Inside Story
Come Away
Time Out for Rest and Renewal at Glen Eyrie
by Dean Ridings
Since his earliest days, Jeff Morrison had two close companions—Jesus and music.
“I grew up in a Christian home in the Midwest,” Jeff says, “and I grew up singing—at home, in church, even in the sandbox!”
Jeff picked up the guitar and piano along the way. “Growing up I realized a deep love for and calling to lead people in worship,” he recalls. What began in high school has culminated in Jeff’s roles through the years as a worship pastor, traveling worship leader and consultant, and now program manager and resident worship leader at the Glen Eyrie Conference Center, home of The Navigators in Colorado Springs.
Today, Jeff takes great joy in helping Glen Eyrie’s guests tune out the world’s noise and tune in to the still, small voice of God. Through program and worship, he aims to help people heed Jesus’ call: “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest” (Mark 6:31). It’s a perspective he had early on but admits he lost sight of in the midst of it all.
Indeed, as Jeff grew older, things became more complicated: college, marriage, kids, life! “I became a worship pastor, youth director, missionary teacher in Guatemala, and recording artist out of Nashville,” he says. Deeply affected by The Navigators at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, Jeff served as a counselor and programs coordinator at Eagle Lake Camp throughout his college years and in early 2007 accepted the invitation to serve as Glen Eyrie’s worship director.
Yet in the midst of everyday life in a loud, busy world, Jeff knew that he needed to press the pause button—to take Jesus at His word and come away with Him to a quiet place and get some rest.
“I went on a personal retreat for three nights,” he says. “It was a beautiful place—and very isolated. On day two I remember I called my wife, Patti, and said, ‘I am not as deep as I thought I was.’ It was a humbling and wonderfully brutal time to slow down and realize that mental clutter, noise, and distraction tendencies were not going to lay down quietly. They were going to fight.
“Once I moved through and past as much of that as I could handle,” Jeff says, “the communion time with the Lord was sweet.”
“I came back knowing that the Glen is the perfect place for personal retreat,” he says. “The world is crazy. Sons and daughters of the King are so caught up in distracting noise and busyness. Souls are dry, minds are racing, and hearts are undernourished and untended. We can do something about that here—or at least create the time, space, and some simple tools to help.”
Jeff sketched out a special program to do just that. It’s called Innovo, which means “to be made new” in Latin, and it’s growing in popularity.
“God’s heart for us is to be renewed and reminded of how good He is and who we are as His children,” Jeff explains. “An Innovo spiritual retreat can do wonders for your perspective, your pace of life, and your relationship with God and others. Whether you’re in the process of making a big decision or just need time alone to slow down and reflect, we welcome you to retreat at Glen Eyrie.”
Phil Harbison recently brought his youth group from Michigan to Glen Eyrie for Innovo. “We needed a time and a place to slow our students down and get them into the presence of Christ,” he says.
“My life has been so stressed with school and sports consuming all of my time,” says Andrea, one of the students. “I was finally able to appreciate the beauty of God’s creation and become closer to Him than I’ve ever been.”
“I felt God’s presence in so many ways,” adds another student, Kara. “I always struggled with ‘seeing God’ and hearing Him. During the two days at Glen Eyrie God revealed Himself in nature, and I heard His whispers at various times this week. . . . It was truly indescribable.”
“The uncomfortable process of slowing down is worth going through, and no one can do it for you,” Jeff says. But through music and the spoken word, “we can guide and encourage. That seems appropriate, and I’m seeing it work.”
Visit www.gleneyrie.org for more about Innovo and other Christian camps and conferences for you and your family.
