Guides in the Wilderness: Journeying with the Saints through Lent
Sundays 5-6pm on Zoom
Compline at 6:30pm
How can our faith help us navigate the challenges of the present day? Followers of Christ in every age have had to answer that question. As we face our wildernesses – individually and collectively – it helps to look back at the lives of exemplary people who faith empowered them to face the unique challenges of their day. This Lent, we’ll look to the Saints to be our guides. Each week a different presenter will share about the life and legacy of a saint or group of saints and invite us to consider how their lives might offer inspiration to us today.
SCHEDULE
2/21 – Finding Our Guides:
Saints Ancient and Modern
The Revs. Nathan Bourne and Anne Williamson introduce our series with an overview of the Saints in Christian history, both ancient and modern. We’ll begin to think about who our saints are and who we follow as guides in challenging times. RECORDED SESSION
2/28 – St. Columba and Celtic Spirituality
The Rev. Anne Williamson takes as across the pond to explore the Celtic tradition – a spirituality closely linked to the natural world, and the Saints who embodied that relationship. RECORDED SESSION
3/7 – The Desert Tradition and the Jesus Prayer
Dr. Liza Anderson
Dr. Liza Anderson is an assistant professor of church history and ascetical theology at the College of St. Scholastica, a Benedictine college in Duluth, MN. Originally from Benton Harbor, MI, she holds degrees from Swarthmore College, Trinity College Dublin, Harvard Divinity School, and Yale University. She serves on the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church, is a former member of the Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music, and is the President of the North American Academy of Ecumenists. She loves raising goats, learning dead languages, and hanging out with nuns.
Liza will share with us the spiritually that emerged out of the deserts of Egypt and the Middle East in the first few centuries of Christianity. She’ll focus on the Jesus Prayer, a practice that was at the heart of that spiritual tradition. RECORDED SESSION
3/14 – Saints of the Russian Church and Praying with Icons
The Rev. Nathan Bourne will lead us further east towards the expressions of faith that took shape in Russia through the middle ages, sharing stories of the Russian Saints and inviting us into the practice of praying with icons. RECORDED SESSION | POWERPOINT
3/21 – St. Ignatius, Jesuits, and the Examen
Steve Falci is a member of the St. John’s community, who has an M.A. from Pittsburgh Seminary, was formed by the teachings and ministry of Jesuits, and works in the field of sustainable investing. He will share with us the life and legacy of St. Ignatius and the Jesuits who followed after him, both historical and contemporary. He will invite us to a practice of the Examen, a form of prayer grounded in deep listening and the work of discernment. RECORDED SESSION
3/28 – Walking with the Saints through Holy Week
The Revs. Nathan Bourne and Anne Williamson wrap up our series by charting the path through Holy Week with the Saints. They will look at some of the figures of Holy week who get less attention – Nicodemus, Mary and Marth, Mary Magdalene, and the Apostles. They will offer brief meditations on each day of the week ahead and invite the community into a deeper observance of some of the most sacred days of the church year. RECORDED SESSION