Walking
with God
A programme for people searching
for a deeper life in God,
and for a sense of focus and direction in the life choices they make.
Download leaflet with full details (PDF)
Walking with God aims to
help you live more abundantly in Christ and have a deeper sense of how
you are to bring life to others through your relationships, in your
work, paid and unpaid, and in the part you play within your local
community.
Key areas that will be focused on include:
-
Living more abundantly
in God through prayer and awareness.
-
The significance of the
work we do, paid and unpaid, and how this connects with our
individual ‘calling’.
-
Discerning where God is
within the place where we are, and what new directions might be open
to us.
There are 9 sessions over a
three month period. There will also be suggested prayer and reflection
exercises to help you go further within and beyond the course.
Courses will take place in:
St Matthew’s House, Croydon
Trinity House [Close to London Bridge train and tube]
Outline
of sessions
Some key elements of Christian life and
vocation
To begin with we think about what really matters in life. Our
attitudes to what matters in life is shaped by what we read, see and
hear. What is at the heart of living as a follower of Christ and how
does this affect the daily choices we make?
Exploring the experience & significance
of work
Work, whether paid or unpaid, takes us much of our time and energy.
Where do we meet God within the work we do? What is God’s view of
work?
Exploring the link between work and
vocation
‘Vocation’ and ‘calling’ are terms often applied to some people
and professions but not the majority. Yet God has a purpose for each
of us and desires to work through the particular people we are. In
this session we will look at how we can gain a deeper sense of our
individual calling.
Our understandings of God
How we see God will affect our attitudes towards Christian
service and our experience of prayer. In this session we will look
at different biblical ways in which God is described and relate
these to our own situation.
Abiding in God as we work for the
Kingdom
What are we doing, and what is God doing, when we pray? What
happens through prayer? How does prayer connect with daily life?
Awareness of God within daily life
In this session we will look at how we become aware of God in
daily life. We’ll also begin to think about how we can discern the
Spirit’s leading in the events, opportunities, and choices that face
us.
Called to be prophets
The biblical prophets listened prayerfully to what was happening
in their world and then responded in words and actions. They were
deeply human people, aware of their limitations and their dependence
on God. How does their story speak to ours?
Building community
Love of God is always linked with love of neighbour. The work of
the Spirit is to build community. How do we co-operate with the
Spirit’s work in building community in the place where we are?
Gathering the threads
This session will give each of us space to think through our own
personal next steps, and how to put in place the support we might
need to go further in our walk with God.
About the sessions:
The sessions will be a mixture of input, group-work, and prayer. There
will be handouts for each session including some background reading
material for those who want to explore the areas looked at more deeply.
There are nine sessions in all with some gaps to give you time to
reflect on the connections between the input and your own experience and
situation. To help with this at the end of each session there will be a
choice of reflection / prayer exercises for you to use as follow up.
This course is limited to 15
places in each venue.
For more details or to register please contact:
Chris Chapman, Diocesan Lay Discipleship Co-ordinator, Trinity House, 4
Chapel Court, London SE1 1HW, 020 7939 9474
email
chris.chapman@southwark.anglican.org
God-Search - Explorations in Christian Spirituality
Download leaflet with full details (PDF)
These sessions aim to help
you explore your own experience of God, drawing on the insights and
wisdom of Christians spiritual writers and teachers across time.
Spirituality is understood in different ways. It involves the search for
meaning and direction in life. From a Christian perspective,
spirituality has to do with the work of the Spirit within us, drawing us
deeper into the life of God and leading us to act with God in the world.
Many people have walked these paths in the past and left us their
testimony to help us make sense of our own journey. The first set of
sessions in spring 2008 introduce some key dimensions of our search for
God, and God’s search for us. The sessions that follow in autumn 2008
introduce the lives and writings of some spiritual teachers from the
past and look at their significance for today.
God-Search: Spring
All sessions run at St. Matthew’s House, Croydon
on Monday evenings from 7pm to 9pm
What is spirituality?
Our search for God, and God’s search for us
The nature of religious experience
How, where and why do we experience God?
Mystery and mysticism
God as knowable, God as unknowable. Letting go to God.
Prayer and action
Exploring how our opening to God in prayer, and responding to God in
life, interweave.
Man and woman before God
Gender and spirituality
Past and present
Reading spiritual writings and guidance from the past.
God-Search:
Autumn
All sessions run at St. Matthew’s House, Croydon
on Monday evenings from 7pm to 9pm
Dates to be finalised.
Voices from the desert
The sayings of the Desert Fathers and Mothers
The deep and dazzling darkness
Pseudo-Dionysius and the author of the Cloud of Unknowing
The Franciscan way
Francis, Clare and Bonaventure
And all shall be well
Julian of Norwich and the Revelations of Divine Love
Choosing life
Ignatius Loyola and the Spiritual Exercises
Drawn by Love
Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross
The heart in pilgrimage
The poetry of George Herbert and Gerard Manley Hopkins
For more details or to
register please contact:
Chris Chapman, Diocesan Lay Discipleship Co-ordinator, Trinity House, 4
Chapel Court, London SE1 1HW, 020 7939 9474
email
chris.chapman@southwark.anglican.org
