Onsite at Ignite NW—Part 1

 The first building we saw was the Longhouse, where we were to have most of our activities. I was intrigued by the unusual Native American art on the outside of the building.

(Boy, doesn't this guy look happy? Time to bring some Christian joy to this place.)

Here is an example of how the inside was decorated. (See papal flag on back wall, added by the band.)

This banner was set up outside the door.....

Inside, this meeting room.........

...was made into the adoration chapel. (Some of the surroundings couldn't be helped.)

The tabernacle was almost exactly the same as the one we have in New Hope! 

Our Lady of Ignite stands off to the side.

The woodland setting was beautiful.

The green shirts chalked the sidewalks to help us get around.

I must say, the campus layout was very confusing.

The campus was built in 1967. 

The surroundings were lovely, but the buildings.... not so much.

That's my dorm..... Dorm u. Yes, lower case u. They did not ask me to proofread their dorm names. :) 

Fr. Sibley gave us a talk about serving at the conference. 

Each of us introduced himself or herself, and told who our favorite saint is and why. 

This helped the KY people get to know the WA people and vice versa.

Here is Josh Johnson with the band's lead singer, Daniel Oberreuter.

The religious and priests were asked to arrive early for orientation. 

The first was Carmelite Br. Matthias, a seminarian who used to belong to the band 

which would play at the conference.

Fr. Peter Tynan, OSB, from nearby St. Martin's College, 

made himself at home to do some spiritual reading.

Here are three seminarians from the Archdiocese of Seattle, all of whom were a great help to us...

....some Society of Mary Sisters (Sr. Bernadette, originally from Oregon, 

and on the right, Sr. Fernanda, who is from Argentina).....

...some "men in black" (Fr. Ignacio Llorente, an Argentinian; Fr. Joseph Altenhofen; and Fr. Derek Lappe, all three of whom work in the Seattle Archdiocese; and Fr. Sibley from Louisiana)....

....and some ladies in white. Our Nashville Dominicans! YAY! 

Left to right, Sr. Immaculata Marie, Sr. Angela Marie, and Sr. Felicity:

Religious Sisters of Mercy of Alma, Michigan. 

Left to right, Sr. Mary Hanah, Sr. Catherine Marie, and Sr. Esther Mary:

Sr. Giovanni Paolo, SOLT, with Emma (both are originally from Ohio):

There were some Dominican priests and brothers, too.

Hey, even Pope Francis showed up. It was the place to be.

Fr. Sibley and Fr. Lappe wanted me to photograph them working, because, as Fr. Sibley explained, "diocesan priests actually work, while the rest of them [priests] getta sit around in costumes all day." LOL

It was the feast of St. Dominic. This scene shows one of my favorite aspects of Ignite: 

the different communities socializing and praying together. 

Here they are reciting Vespers for the feast day. 

To be continued.....