Dates Set For 'God Is A Brown Girl Too' Retreat

NEW YORK - God is a Brown Girl Too is holding the only retreat of its kind to uplift spiritual power in women of color at the Mariandale Retreat Center near New York City. The retreat begins on Friday, April 1, 2011, at 5:00 P.M. and ends Sunday, April 3, 2011, at 1:00 P.M.

The retreat, called "Creating Outside the Box of Conventionality," will be held on the beautiful grounds of over 20 acres overlooking the Hudson River. Not only will the fascinating new book God is a Brown Girl Too be unveiled for the first time at the retreat, but participants will also enjoy presentations of this new story of the sacred. They will learn how to transform the mind, body and soul through meditational moving, liberation quilting, labyrinth walking, and lessons on creating outside the box of conventionality.

Founded by Reverend Cecilia Loving, God is a Brown Girl Too was created to help women of color improve self-love, self-esteem and self-empowerment by telling a new spiritual story. "We need to believe in ourselves again," Rev. Loving says. "God is a Brown Girl Too lays the foundation for believing in ourselves as temples of a living God, a Spirit of Power and Truth that sees beyond traditions that marginalize and denigrate women of color. We need to own God for ourselves. If we don't, we will never receive the spiritual salvation that we need for true deliverance."

The book God is a Brown Girl Too is like no other because God speaks directly through the souls of women of color as their voice – in spiritual teachings, mythical scrolls and poetry. It confronts the notion of God as the proverbial old white man. "This is not a story," the book reads, "This is the truth. This is how we glue the pieces back together that have fallen from our center of spiritual oneness. This is how we re-member ourselves. This is how we get back on our feet. This is how we believe again."

This year's retreat will feature spiritual workshops that will help participants gain more wisdom, peace, focus and creativity, providing a relaxing environment to exercise the body, restore the soul, and renew the mind. One participant from last year's Awaken to Love God is a Brown Girl Too Retreat said she was grateful "to be able to meet new and beautiful sisters transforming their lives in the Divine, surrounded by the whispered breeze through the trees, the bird singing and the multitude of fireflies lighting the evenings along the Hudson River. Everyone should give themselves the gift of hearing the voice within in the soothing setting of this retreat."

Rev. Loving is the founder of SPIRITMUV, a non-denominational church in New York City. SPIRITMUV meets each Sunday from 2:30 P.M. to 3:30 P.M. at the Unity Center of New York City, located at 213 West 58th Street, between 7th Avenue and Broadway.

Like SPIRITMUV, God is a Brown Girl Too is grounded in the teachings of Jesus Christ, as well as similar spiritual teachings. "We are all just standing on the edge of greatness," Pastor Loving says. "God is a Brown Girl Too gives us the tools to step into it."

Her book, Prayers For Those Standing on the Edge of Greatness, teaches how to make the first step in awakening to love -- by always centering in God first.