Welcome to MorningStar!
At MorningStar we believe that it is through grace and mutual search for wisdom that we come to a place of greater understanding and healing. Therefore, this work is supported and encouraged by our Board and a committed circle of women and men throughout Michigan. MorningStar is also a charitable, nonprofit organization.
Providing a nurturing and hospitable space, MorningStar affirms, guides, and celebrates your journey towards an integrated life of mind, body, soul, and spirit. We welcome anyone who is seeking to become more spiritually integrated, needing rest, and time with nature.
MorningStar is not only a place of retreat but a way of life, embracing all life as interconnected and sacred. We encourage lives of devotion, simplicity, growth toward wholeness, and authentic service rooted in the Living Spirit.
MorningStar is located near LeRoy, Michigan, approximately one and a quarter hours north of Grand Rapids. We have 90 acres of land that took 30 years to acquire. Our intent was to unite diverse parcels and hold them as a symbol of our sacred trust with nature.
Native Americans once inhabited the land, and a native chief is buried near our location, according to LeRoy history.
The East Branch of the Hersey River, which is part of the Muskegon River Watershed, winds gently through the length of our land. It ever reminds us of the power of flow on our ever unwinding journey to the Heart of our wholeness of mind, body, soul and Spirit.
There are approximately 3 miles of trails on the land, as well as access to the White Pine Biking and Hiking Trail which borders our land to the west. The White Pine Trail runs south to Grand Rapids and north to Cadillac. https://whitepinetrail.com
Our local, quiet rural roads also accommodate longer walks or runs.
The forest consists of many types of trees: large old Maples, Beech, Black Cherry, Iron Wood, Birch, White and Red Pine, Spruce, Hemlock, and Cedar. In the spring, our forest has many wild flowers to enjoy, and in the warmer months it is cooler than in open lands.
The animals and birds we have seen on the land are deer, bear (seldom), raccoon, porcupine, beaver, fox, coyote, owls, eagles, ravens, crows, pileated woodpeckers, blue heron, hawks, geese, cardinals, and a variety of song birds.
