June 5, 12, 19, 26 and July 10 from 2:00 to 4:00 PM

We are admonished in scripture to “pray always,” and yet anyone who has attempted a life of prayer knows how difficult it can be to pray as often and as gladly as we might wish.  The Christian tradition has preserved for us many forms of prayer and this course is offered in the hope that you will add some new “tools” to your prayer toolbox.  Some of the forms of prayer (like intercession) will likely be familiar to most people.  But others (praying with icons or practicing the examen, for example) may be new to you.  We will explore five different prayer forms in this course — one per week — and pastor Paul will give instruction and history of the prayer and encourage you to try it out for a time.  This class is meant to be a “taste and see” class for the Pilgrimage ministry at CPC.  Come join us!

The Forms of Prayer We Will Explore

June 5 — St. Ignatius and the Examen
Would you like an easy, practical, and very effective way to determine what God is trying to teach you in this life?  Look no further.  The simple and remarkably enlightening practice of the examen is for you!  We will spend a little time learning about Saint Ignatius and about his spiritual exercises - and then focus specifically on the daily examen as a tool for your own life.

June 12 — Intercessory Prayer
We know that we are called to pray for others.  The task seems simple enough . . . And yet many struggle to do this in a disciplined and intentional way.  We’ll review the work of  Jane Vennard on this topic and other writers and thinkers in order to offer some suggestions about what it means to pray for others and how we might do that more faithfully.

June 19 — Behold the Beauty of the Lord
“One thing I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: to live in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in his temple [Ps. 27:4 NRSV].  Though the Western church has been influenced by an iconoclastic attitude (which we probably borrowed from Islamic faith), large portions of the Christian community (notably the Eastern church) have long-held that we can receive grace and come to know God more deeply not only through our ears, but also through our eyes.  This program will introduce us to the discipline of praying with icons.  So come and behold the beauty of the Lord!

June 26 — Lectio Divina — Sacred Reading
A commitment to the values of simplicity and brevity in speech before God — coupled with an equal devotion and reverence for the Word of God in scripture has produced Lectio Divina - or ‘sacred reading.’  We will learn about this well-worn practice of praying the scriptures.

July 10 — Praying with Beads
We Protestants have not always benefitted from the practice of praying the Rosary or other bead-based praying practices.  This program will be an exploration of the merits of praying with beads.  You will be given a number of ways to pray with beads and an opportunity to practice during the program.  I will have several simplified rosary bead-strings which you can use and take home with you if you like.

Resources for this course —
document links below.

You can register using the form below!