Spiritual Growth

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The Baptized Life: Exploring Faith and Practice through the Baptismal Covenant

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Introducing

The Baptized Life

Exploring faith and practice through the Baptismal Covenant 

 

More a conversation than a class, we will embark on a year-long exploration of faith through the lens of the questions of the baptismal covenant (the eight questions you find on pages 304-305 of The Book of Common Prayer). The goal is deepen our faith and grow closer to God and each other. We will explore faith generally and the way it is embodied in our particular lives.

Read all about this offering by clicking “Read More.”

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Observing a Holy Lent

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The forty days of Lent are modeled on the Jesus’ 40 days in the desert, preparing himself for ministry. We take these 40 days to prepare ourselves for the central moment of our faith: Easter.

Lent is a time to intentionally draw closer to God.

Many people “Give Up'“ or “Take On” habits or things as a Lenten discipline.

We have created an article to help you think through observing a Holy Lent. Just click “Read More.”

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Education for Ministry (EfM)

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EfM, Education for Ministry, is a college level, adult-learner course designed to increase the lay person’s knowledge of the Bible, the history of the Christian church, and the history of the Episcopal church in particular. It is held in a seminar format, with groups ranging from 6-12 people. The first year is a study of the Old Testament—it’s history and the environment in which it was written. Some of what the course entails is a look at the ancient sources of the Bible. The second year is devoted to a study of the New Testament, again looking at the history of its writing and the environment from which it came. The third year looks at the whole history of the Christian church (The name of the text is The First 3000 years of Christianity). The fourth year concentrates on the history and development of the Episcopal Church and dives into a look at some of the other faith traditions around the world.

EfM - Education for Ministry - An Invitation

Are you looking for a meaningful, small group?  Would you like to have the companionship of people who enjoy spiritual and theological conversations?  Are you hungry for Biblical and church knowledge, as well as needing more information about your church and your own theology?  EfM (Education for Ministry) can provide all that and more. 

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Perseverance and Imagination

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On Pentecost, the Holy Spirit filled the apostles and thousands of others to do the work of ministry. Pentecost reminds us that we are not alone in these tasks, but the Holy Spirit is there to comfort and empower us in all we do. 

Read Bingham’s entire reflection by clicking “Read More.”

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Fifty Days of Easter

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I encourage you to celebrate Easter as profoundly as you embrace Lent. It is quite common to take on a Lenten practice or two. These practices in Lent help us to fulfill the invitation at Ash Wednesday to observe Lent “by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God's holy Word.” These practices are wonderful; I have been spiritually nourished by them over the years. I wonder sometimes, though, if we should consider adopting Easter practices. Not practices of fasting, but of feasting. Not practices of asceticism, but practices of flourishing. Not practices of inward self-examination, but ones that make us look outward, reaching out to one another, connecting and deepening relationships, seeking new life through Christ’s resurrection.

Read Bingham’s entire reflection by clicking “Read More.”

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Inviting Children and Youth Around the Altar at the Eucharist

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Inviting Children and Youth Around the Altar at the Eucharist

For decades, at our 9:30 a.m. Sunday service, we have invited children and and youth to come up around the altar for the Eucharistic prayer. The COVID pandemic put a stop to this practice. Some of you may have forgotten, and others may have never experienced this practice. The reasons we invite children and youth to come forward around the altar are multiple:

Click “Read More” to read the rest of this article.

Sacred Ground: The Sacrament of Embodiment - A Spiritual Growth Opportunity

Christians have gotten mixed messages about bodies. On the one hand, St. Paul has told us that our body is a temple. On the other hand, he has said, “Nothing good dwells within my flesh.” For many of us, the second message has been emphasized, and not the first. Using breath work and movement as embodied prayer, as well as poetry, Visio Divina, and small-group sharing, we will explore what it means to be a sacred body in a community of other embodied sacred persons living in an embodied and sacred cosmos.

Read about this four-week offering by clicking “Read More.”

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Guest Preacher - Author Cara Meredith On Sunday, February 22nd, we will have a special guest preacher at the 9:30 and 11 AM services. Cara Meredith, a Pacific Northwest native, is the author of “Church Camp” and “The Color of Life.

Worship. Serve. Grow in Faith.