On Saturday, November 12, 2011 from 9:30 AM until 4:30 PM, the North Shore – Seacoast Affiliate is offering a retreat day in support of victims of clergy abuse at St. John’s Episcopal Church, 705 Hale Street, Beverly Farms MA. The retreat will feature a staged reading by Michael Mack of his one-man play Conversations with My Molester: a Sacrament of Reconciliation. Affiliate members who previewed Michael’s sensitive and powerful solo performance were so deeply moved by his portrayal of childhood trauma and subsequent reconciliation as an adult that they were eager to share it with a wider audience during a day of retreat.

About Michael Mack: After serving in the U.S. Air Force, Michael worked a variety of blue-collar jobs before returning to school and graduating from the Writing Program at MIT. A gifted poet, playwright and performer, Michael studied under Nobel laureate Seamus Heaney and Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Maxine Kamin. His work has aired on NPR, and has been published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), as well as inBest Catholic Writing in both 2005 and 2007. Michael's first play, Hearing Voices, Speaking in Tongues was hailed as "exquisite" by NPR and "transcendent art" by the Boston Globe. He performs it nationally for consumers and providers of mental health services, which have included McLean Psychiatric Hospital, the national conference of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, and for faculty and students of the Harvard Medical School. He has performed it for general audiences Off-Off-Broadway, for dozens of colleges and schools, and at the U.S. Library of Congress.

Coffee, water, pastry, and snacks will be provided. Attendees are asked to bring a bag lunch, Cost for the day is $15.00. Checks should be made out to VOTF Northshore Seacoast and mailed to 6 Cedarview Road, Ipswich, MA 01938. RSVP by November 5th to Bobbi Flynn at 978 465-2821 or by email to bobbif33@gis.net.