Hear Today's Meditation
from Grace Cathedral
in San Francisco, Ca
(Requires the
free RealPlayer)
Daily Meditation is Added
GraceCom, the media and
"stealth evangelism" ministry of Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, provides a Daily Meditation based on the calendar of the Book of Common
Prayer, which celebrates the saints listed in the calendar. You might want to take a look
at the Grace Cathedral web site
-- they stream their Sunday morning Eucharist and Wednesday evensong live. (5/4/02)
To comment on
our discussion board see: The Bull Session
Contemplative Outreach, Ltd.
Centering Prayer Information and resources
The Practice of the
Presence of God by Brother Lawrence In this little collection of letters and
reflections, Brother Lawrence encourages us to be continually in God's presence.
Spirituality & Health magazine -
Spirituality & Health magazine reports on the people, the practices, and the
ideas of the current spiritual renaissance.
Trinity News
- Trinity News is distributed to over 15,000 clergy and lay readers throughout the
Episcopal Church and others upon written request -- and is now published on the web.
@
Trinity Church on Wall Street in New York |
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Christian
Formation at the Church of the Ascension
The Episcopal Church of the Ascension is a church who believes that
Christian Formation is a life long journey or process. We are called into this
process at our baptism and continue to be nourished in the faith within the community that
is the Church. We are a people of Common (corporate) Prayer and worship is primarily a
celebration in which we participate.
Our understanding of salvation as an ongoing process is expressed
each Sunday in our worship service. We come to church to listen to God's
word; we are instructed in the Word; we acknowledge our failures but look to God's
forgiveness and restitution; we participate and are renewed in the Eucharist; and then we
are sent out into the world to serve the Lord.
Christian Formation is more than Sunday School or worship
services. It involves the whole of our lives and our experiences. The
Christian experience is about recognizing God in the daily – acknowledging God
with us. The Church of the Ascension endeavors to provide opportunities whereby
we can nourish the experience God's love and acceptance for each one of us.
The Church does not exist to tell
people what to believe but to manifest in whom they are to believe.
We believe that Christianity is a way of life, learned through
participation in the life of the Church, and practiced over a lifetime, and that the way
to begin is to engage in this process.
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Our Mission
Statement for Christian Formation
"God is radiantly present in the
world, in our community, and in our church. In joyful response to God's presence we seek
to provide opportunities, presented from the Anglican perspective, for deeper Christian
faith, equipping and enabling each of us to serve as conduits of God's unconditional love
for all people. And, as God calls children into ministry, we affirm and validate their
relationships with God and their community."
Christian Formation
Basics
Christian Formation:
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Is a life-long process
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Is for everyone
¨
Is much broader than time spent in
classes
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Includes fellowship: many times people
learn more about God and the Church of the Ascension from Breakfast Sundays, the liturgy,
and coffee time than in "for-learning's-sake" classes
¨
Is meeting people where they are in
both life experience and commitment level
¨
Includes formation (enculturation),
education (reflection upon life experience), and training for ministry
The most important social task of Christians is to be nothing less than a
community capable of forming people with virtues sufficient to witness to God's truth in
the world."
Stanley Hauerwas, A Community of
Character, University of Notre Dame Press, 1981.
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Christianity is a
way of life, learned through participation in the life of the Church, and practiced over a
lifetime, and that the way to begin is to engage in this process.
The Process of Christian
Formation can be outlined as follows:
¨
Examine Our Lives:
Focus attention on some particular practice, conviction, or participatory experience so
that it can be acknowledged and named.
¨
Engage the Church's Faith:
Consider the faith of the Church contained in the Scripture and tradition as related to
this named practice, conviction, or experience, and engage that faith afresh.
¨
Renew and Reform Our Faith:
Reflect on our lives and the faith of the Church so as to intuit insights or learning.
¨
Live Our Faith: Reflect
on these insights. Find implications and then act upon them. This will result
in new practices, convictions, and participatory experiences and return us to the first
step.
As Christians, it is important
to acknowledge that we are a people who, at our baptism, are incorporated into a living
tradition, established by a community of faith, which constantly reflects on its
experience.
We live into our baptism by
becoming who we already are.
Wherever you are on the
journey, we invite you to find a place that will provide you with:
Growth in the knowledge of God,
A community that loves and accepts you, and
Training to help in your ministry.
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