Your Own Leader Through Pentecost

The first of the three Landmarks that the RenewalWorks Group shared with us is for each of us to “become spiritual leaders of our own faith.” The RenewalWorks Group met Saturday and the Vestry met last night and all decided and affirmed that we ought to hold attention together to that first Landmark through Pentecost, which is June 9th. (See below for the lists of who is in those two groups.)

Through Lent, we have been invited to become spiritual leaders of our own faith through sharing our Lenten practice, if we had one. Over 30 of us did just that, and nearly 20 of us also followed up with some remarkably deep conversation this past Sunday.

What can we expect after Holy Week?

There are four things to pay attention to, which I list below. What’s important to bear in mind is that people at St. Paul’s generally become spiritual leaders of their own faith through one of two paths- Cursillo and/or Discipleship Groups. With that in mind…

1. The Sacred Gaze. On Saturday, April 27th, Terry O’Ryan, a friend of Richard O’s, will be leading a morning on Christian meditation from 9am to noon at St. Paul’s. Daily prayer is a core value of both Cursillo and Discipleship Groups, and many have made meditation or contemplative prayer their daily discipline. This is a great opportunity to begin or reinvigorate your practice.

2. Your Weekly Call. On Saturday, May 4th, from 8:30am to 10:00am I will be introducing a revised version of the most important of the 7 vows of Discipleship Groups, the one on call, which is in its final stage of testing. I will be sharing a one sheet that has both the new vow and the practical and scriptural roots of this profound and simple sentence. It is the fruit of over a year of reflection, conversation and prayer. Whether or not your are in a Discipleship Group, this will be both accessible and spiritually useful for you.

3. Men’s Cursillo. This immersive experience is available for men from Thursday, May 13th to Sunday, May 18th at San Francisco Theological Seminary in San Anselmo. Many of us at St. Paul’s have made a Cursillo weekend and treasure it as a foundational experience in our walk with Jesus. Many have gone on to make the vibrant Marin Cursillo community the path to becoming spiritual leaders of their own faith. The women’s retreat is already full. There’s still room in the men’s. Please speak to Bruce B. or Patrick B. to find out more.

4. Annual Assessment of Practices. From Thursday, May 30th until Sunday, June 9th, from Ascension to Pentecost, you will have the opportunity to take the online, 5 minute, Annual Assessment of Spiritual Practices. This simple instrument provides a view of where you are in relation to 7 Core Christian Practices. It also anonymously provides us data into where we’re spiritually strong as a community and where we need to still pay attention together. It’s the perfect way to conclude this season of our focus on the Landmark of becoming spiritual leaders of our own faith.

If you’ve made it this far in this email, bless you! And see you on Sunday for Palm Sunday. The members of the Vestry and the RenewalWorks Group are listed below.

Vestry: Tanner, Buzz, Libby, Katy, Patrick, Richard M., Micahel W., Tom W.

RenewalWorks Group: Judy, Joan, Jacob, Tanner, Kate S, Michael G.