s leadings is totally incidental. 
 
 

A message from Cedar Cross

Dear Friends and Supporters,

Perhaps this letter finds you, like us, overwhelmed by the issues we all face, but we want to let you know that our commitments, actions, and hope are alive. Cedar Cross Retreat Center is continuing to welcome retreatants to a much needed place of rest, reflection, and renewal for the soul and spirit.

Although the retreat center is a place apart, we have not been totally insulated from the events of 2020. Our retreat numbers, and thus our income, are significantly down for the year. Typically, much of our revenue comes from large group retreats, which are not happening because of the virus. Instead, we are seeing more individuals and couples seeking essential periods of quiet listening and discernment, as well as families and small groups (four or fewer) who are realizing the benefits of time away. We continue to reduce our expenses, while also increasing our cleaning and sanitation efforts to ensure a safe environment for all who come.

Retreatants continue to tell us that being on retreat here nourishes them in many ways, perhaps in spiritual direction, opportunities for creative exploration, the beauty of nature, or the spaciousness to clarify future action. They bless us with their stories and a gratitude that we share with you.

With this annual letter, we come to you in this challenging year earnestly inviting you to prayerfully consider making a financial contribution to the ongoing mission of Cedar Cross. We rely on your generosity. We hope you will also consider scheduling some retreat time for yourselves to enjoy the benefits you help to support.
 

Summer Green

New opportunities for retreats 

The novel coronavirus pandemic is affecting all people to varying  degrees, including Cedar Cross. Yet, like many others, we are learning something new about our ministry of providing a place of rest, reflection, and renewal.

We are noticing two new ways for people to experience a time of retreat.

One of those is a small group of friends. A group of four can come on retreat with each having his/her living area (bed, sitting area, and full bathroom). When the group wants to gather, they can keep six feet apart in the Community Room. 

The other is adults introducing their children and grandchildren to being on a retreat. One of our Mission Group members, Mac Hulslander, and his wife, Peg, brought their teenage grandchildren to Cedar Cross. You can read his reflection about that experience below. Of course, we still welcome individuals and couples for retreats as well.

If you want to talk about possibilities of being on retreat, you can send an email to me at cedarcrossregistrar@gmail.com or call me at 919-729-2586.

As the psalmist shared: “Be still and know that I am God.”
 

A family’s experience together at Cedar Cross

The Chinese character for “crisis” incorporates the meanings of both “danger” and “opportunity.” Such are the times we are all experiencing.

We here at Cedar Cross Retreat Center are seeking various ways by which to respond to the challenges presented by the pandemic. While our purpose of providing a safe space for rest, relaxation and renewal has largely focused on individual/couple/group retreatants (read “adult”), my wife and I recently successfully extricated our 13 and 15-year old grand-daughters from their phones, homes, and TV shows for experiencing a four-day “mini” retreat at Cedar Cross for fun and familial bonding.

It was a great experience!

Whether spending our time playing horseshoes, walking the trails, sharing chance (but poignant) conversations over meals, delighting over a box turtle’s visit or composing poems by candlelight, the days we shared together were delightfully full and pleasurable. (One clue to which is their strong desire to return!)

I write this simply as a way of planting a seed on how a family (or even one with very close friends) could also provide for restful and renewing experiences for “such a time as this.”

And, it also is a real help with keeping the Center operative when our income flow has been drastically reduced. Please give this possibility some thought for an upcoming summer activity and approach Jimmy about scheduling your own or family get-away for re-creative and restorative ways of “sheltering” in a beautiful, serene, and inviting sanctuary.
 

A view from the trail

Listening to a summer rain

To give you more of a sense of what life is like at Cedar Cross, we are including a 30-second video in each edition of Journeys. In the last edition, we took a virtual walk along the Middle Trail. In this edition, you are invited to click the link below and listen to the sound of summer rain on the trees near the Lodge. Here is the link:
https://www.cedarcrossretreat.info/2020/08/07/summer-rain/

Getting to know the Mission Group of Cedar Cross 

Note: We consider everyone who participates in a retreat here, prays for this ministry, volunteers to help, and/or offers financial support to be a part of Cedar Cross Retreat Center. In addition to the hundreds who are part of the Cedar Cross community, we have a Mission Group that oversees the ministry. This section is intended to give us all a little insight about these folks. The names of Mission Group members is listed at the base of each edition.

In this edition of Journeys, Lillie Jones responds to the prompt of how she got involved with Cedar Cross.

My journey with Cedar Cross began through my involvement with Covenant Community Church. One of the members was my respected and esteemed friend, Mac Hulslander. Through that, I became involved in developing the retreat center. I remember the first time I drove down the path and felt as though we drove 10 miles through the woods (although it’s actually only a half mile off the road). I found that both the work of Cedar Cross and the people involved to be invitational for me. This has been a way for me to draw closer to God. 
 

The Light Still Shines

Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote, “Earth’s crammed with heaven, And every common bush afire with God; But only he who sees takes off his shoes … “

In the photos, the common, and, yet, beautiful and wild, oxeye daisies speckle the New Field at Cedar Cross as they reach toward the afternoon sun, and succulents growing in the rock terrace on the South Hillside show their spring blossoms.
 

A word about work at Cedar Cross

We all keep upgrading Cedar Cross during this pause, either doing needed maintenance, or allowing creativity to emerge. Granite rocks disturbed from millennial sleep by mule-pulled plow a century and a half ago were thrown into dozens of piles to allow farming. Leaves, dirt and moss provided blankets for renewed sleep.

For the last 45 years, a few of us have been resurrecting many rocks to create low walls, focal points, and reflection spaces. Now, younger pairs of hands are moving hundreds more to express new visions provided by the same Spirit.

From the beauty of simple food to nourish bodies, rock is now moving to allow beauty to nourish souls. 
 

— John Hilpert, a founder of Cedar Cross and the forest steward

A view from the trail

A virtual walk … on the Middle Trail

We are trying something new for friends of Cedar Cross. As a way to give you a taste of the retreat center, we are going to offer short videos that we hope are meaningful for you. In this edition, you can join in a walk on the Middle Trail during a spring rain. To take the virtual walk, just click on this link, which will take you to our web site: https://www.cedarcrossretreat.info/2020/06/16/walk-with-me-on-the-middle-trail-to-the-south-hillside/
 

Getting to know the Mission Group of Cedar Cross 

Note: We consider everyone who participates in a retreat here, prays for this ministry, volunteers to help, and/or offers financial support to be a part of Cedar Cross Retreat Center. In addition to the hundreds who are part of the Cedar Cross community, we have a Mission Group that oversees the ministry. This section is intended to give us all a little insight about these folks. The names of Mission Group members is below in the masthead.

In this edition of Journeys, Butch Grove responds to the prompt:  Please tell us a favorite experience at Cedar Cross.

My favorite memory and experience at Cedar Cross has to be when in 2003, Vickie and I got married on the Village Green, next to the goldfish pool. 

Although Cedar Cross was never intended as a wedding venue, the Mission Group made an exception since Vickie and I had been active members for years.  Neither Vickie nor I could imagine a more fitting place to bring together our faith community and the blending of our two families. 

The only enhancement we made to the natural beauty of Cedar Cross in preparation of sharing our vows was to erect a simple cedar archway adorned with a stained glass symbol of Cedar Cross given to us by the Mission Group as wedding gift. 

That cedar arch has become affectionately known as the wedding arch, and every time I see it I think back to that special day.