by Mary Cottingham • southtexascatholic.com • January 31, 2014
The Fannie Bluntzer Nason Renewal Center, also known as The Spirit Center, has raised more than $1.7 million for Phase II construction of its retreat center located between Corpus Christi and Orange Grove. The project is a vision of the Sisters of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament.
Long-range plans call for the retreat center to provide overnight accommodations for at least 96 people. Phase I construction consisted of raising $2.6 million for a feasibility study, engineering and architectural design and building a pavilion, bathrooms and campsites. Phase I was completed in February 2013. The pavilion is currently available for one-day retreats.
Many people are “lost and empty…sleepwalking through life,” the Spirit Center’s promotional materials state. The purpose of developing a retreat center for the community is to get “back to the spiritual center, to the core of who we are.”
The Spirit Center is intended to provide a venue for groups such as “Journey to Damascus,” “ACTS,” “Walk to Emmaus,” youth-groups, businesses and other organizations that can benefit by getting back to nature and their “spiritual center”, away from the busyness of life.
“A great secret of a retreat is your not giving five minutes or an hour, your really focusing on the relationship with God and the reality of God over an extended period of time,” Father Bob Dunn said.
According to the Spirit Center’s executive director Sherry Bowers, they are in the process of raising the funds needed for Phase II, which will include a dining hall, activity center and two dormitories. Part of this fundraising effort included the Jan. 10 Second Annual Spirit Center Celebrity Dinner hosted by the staff of the Fannie Bluntzer Nason Renewal Center, which included many high-profile people serving as waiters for the event. Among the celebrity waiters were Father Tom Goodwin, Assistant Chief of Police Jesse Garcia, President of Incarnate Word Academy Charles Imbergamo and Robert and Chris Adler, to name a few.
Bishop Michael Mulvey gave the invocation at the dinner, and officers of the King High School Royalettes performed a routine for guests. Stressing the need in the community to have a place that youth can deepen their faith, Incarnate Word Academy high school student Austin DeGaish appealed to them to be generous.
“I definitely see a need for The Spirit Center. When you give to The Spirit Center what you are really giving is transformation, rebirth, renewal and an opportunity for renewal. It’s us coming together as a community to make the vision that God has placed on our hearts a reality,” said Hester Rodriguez, owner of Hester’s Cafe.
Phase III construction will entail raising about $1.5 million to build a conference center. Also funds raised will go toward creating outdoor activities like meditation areas and nature trails built with the possibility of adding a swimming pool, volleyball courts, ropes course and more.
The final phase, Phase IV, will consist of building a welcome center, a lobby with offices, 96 more rooms with beds, closets and bathrooms and a paved parking lot for cars and buses. A chapel will also be built that can seat about 300 people.
The entire project relies heavily on donors and may take years before completion. The Sisters of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament have wanted the building of The Spirit Center to be debt free, so the costs of renting will not be a burden to users.
The future overnight retreat center is located on 110 acres of property once owned by Fannie Bluntzer Nason who willed it to Sisters of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament in 1964.
The Spirit Center’s central location makes it accessible to everyone in south Texas. It will be open to people of other faiths and businesses throughout the community.
To rent the Pavilion or find out more information contact the Spirit Center at (361) 888-7537 or spiritcenter@bluntzerspiritcenter.org.