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Editor’s note: In this article guest author, Peter Giersch, reflects on his experiences of observing some of the oldest traditions of the Church for celebrating Holy Week. As he describes the different liturgies and gatherings of the Church that take place during these holy days, we are reminded that Easter is not just a day. It is…

Editors note: Last year on Good Friday Christians from around the world prayed together using our Stations of the Cross Prayer Guide. A few of the locations from which people prayed include: Malaysia; Sanabu, Egypt; Heilegenkreuz, Austria; Aberfoyle, ON Canada; Belfast, Northern Ireland; Madagascar; Pretoria, South Africa; Auckland, New Zealand; Hong Kong; Philippines; Suffolk, England;…

Lectionary readings for February 22, 2012: Joel 2: 1-2, 12-17; Psalm 51:1-17; 2 Corinthians 5: 20b-6:10; Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21 Lenten Lectionary (Cycle B) Calendar “Yet even now, says the Lord, repent and return to me with all your heart.” –Joel 2:13 Today is Ash Wednesday—the beginning of the Church’s observance of the Lenten season. Ash…

Part 3: Martin Luther King series

Part 1: Opposites in Fruitful Harmony Part 2: Inner Strength for Outer Action “Every genuine expression of love grows out of a consistent and total surrender to God.” – Martin Luther King, Jr. One of the most striking aspects of Dr. King’s life and ministry was his commitment to love as the most durable power…

Part 2: Martin Luther King series

Part 1: Opposites in Fruitful Harmony “Admitting the weighty problems and staggering disappointments, Christianity affirms that God is able to give us the power to meet them. He is able to give us the inner equilibrium to stand tall amid the trials and burdens of life. He is able to provide inner peace amid outer…

Part 1: Martin Luther King series

We shall meet your physical force with soul force. Do to us what you will, and we shall continue to love you… One day we shall win freedom, but not only for ourselves. We shall so appeal to your heart and conscience that we shall win you in the process, and our victory will be…

Lectionary readings for Epiphany, January 6: Isaiah 60:1-6; Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14; Ephesians 3:1-12; Matthew 2: 1-12 “They set out; and there ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed…

Dear Friend, God’s richest blessings to you in this New Year! As we begin 2012, my heart is full of gratitude for the faithful support of our friends in 2011. Through your commitment to prayer and generous giving, God has sustained us and enabled us to keep moving forward in response to his leading. This…

Lectionary readings for December 25, 2011: Isaiah 52:7-10; Psalm 98; Hebrews 1: 1-4,(5-12); John 1:1-14 “The Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14 Good is the Flesh by Brian Wren Good is the flesh…

Lectionary readings for December 24, 2011: Isaiah 9:2-7; Psalm 96; Titus 2:11-14; Luke 2:1-14 (15-20) “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all…” Titus 2:11 Christmas Eve signals the beginning of the feast of the Nativity—the celebration of God with us. Advent, the season of waiting, is coming to a close as…

Lectionary readings for December 18, 2011: 2 Samuel 7: 1-11,16; Luke 1:46b-55; Romans 16:25-27; Luke 1:26-38 Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Luke 1:38 Most of us don’t think of indifference as being very positive. In fact, we tend to identify…

Lectionary readings for December 11, 2011: Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11; Psalm 126; 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24; John 1:6-8, 19-28 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John…he himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. John 1:6-9 In…

Lectionary readings for December 4, 2011: Isaiah 40:1-11; Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13; 2 Peter 3:8-15a; Mark 1:1-8 “See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way; the voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.’” John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness,…

Read these Lectionary readings for November 27, 2011: Isaiah 64:1-9; Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19; 1 Corinthians 1: 3-9; Mark 13:24-37 “But in those days, after that suffering, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be…

Editors note: During the launch of the fall ministry season, we offer you part 5 of our eReflections series encouraging you to establish spiritual rhythms that will strengthen the soul of your leadership. Click on the link to read part 1, part 2, part 3, and part 4 of this series. “Decision making has its…

Editors note: During the launch of the fall ministry season, we offer you part 4 of our eReflections series encouraging you to establish spiritual rhythms that will strengthen the soul of your leadership. Click on the link to read part 1, part 2, and part 3 of this series. “A leader is a person who must take…

Silence and Word, Stillness and Action

Editors note: As we head into the fall ministry season we offer you part three of an eReflections series to encourage you to pay attention to the spiritual rhythms that will strengthen the soul of your leadership. Click on the link to read part 1, part 2, part 4, and part 5 of this series. …

