They say that the people are what makes the place special. While this may be true, there’s something more special (or maybe something in the water) about you, Chapman Lake. With every passing day, more and more people have walked through your doors for a new experience and leave with their hearts fulfilled and love everlasting. What is truly special about you, Chapman Lake, is the way you make us feel at home.
Every weekend, a different group of people feels welcomed home when they walk through your doors. All kinds of teams from women’s retreats to Search, Manresa to Fourth Day, create an environment that is unmatched and it all begins in the Lake Room.
Walking into that room for the first time on a Friday afternoon is a feeling unlike any other. Looking out the windows at the lake and glancing around to see a whole group of people you’re anxiously awaiting to know, you can’t help but feel excited to see what the weekend has in store. Soon enough, the environment is changing from a dance room to a room where walls are broken down.
As a leader sitting in a chair in the front of the room giving a witness talk, you glance around the room and see a loving group of people ready to support you and learn from you. You know that whatever comes out of your mouth will stay safely tucked in everyone’s minds and hearts as they welcome you with hugs as you finish speaking.
As a retreatant, you yearn to hear the stories of the leaders who have put so much time into making this retreat everything you need at that moment. You sit arm in arm with a friend from class as a story someone tells is hitting home. You cry in front of people you hadn’t said more than, “hello, how are you?” to as you look around and see love in action between everyone in the room.
Entering the chapel, it’s hard to feel anything but peaceful. The stunning view of the lake and the sunsets behind the cross makes finding God in this environment effortless. Whether it’s midday or midnight, it’s always a good time to sit and reflect in the chapel.
Celebrating mass inside those four walls feels intimate and personal, something not many chapels have the power to make their occupants feel. When you’re sitting alone, the silence is everything you need. But when it’s standing room only and everyone is singing together, there’s nowhere else you’d rather be.
People who used to be strangers are now people you call family. Within the confines of this retreat house, we have found support, love and hope in people we never thought we’d know. Our relationships blossomed in our small group rooms and extend back to campus because of the events that took place during our weekend at the lake.
Thank you Chapman Lake for being the starting place of many beautiful friendships, life-changing experiences, much-needed weekends and the best kind of retreat from the craziness of campus.
We are grateful for all our journeys we have embarked on within your walls and will never forget the emotions, love and happiness felt while taking a few days to find ourselves and our place in the Scranton community—even after we have graduated.
With love—
Your Royals
