Tim Oberholzer

Tim Oberholzer directs Spirit Center, coordinates facilitated retreats, and is a spiritual director.

Tim spent five and a half years as a Trappist monk at New Melleray Abbey in Peosta, Iowa.  Deep prayer and reflection led him to leave the community prior to making solemn profession. He moved to Idaho to be closer to his parents, discovering the Monastery of St. Gertrude through a job posting for the innkeeper position at the Inn at St. Gertrude.

Tim earned a business degree from the University of Notre Dame, studied philosophy and theology at the University of St. Thomas, and completed the Stewards of the Mystery spiritual direction training program.

Tim is a remarried widower, a committed runner, and an avid reader.

Events with Tim Oberholzer

Deep Writing: Excavating the Inner Life
November 13 - 17, 2023

Between my finger and my thumb The squat pen rests. I’ll dig with it. from “Digging” by Seamus Heaney   We are archaeological sites. Personal artifacts buried in the rich humus of our lives long to tell their stories. These objects are sacred vessels, “tools” for listening, witnessing, and healing. Artifacts preserve “moments” and invite us below the surface where truth lies. Like archaeologists, we will dust off our objects and with our trowels of creative seeing, record, restore, and redeem them. Writing will be our “digging” practice. We’ll show up and see what we uncover. You don’t need to be…

Diffusions - The Heart of the Rule
November 28, 2023

“Listen … with the ear of your heart” is the often quoted and examined opening of The Rule of St. Benedict. In the Prologue and the following 73 chapters, Benedict makes 37 “heart” references (in the RB80 translation edited by Timothy Fry). During this Zoom session, we will look at these references from Scripture and in the practice of Prayer and Humility. Our goal is to spend time pondering the Rule of St. Benedict by focusing on the theme of the “heart.”  Whether you are new to the Rule or a vowed Benedictine, the hope is that you will find…