Solitude in Community

Editors note: As we head into the fall ministry season we offer you part two of an eReflections series to encourage you to pay attention to the spiritual rhythms that will strengthen the soul of your leadership. Click on the links to read part 1, part 3, part 4, and part 5 of this series. “Let…

Busyness

Editors note: As we head into the fall ministry season we offer you an eReflections series to encourage you to pay attention to the spiritual rhythms that will strengthen the soul of your leadership. Click on the link to read part 2, part 3, part 4, and part 5 of this series. “We are blessed with…

pentecost

Lectionary readings: Acts 2:1-21; Psalm 104:24-34; I Corinthians 12:3b-13; John 20:19-23 This week we celebrate Pentecost—the incarnate and risen Christ present to us in a new way through the gift of the Holy Spirit—enlivening, empowering and transforming us to further Christ’s redemptive mission in the world. Pentecost signals the beginning of Ordinary Time—not because it…

“The way of possibility is the way of going through.” John S. Dunne It’s a good thing Easter is a season and not just a day because some resurrections take time. Like the coming of spring, some resurrections happen gradually; they are not overnight sensations. And yet somehow, we need to experience these as miracles…

“The Christian practice of honoring the body is born of the confidence that our bodies are made in the image of God’s own goodness. As the place where the divine presence dwells, our bodies are worthy of care and blessing. . . . It is through our bodies that we participate in God’s activity in…

painting of crucifixion, close up of hand. Yellow overlay over image.

“Nothing that has not died will be resurrected.” C.S. Lewis I remember leading a retreat for pastors some years ago in which we talked about that place in the spiritual journey (variously called the Dark Night, the wilderness, the movement from the false self to the true self) in which there is a very profound kind…

“The spiritual journey is not a career or a success story. It is a series of humiliations of the false self that become more and more profound.” Fr. Thomas Keating I agree with this statement. I don’t like it… but I know it is true. And it makes me wonder if any of us are…

Lectionary readings for Ash Wednesday: Joel 2:1-2, 12-17; Psalm 51:1-17; 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10; Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21. “Yet even now, says the Lord, repent and return to me with all your heart” Joel 2:13 Ash Wednesday is the beginning of the Church’s observance of the Lenten season. It is a space in time in which we…

orange rocky mountainside against a light purple sky

“We can never see an organizational field, but we can see its influence by looking at behavior. To learn what’s in the field, look at what people are doing. They have picked up the messages, discerned what is truly valued, and then shaped their behavior accordingly…Organizational life is shaped by the invisible. If we attend…

branch of tree in foreground on beach

A Biblical and Theological Perspective Following is a brief summary of the core beliefs that form the foundation of our approach to spiritual transformation (spiritual formation). Christ Formed in Us Spiritual transformation is the process by which Christ is formed in us …for the glory of God, for the abundance of our own lives, and…

Lectionary readings for January 6, 2011: Isaiah 60:1-6; Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14; Ephesians 3:1-23; Matthew 2:1-12 “Christians of the future will either be mystics or they will not be.” Karl Rahner Today is the feast of the Epiphany—the day when the Church commemorates the journey of the wise men to seek the Christ child. On this…

Lectionary for Christmas Eve: Isaiah 9:2-7; Psalm 96; Titus 2:11-14; Luke 2:1-14 (15-20) Lectionary for Christmas Day: Isaiah 52:7-10; Psalm 98; Hebrews 1:1-4 (5-12); John 1:1-14 Tonight marks the end of Advent and the official beginning of the Christmas season. Throughout this evening, in various candlelight services and intimate family gatherings around the world, we…

Lectionary readings for December 19, 2010: Isaiah 7:10-16; Psalm 80:1-7; 17-19; Romans 1:1-7; Matthew 1:18-25 “Sooner or later, if we follow Christ we have to risk everything in order to gain everything. We have to gamble on the invisible and risk all that we see and taste and feel. But we know the risk is…

For December 12, 2010 Ruth Haley Barton “The desert of which I speak is a desert of the spirit: a place of revelation, conversion, and transformation. A true revelation is a very disturbing event because it demands a response; and to respond means some kind of inner revolution. It involves being ‘made over,’ being made…

For December 12, 2010 Ruth Haley Barton “Our spiritual life depends on His perpetual coming to us, far more than our going to him. Every time a channel is made for Him He comes; every time our hearts are open to him He enters, bringing a fresh gift of His very life, and on that…

