A new Community of Practice, focusing on Christian spirituality and direction, begins in January! Through experiential learning, the group will reclaim a tradition of spiritual practices and disciplines, ones maintained within some Christian faith traditions, yet less so among mainline Protestants (since the Reformation, we’ve largely been stuck in our heads!).
In addition, there will be the opportunity for small group spiritual direction (companioning). Spiritual direction – an ancient practice – rests on the belief that God (however a person names or understands the Holy) is fully at work within the world. The director helps that person to pay attention to how God might be lovingly communicating, and so inviting him or her to a deeper intimacy with God’s self.
This Community will be facilitated by Janeen Adil. Janeen is a Commissioned Minister of Christian Spirituality in the Covenant Association, as well as a trained spiritual director through Kairos: School of Spiritual Formation. She offers spiritual direction through her Hungry Soul Ministries and also leads workshops and retreats. For 2017-2018 she was awarded a PSEC New Ministries grant, through which several churches participated in her workshops.
We will engage a variety of spiritual disciplines, both quiet and active, from various Christian traditions (ex. Ignatian, Benedictine, etc.). Practices include but aren’t limited to the following:
- Discernment – individual and group
- Prayer – centering, contemplative, of the heart, of presence, intercessory, etc.?
- Lectio divina and visio divina – sacred reading and sacred seeing
- The Examen – a daily review of life
- Hospitality – “entertaining angels”
- The Enneagram – nine personality types
For a first meeting, we’ll gather at St. Paul’s UCC, Birdsboro on Wed., Jan. 16, from 9:00 – 11:00 a.m. The group will then determine its desires for our time together, as well as future meeting dates, committing to at least 10 gatherings during 2019.
