Chuck DeGroat & Sr Diane Zerfas - Contemplative Spirituality in the Local Church No. 40

This is the second in a new collaborative series with the Dominican Center on the role of contemplative spirituality and spiritual direction in the context of the local church. In this public conversation hosted by the Dominican Center on Nov 13, 2019, Josh is joined by Sr Diane Zerfas and Dr Chuck DeGroat. When many are reporting the decline in church attendance, should we be alarmed? How are the signs of the times inspiring a return to deeper prayer practices? What are some specific things local churches can do to help us go deeper? These questions and more are discussed with the questions and contributions of those who gathered that day.

For more information on the: www.dominicancenter.com
For Chuck’s private practice, teaching, retreats, and video courses :  www.chuckdegroat.net 
and be sure to subscribe to the Invitation Podcast as well!

The next Public Conversation on the role of contemplative spirituality and spiritual direction in the context of the local church will be on February 18 2:30-4:00pm with author, director, and retreat leader Sharon Garlough Brown, and AJ Sherrill, lead pastor of Mars Hill Church.

Starting in late February, I will also be facilitating an ongoing workshop for pastors and lay leaders who are looking for creative way to introduce their worshipping communities to contemplative practices. We are calling the series of classes, “Contemplative Prayer and Spiritual Practices in the Local Church Workshop.”

Ruth Haley Barton at the Dominican Center Part II No. 37

This Part II of my conversation with Ruth Haley Barton is the Q & A session. Most of those who ventured out on that snowy night in January 2019 were in positions of leadership of churches or nonprofits. The core question of our whole conversation that began in Part I is fleshed out in more detail: how do we translate contemplative, transformative spirituality for our respective organizations and communities?

I offer a guided meditation after the recorded conversation that has two sections. The first section is a meditation on your desire: how badly you want more of God and what is the next step for you in your journey. The second section is for those who are seemingly adrift having had to go outside the safety of your community to find God in solitude.

This conversation with Ruth is made possible by the Dominican Center, a ministry of the Dominican Sisters of Grand Rapids, MI. As a result of the positive feedback on the last episode, No. 36 with Ruth, the Dominican Center and the Invitation are continuing with more collaborations with four more similar public events for the Fall of 2019 and Winter/Spring of 2020. If you would like to recommend a teacher, author, spiritual director, and practitioner to be featured in one of these events, please send me an email: josh@invitationpodcast.org

Thanks for listening and being involved!

Peace & Love of Christ to you!

Josh

Ruth Haley Barton at the Dominican Center Part I No. 36

Do you have a longing for deeper things than your church and other regular sources of spiritual nourishment are able to help you with? The Holy Spirit can lead us to places of solitude away from what is familiar, structured, and safe. This is so we can learn a new kind of dependence on God in a place of solitude that the church even in its most robust and healthy forms can understand.

Spiritually hungry, desperate seekers throughout the history of the church have turned to the ancient vocabulary of contemplation and mysticism. The Invitation seeks to make bridges for these deeper, transformative resources to move into the church. This is a service of translation, finding ways to make the vocabulary of transformation accessible and approachable.

Author, teacher, spiritual director, and retreat leader Ruth Haley Barton is a leader in this work of translation. I had the joy and encouragement to sit with Ruth in an extended, public conversation at the Dominican Center last January. This is Part One of two episodes where I share this conversation with you.

This episode also marks the beginning of a new collaboration between the Invitation and the Dominican Center, a ministry of the Dominican Sisters of Grand Rapids, MI. Our shared hope is to offer you a series of similar conversations with lead authors, teacher, and practitioners.

Please visit www.dominicancenter.com for more information, and make sure you subscribe to the Invitation Podcast at www.invitationpodcast.org

A BRIEF INVITATION MINISTRY UPDATE

Spring is here and that means I’ve been outside all week swinging a hammer on the new building that will be the home for the Invitation. You may have followed the info blitz last fall as I worked the Kickstarter campaign to raise capital funds? Things have been much quieter from me since December because its implementation time! The wonderful result of that Kickstarter adventure has lead to this current season of literal building as well as infrastructure building (getting the business of the nonprofit afloat).

We will get back to creating and sharing more regular podcast content once the building is done. I especially have more news to share about the prison prayer practices!!!

This building is proving to be much more difficult that I could have imagined. Maybe if I knew in advance, I wouldn’t have stepped out on this crazy faith journey. I continue to be encouraged that God is leading more people to the Invitation revealing himself to them in transformative ways. Please pray for the Invitation and consider a financial contribution to sustain our work.

Peace & Love of Christ to you!

Josh