FROM THE PASTOR

Encounters with God

Dear Friends in Christ,

I am delighted to lift up an exciting opportunity for spiritual growth at St. Luke’s this Fall. Our beloved Spirit Matters program is returning with a fresh format, introducing the transformative practices of Centering Prayer and Lectio Divina.

I hope that you will give it a try! Just as there are many different personality types, there are also many ways to connect with God’s Spirit. You might discover a new depth of nourishment, inspiration, or challenge that you never expected or found elsewhere.

Our parishioner and ministry leader, Diane, has poured her heart into preparing this enriching experience for our community. I hope you will join her and see where God’s Spirit might lead you.

Remember, your spirit matters.

God’s peace,

Pastor Kyle

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Spirit Matters will be starting back up this Fall with a different format! This year we will be introducing Centering Prayer. Unlike more familiar ways of praying, Centering Prayer does not involve speaking to God, nor even thinking about God. Rather, it is a way of praying to the God who is beyond words and thoughts. It is consenting to rest in silence in God’s presence for 20 minutes.

This method of prayer has its origins in the Christian contemplative tradition. This tradition was revived by Fathers Thomas Keating, William Meninger and Basil Pennington, Cistercian monks at St. Joseph’s Abbey in Massachusetts in the 1970s.  They developed Centering Prayer in the hopes that it would provide an entryway for modern day Christians, both lay as well as clergy, into a more contemplative way of living in the world. Today, Contemplative Outreach, the organization that Fr. Keating began in 1984 to teach about Centering Prayer, has a network of hundreds of chapters  throughout the US and extends worldwide.

Along with Centering Prayer, another practice that will be part of Spirit Matters this coming church year is a way of engaging with scripture called Lectio Divina. Unlike Bible study, which is about gaining an understanding of the spiritual, social and historical contexts of scripture, Lectio Divina offers a more personal way of reading scripture. It is less about how our heads understand and more about how our hearts respond to what God might be saying to us in the words of scripture.

Centering Prayer and Lectio Divina are interwoven prayer practices that help to open us up to God’s love and action in our lives. It is an action that takes place within us and shines forth through us in all our relationships. Lectio Divina can be likened to having a conversation with God through scripture; while Centering Prayer is the coming to experience of what it’s like to simply rest in the presence of God. Both are experiential and heart-based. They are about what we love rather than what we believe. In this sense, they together represent a true adventure of the Spirit. I hope you will consider coming to share this adventure with our Spirit Matters group, as we begin this new format in September. Your spirit matters. All are welcome!