April 24, 2018
 
 
 
 
 RECTOR'S PEN
 
 
 
 
 
 
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Led by the Holy Spirit,
St. John's mission is to inspire people to grow into the heart and mind of Christ by engaging together in worshiping, serving, and spiritual formation.

 
 
 
 
 

Exploring "The Engaged Spirituality of Jesus"

 
 
 
 

This week the rector will set down her pen and travel to Avon, Colorado (Mon the 23rd thru Wed the 25th) with Father Ted, Mother Amy, and hundreds of clergy from around the diocese for the annual diocesan clergy retreat. Our keynote speaker this year is The Rev. John Bell, "preacher, hymn writer, composer, lecturer, and broadcaster. He is an ordained minister of the Church of Scotland and a member of the Iona Community."  John founded the Wild Goose Worship Group, which develops and publishes music and participatory liturgies. John "has produced many collections of liturgy, scripts, sermons and reflections, original hymns and songs, and is primarily concerned with the renewal of congregational worship at a grassroots level."

About his keynote topic, John writes: "For many people, Jesus' spirituality consists of him occasionally going into the hills to be alone. Undoubtedly that was one of his practices, but not the only one. The fact that he was able to connect with so many people of different social backgrounds and intellectual capacities and speak to them clearly about God suggests that there were other things which nourished his inner life. His use of the Psalms – probably vastly different from ours – may be a starting point. But there may also be something in his interactive engagement with people who kept faith when illness, poverty or discrimination could have embittered them against God. We do not meet a guru in Jesus, but an incarnate, rooted saviour. In this retreat we will reflect on what fed his spirituality in the hope that we might find some clues as to how we can nourish ours."

Please keep your clergy in your prayers as they rest, reflect, reconnect with colleagues, and seek spiritual nourishment. Your prayers for this and for safe travel are most gratefully received.