2010 Summer Reading Series

Exploring the Way

Wednesdays,September 15 - October 27

6:30 p.m., in LC205 at Chapelwood.

Exploring the Way is an introductory class in spiritual formation. This seven-week experience provides a hands-on setting for experiencing some core spiritual practices in a small group setting. Ginny Itz (Singles Director at Chapelwood UMC) will facilitate the class. To register for the class, please contact Ginny Itz (gitz@chapelwood.org or 713/354-4446).

Creative Spirit: Art As a Pathway to Awakening Your Soul.

Tuesdays, September 21 – November 9

7:00 – 8:30 p.m., in LC201 at Chapelwood

Rumi, a 13th century mystic poet, wrote a poem in which he said, “Inside you there is an artist you don’t know about.” Very often, persons who give attention to the spiritual dimension of life find creative expression to be a helpful discipline in awakening their own inner landscape. Nurturing our “inner artist” awakens us to ways of seeing that we may not have explored since childhood.

Creative Spirit will provide a setting for persons to explore their own creativity in a setting of non-judgment. The class will give attention to the process of creativity more than to the final product. You are invited to explore the pathway of your creative spirit in this class through hands-on art activities, with quality art materials plus personal reflection. Through creative art works, experience the joy and hope of awakening soul expression.

Robin Martin will lead the class. She has led several workshops on art and spirituality for the Texas Annual Conference of Methodists and has served on leadership teams for SpiritJourney (spiritual formation retreats) at Lakeview Conference Center. She nourishes her own creative spirit through an ongoing group that meets regularly for creative expression.

Creative Spirit is open and welcoming to all levels of creative art experience. A $10 fee will cover art supplies for the class. If you would like to drop in on a Tuesday evening, there will be a $3 drop-in fee for materials.

Class size will be limited. Please register for Creative Spirit through Nancy Sterling at 713/354-4458 or nsterling@chapelwood.org.

Come to the Wedding: Spirituality in Matthew’s Gospel

mid-September; online class

Each fall The Center for Christian Spirituality offers a spiritual formation study in which we take a look at selected passages of Scripture with a view to reading them as texts for spirituality. In past years Jerry has led these studies in Ephesians, the parables of Jesus, John’s Gospel, and the Genesis-Exodus accounts.

This year the spiritual formation study will focus on the Gospel of Matthew. The narratives and parables in Matthew have a uniqueness about them that sets them apart from the other Gospel accounts. Some are difficult to understand. Others seem to counsel behaviors we would not normally attribute to God-followers. And some seem to attribute characteristics to God that seem strange and unfamiliar to us. In this study we’ll try to look at the texts with an inner eye, asking God to inform us inwardly through these Scriptures.

The class will be offered a little differently this fall. Jerry’s ongoing treatments and health situation prevents him from being present regularly for the class, so we’ll take our first attempt at on online class. Once a week Jerry will send out printed material via email to those registered for the class. Then those in the class will have access to an online forum to discuss the Scripture and his materials, to make comments and ask questions, and to interact with one another. As our first attempt at an online study, we expect some bumps in the road; but we’re also confident that together we can work through them.

Matthew includes parables about weddings in his Gospel, and weddings speak to joining together, to union. You might see this study as an invitation to a deeper union with God and to a more intentional spiritual life in the world. Your invitation: “Come to the wedding!”

The class begins in mid-September. Because of the nature of the class it will be necessary for you to register for the class. You may do so by contacting Nancy Sterling (nsterling@chapelwood.org or 713/354-4458).

Recurring Classes: Please check with us for upcoming dates.
Spiritual Foundations

The Spiritual Foundations class seeks to provide an intensive experience in spiritual formation for those who want to give concentrated attention to the work of God in their lives. The class was originally designed to assist church leaders (staff, teachers, board members, committee members, volunteers, etc.) in developing a growing inner life that would support the work of their ministry. We believe that leadership has the power to transform individuals, groups, institutions, and society when anchored in a growing relationship with God through Jesus Christ and empowered by the Holy Spirit. The class is now structured as an aid to anyone desiring a more intentional and alert relationship with God. Through daily prayer and meditation, weekly large and small group experiences, personal reflection, journaling, and outside readings participants will be able to formulate life-patterns that open them to the transformation of Christ. Spiritual practices alone do not cause a person to experience formation in Christ, but rather prepare us and open us to the work God does within our hearts. The course is designed for anyone who is serious about a growing, deepening relationship with God as revealed in Jesus Christ.

This continuous experience over a course of weeks is not designed to be the end of our spiritual growth, but rather a launching pad for a lifetime of encounter with God. Though the class will move rapidly, we intend to be deliberate and attentive to the movement of God as we read, pray, meditate, reflect, and listen. Thus, our goal is not to complete of a body of material, but to come to a growing awareness of our journey with God and a growing awareness of our own lives in relationship to God and others. Various reflections and exercises will engage us at different levels, each one deliberately selected to lead us into God's presence.


Building on the Foundations
Building on the Foundation is an eight-week follow-up to the Spiritual Foundations course. Like the first course, Building on the Foundation is a practicum in spiritual formation. The original material has been developed by the class leader, Jerry Webber. Readings come from five books that are part of the core curriculum. Various spiritual practices will be introduced. This class relies heavily on class participation and sharing. An orientation and introduction to the course will be held the first week prior to classes beginning. The weekly two-hour class will include class instruction and discussion, large and small group work, guided exercises, and quiet time for reflection. Presentations by Jerry Webber will accompany outside readings from authors such as Henri Nouwen, Thomas Keating, and Margaret Silf. Significant amounts of time will be given for small group and large group interaction.
 

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