The new Broom Tree Retreat and Conference Center is already generating phone calls and a great deal of buzz from people who have already experienced a retreat at the facility
Father Jim Mason, the director of Broom Tree says things are going very well.
“We had our first women’s retreat,” he said. “We had 25 women on retreat, a lot of graces were flowing. It was an excellent retreat.”
Father Mason was assigned to take on the responsibility of the retreat center last August. In the fall, the diocese began accepting bookings for the facility for when the construction finished.
The excitement and interest has been building ever since.
Before he accepted his new assignment in Saginaw, MI, Bishop Carlson led a pre-Lenten retreat at Broom Tree.
“We had probably our maximum of people that we could fit in there,” said Father Mason. “We had about 85 people and so we were busting at the seams.”
Father Mason called it “another powerful retreat, a great experience.”
The level of interest has surprised Father Mason. “I could not have predicted or thought how powerful God would work on these retreats. It’s been a privilege to be able to witness that,” he said.
One of the things that makes Father Mason marvel about the development of Broom Tree is how far the project has come in so short a period of time.
“We don’t have a huge staff,” he said. “I have one full-time plus volunteer and the rest of us are part-time workers. We don’t have a big p.r. staff and yet there has been a response.”
The response has come in the form of a growing number of calls inquiring about retreats and about using the facilities for conferences, group meetings and other functions.
“Weekends are getting booked,” said Father Mason. “We are definitely open to more always. We have 50 rooms.”
Even though there have been just a handful of retreats and events at Broom Tree so far since it opened, people are apparently impressed by what they have seen.
One retreatant told the staff via an evaluation, “Surely the Lord is in this place.”
While another wrote, “Incredible...What a beautiful space. Many will be brought to Christ here.”
“The uniform reaction is people are very impressed,” said Father Mason. “They get out there. They see how beautiful it is, how nice it is. They feel God’s presence. They are very impressed with the facilities and the beauty of the location.”
The first women’s retreat sparked another revelation for the staff: the power of word of mouth.
Father Mason says no sooner was the retreat completed when a new group of people began calling to inquire about retreat opportunities in the future for them.
The staff fielded eight new retreat registration calls the next day after the women’s silent retreat concluded.
“Those registrations were just from word of mouth,” said Father Mason.
Another point that he stresses is that Broom Tree is not finished
The retreat and conference center is operational but plenty of landscape work needs to be done, stations of the cross need to be erected and development of the family camp facilities must be finished.
Construction of the family camp will likely take another 18 months to complete.
But when those things happen, Broom Tree stands to be even more popular for the Diocese of Sioux Falls and the region and people surrounding us, according to Father Mason.
“It can be a real source of renewal, for, not only our diocese but, I think, the Diocese of Sioux City and southwest Minnesota and even Nebraska,” he said. “This could be a real gathering point for Christians and for our Catholic faith.”
While the Broom Tree facility is primarily designed as a retreat center, it is also open to other groups and businesses.
Broom Tree has already hosted a contingent of Eagle Scouts and their fathers and Avera McKennan has booked some monthly meetings at Broom Tree.
The Eagle Scouts have said they will come back and contribute a volunteer work weekend to give back to the Broom Tree project and experience.
The staff is working to set up an open house weekend for the Yankton area so the people there can come and see the facility for themselves and see what the diocese has to offer.
Different diocesan ministries like Marriage Encounters and Cursillo are looking to Broom Tree as a place to host their ministries in the future.
The key for the diocese to this point has been to get many different groups and people involved in developing Broom Tree and utilizing it now that it is operating.
Father Mason says there are many ways for people of the diocese to help and be involved, whether through a financial contribution, volunteer hours to continue developing the property or by registering for one of the growing number of retreats being offered.
Those opportunities begin, he says with a call to the staff at 605-988-3708 or via e-mail to lori@sfcatholic.org