Last Saturday, we had a wonderful retreat at the Linwood Nature Center with Brian Sellers-Petersen. Brian is a great friend who lives near Seattle and who has been active with Episcopal Relief and Development and other church-wide initiatives around creation care. You can learn more from his blog www.faithfulagrarian.com. He is always a great conversation partner as we continue to discern how the Spirit is at work at all levels of the church’s life. Having two days with Brian gave me the opportunity to ask him about things we have discussed for a while, noting conversations that Brandon, Cynthia, the vestry, and staff, and others have had for years now about how Grace can nurture this transformative space. As we walked through the forest and by the stream at Linwood, I paid attention to images and words that others were sharing during our retreat.
Time and time again, those gathered there wondered about a more imaginative way of ‘being church.’ While our Sunday liturgies, with the Holy Eucharist, are the heart of our life, even in that space we have seen ways that we can be more imaginative and creative. I have loved the variety of prayers, readings, and music that prompt us to be more conscious. I also think back to March 30 when we shared the Faure Requiem. There were nearly 50 in the choir alone and 200 came to experience that incredibly moving work. I think back to our experiences of the Sound Bath, with 150 gathered in the nave for that time of meditation and grounding. I think back to our interspiritual gathering last year with River Guerguerian and friends, when 200 came to learn more about embodiment and rhythm and the teachings of Howard Thurman. I think back to hosting the Hall County Literary Association a few weeks ago when over 100 students spent the day singing and performing. Over and over, imaginative spaces such as these demonstrate how this community can remain grounded in our core theology and worship while also stretching to nurture a spiritual imagination that can transform our hearts.
To that end, we have reworked the framework for the School for Prayer and Spiritual Practice to focus on core areas of spiritual growth and development:
These four areas build on our strengths as a community and encourage us to trust the Spirit’s presence as we grow more into the fullness of Christ (as our prayer book reminds us). I feel led to focus on developing this space in our future at Grace. I am making it a priority.
It is no secret that “church” is changing, with many communities experiencing decline in participation and membership. We have worked hard at Grace to practice abundance in a time of scarcity, nurturing what Brandon described in his incredible sermon on Sunday as an ‘oddness’ that challenges the assumptions of the broader culture. We are a community who takes seriously the call to have transformed hearts. The degree to which we continue to thrive as a community is directly linked to our willingness to be imaginative.
To this end, I want to highlight a few important opportunities so you can continue participating. On Saturday, May 3, Rebecca Parker and I will host a special morning zoom call to reflect on the theme of “What is mine to hold—and how do I do it consciously?”. We will welcome Cynthia Bourgeault on this call, and we are grateful for her presence and willingness to help guide us into deeper waters that can soothe our souls. In the summer, Brandon is working with a team to develop a Performing Arts Camp, reworking how we have traditionally understood Vacation Bible School. I will be taking a small group to New Mexico in late June for a training in inter-spiritual conversation, with plans to develop a community-wide space here at Grace that can deepen appreciation of our neighbors. In August, we will welcome Cynthia back for the inaugural Park Lecture. She will focus on the power of transformative story, and I know that will be a wonderful experience. I will help lead a group on a pilgrimage to Greece this fall, where we will spend time focusing on history, prayer, myth, and imagination. And then we will go forward from there. You can read more about The School for Prayer and Spiritual Practice.
I am thankful for this space we share, and I will always encourage you to trust the Spirit and share your gifts, to lean into spaces to stretch yourselves and deepen those muscles of spiritual imagination. This is what gives me hope, because I have no doubt that the Spirit is at work.
Blessings, always,
Stuart