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Practices for the Journey
This is an in-depth offering, that will take place over about nine months. This is a form of spiritual guidance to help a few people learn and use the core spiritual practices of the Anglican tradition. This will be led by Fr. Bob Gallagher and Sr. Michelle Heyne, OA. Here’s some background about us:
http://www.orderoftheascension.org/the-program-leaders/
This is not about making you a saint. That’s a process between each of us and the Holy Spirit. This is about developing practices that prepare us for engagement with the Holy Spirit. Christianity has a variety of spiritual traditions that have served people in their journey into holiness of life. This program will offer the Anglican Way.
Our focus will be in two areas: 1) the Prayer Book’s system of Mass, Daily Office, and Personal Devotions; and 2) the cycle of Renewal-Apostolate, in which we move between being renewed in our baptismal identity and purpose and our life with family and friends, in workplace and civic life.
The Learning Process
If you participate, you’ll be expected to take on a number of spiritual practices connected with the Eucharist, the Daily Office and personal devotions/reflection. You’ll try them on for a period of months. We’ll help you find a way of using the practices that fits your temperament, circumstances, and gifts.
What’s needed to participate?
To participate, you’ll need a Book of Common Prayer, a Bible, a 2022 Episcopal Church lesson calendar, a copy of Esther De Waal’s book Seeking God, an email account, and a computer with Zoom installed (video and audio must be usable). If you need financial help to participate, the parish has scholarship funds available, so don’t let that be an impediment.
Our initial focus will be on spiritual reading and lectio divina, using short passages from Seeking God. We will then shift to saying the Prayer Book Office and other core practices. When we meet, we’ll check in on how things are going.
We will move forward with the course if at least three people sign up. We will then schedule a mutually-agreeable date for the first meeting, which will be in person at Fr. Bob’s apartment in West Seattle (again, if transportation costs are an issue, the parish does have scholarship funds available). During that first meeting we’ll figure out a schedule for subsequent meetings, which will mostly be over Zoom with some sessions in-person. Participants should expect to meet about every two weeks.
If you’d like to participate, send an email to Michelle by June 12. If you have questions before you can commit, send us an email or call Michelle to discuss. You can reach her at
[email protected]
or 206.818.3474.
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