About Us

Paul and Karen Fredette, minister as a couple to hermits world-wide. This began when the quarterly newsletter, Raven’s Bread, Food for Those in Solitude, was passed on to them in 1997 by the originator, Bede Jagoe, OP who had spent a number of years in eremitic solitude in India. Karen lived as a hermit for six years, an experience recorded in her popular book, “Where God Begins to Be, A Woman’s Journey into Solitude.” Before moving into her solitary cabin in West Virginia, she had spent thirty years as a member of Sancta Clara Monastery, a Poor Clare community in Canton, Ohio. Paul, a member of the Glenmary Home Missioners from 1975 to 1995, was engaged in pastoral and formation ministry before becoming editor of The Glenmay Challenge in 1992. He now works as a Qualified Professional in the field of developmental disabilities and mental health.

Paul & Karen

"Since our marriage in 1996, we have developed a fabric art enterprise and co-authored several books. We treasure the peaceful quiet of our home (Still Wood), set on a secluded mountain slope in the Spring Creek area of Madison County, NC. In our stewardship of Still Wood, we are accompanied by Neill and Cynda, our border collies and Merlin,our magical white cat."

"Our daily routine includes time for contemplative prayer and reflective reading. In the warmer months,we make use of our outdoor chapel (Beth El Shaddai), a shaded gazebo where we are serenaded by dozens of feathered choristers, accompanied by the murmur of a small waterfall, and delighted by melodious wind chimes."

"We often meditate on Petra, an immense moss-covered boulder estimated to be among the most ancient rock on the surface of the planet. On her rugged surface, we feel we are seated on the knees of our Mother Earth, contemplating forests which shaded the Cherokee who inhabited these mountains for countless centuries before a white person ever beheld their lush beauty. Touching stone which has endured the changes of millenia reminds us of how brief our lifetime is; how precious are the days we have, and what a gift it is to spend them in service to solitary watchers and pray-ers around the world."