“You will find the living God in the pages of the Bible. You will find him also just exactly where you are.” Mother Frances Dominica Guidance for your Lectionary reading, November 28, 2010 Print off the following Scriptures so that you can move away from your desk and settle into a place that is conducive…

When we submit our lives to what we read in Scripture, we find that we are not being led to see God in our stories but our stories in God’s. God is the larger context and plot in which our stories find themselves.” – Eugene Peterson I can still remember the first time I heard…

Spiritual Formation and the Merchants of Cool Rev. Mark Werner A short time ago I was invited to join other pastors and ministry leaders at a local church addressing the concept of spiritual formation within the church. A well known national speaker was brought in to share his understanding of spiritual formation and what he is observing…

“Let him who cannot be alone beware of community. He will only do harm to himself and to the community…But the reverse is also true: Let him who is not in community beware of being alone. Only in the fellowship do we learn to be rightly alone and only in aloneness do we learn to…

The Transforming Center exists to guide pastors and Christian leaders into life rhythms that will help them be healthy and vibrant for long haul of ministry. If you recognize that you are coming into the fall season still exhausted, we offer this blessings and encourage you to take O’Donohue’s wisdom to heart. It will be…

paraglider and sunset over mountains

“Cowardice keeps us ‘double minded’—hesitating between the world and God. In this hesitation, there is no true faith—faith remains an opinion. We are never certain, because we never quite give in to the authority of an invisible God. This hesitation is the death of hope. We never let go of those visible supports which, we…

For many pastors and Christian leaders, the beginning of summer signals a change of pace (hopefully a slower one!) and time for rest and replenishment. On this, the first day of summer, we bless you and encourage you to receive every good gift of God that summer brings. Thank you, Lord, for this season of…

Spiritual formation in the church must begin with the pastor.

“It you attempt to act and do for others or for the world without deepening your own self-understanding, freedom, integrity and capacity to love, you will not have anything to give others. You will communicate to them nothing but the contagion of your own obsessions, your aggressivity, your ambitions, your delusions and ends and means…”…

Editor’s note: In this article, guest author Peter Giersch reflects on some of the oldest traditions of the Church for celebrating Holy Week. As he describes the various ways that the Church gathers during these holy days, we are reminded that Easter is not just a day. It is a season of remembering and entering…

?Look, a little cloud no bigger than a person’s hand is rising out of the sea!?? ~I Kings 18:44 I love the way the rain comes at winter’s end to hose down the sooty earth, and wash away the dirt that comes from who-knows-where. Oh God, I need a cleansing rain in my life, dirty…

“While the truth that we cannot escape God’s all-seeing eye may weigh us down at times, it is finally the only remedy for our uneasiness…Only under God’s steady gaze of love are we able to find the healing and restoration we so desperately need.” Marjorie Thompson, Soulfeast Confession is good for the soul because it…

“The things we cannot accept in ourselves we project upon others. If I do not admit my shadow side, I will unconsciously find another who will carry my shadow for me. Once this projection is made, then I need not be upset with myself. My problems are now outside and I can fight them “out…

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.” Psalm 51: 10 In her book Amazing Grace, Kathleen Norris tells the story of working as an artist-in- residence at a parochial school, teaching children how to write poetry using the psalms as a model. One little boy…

Glory to God in the Highest! A Prayer on Christmas Day O Lord, open my lips. And my mouth shall declare your praise. Glory to God in the highest. And peace to God’s people on earth. CHRISTMAS PRAYER At the coming in the flesh of your own dear Son, O great Light of all nations,…

“We are all meant to be mothers of God, for God is always needing to be born.” Meister Eckhart In the fourth week of Advent we begin to move beyond waiting and preparation to a deeper sense of joyful anticipation. We are moving closer to the birth of our Lord and the Old and New…

“The house of my soul is too narrow for Thee to come in; let it be enlarged by Thee. It is in ruins. Do Thou restore it.” -Augustine In this week’s Gospel reading (Luke 3:7-18), John the Baptist is on a rant. I guess we could describe it more delicately by calling it a prophetic…

“The word of God came to John in the wilderness. He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. As it is written in the book of Isaiah, “Prepare the way of the Lord.” ~from Luke 3:1-6 Recently I started writing a new book which…

“God comes to us like the sun in the morning…when it is time. We must assume an attitude of waiting, accepting the fact that we are creatures and not the creator. We must do this because it is not our right to do anything else. The initiative is God’s, not ours. We are able to…