Staying at the Table: Love Outpoured When We Don’t Agree

A Mini Retreat hosted by Fredericksburg Baptist Church

Meet our Retreat Leaders: Meg Rooney and Rev. Beth Bailey

About the Retreat

Our retreat is based on the book, Learning to Disagree by John Inazu and will feature engaging discussions, teaching, and interactive activities. On Friday evening, we have our first session from 6-8:30 pm. We will spend time around the dinner table and dive into topics such as empathy and seeing people as people. On Saturday, we will begin with breakfast and fellowship from 9-9:45 am and start our second session at 10 am. In our second session, we will continue the discussion by exploring how we can stay at the table when disagreements occur and staying friends seems challenging. Afterwards, we will take a short break and end our time with a 12:30-2 pm Story Table lunch. Our Story Table will feature young adults in the center having a conversation about related topics to our retreat and retreat participants will have the opportunity to observe from the outside while lunch is served. This Story Table will be an opportunity to listen and reflect on the retreat experience and learn new ways from our young people about how we can stay at the table despite differences.

The cost to attend and participate is $20 per person with a $50 family max. This admission fee includes Friday dinner and Saturday breakfast and lunch. When signing up below, please note your family’s dietary needs. We also encourage you to purchase the book, Learning to Disagree, in advance to have a background and starting point for our conversations.

Meg Rooney

Meg Rooney, M.Div., is a first-year Ph.D. student in the Department of Religion at the University of Georgia. Her research centers on American Baptist history and theology, women’s studies, and rhetorical studies.

She has served both CBF Georgia and CBF Virginia in a variety of roles, including speaker, retreat developer and coordinator, intern, and session leader. Meg also supports CBF Global as a communications and marketing intern and as the Age Level Assemblies Coordinator. In addition, she spent three summers with Passport, Inc., most recently leading as Pastor for the Passport Kids team in 2022.

Meg lives in Athens, Georgia, where she enjoys spending time with her partner, Barron, and their dog, Bonnie.

Rev. Beth Bailey

Rev. Beth Bailey, M.Div., is the Minister with Youth and Young Adults at Fredericksburg Baptist Church. She is a graduate of Union Presbyterian Seminary and University of Virginia and serves on CBF Youth Ministry Network and CBF Young Adult Ministry Network Boards. Beth is passionate about working with youth and young adults, navigating religious trauma with those the church has hurt, and creating open and brave spaces for young people to boldly live into who God is calling them to be. She cares deeply about thoughtful and healthy intergenerational conversations in an increasingly divided world.

Beth and her husband, Colin, reside in Fredericksburg. They both enjoy spending time with their dogs, Ginny and Joey.

Fun fact: Beth & Meg are sisters!