Praying with T.S. Eliot

“We must be still and still moving
Into another intensity
For a further union, a deeper communion.”
- T. S. Eliot, Four Quartets

T. S. Eliot was baptized as a Christian at the age of thirty-nine. The Four Quartets was written after his conversion, providing us with rich insights into his spiritual pilgrimage. He regarded it as his greatest literary achievement.

In our time together we will prayerfully reflect upon a passage of the Four Quartets along with relevant Scripture inviting us Into another intensity /For a further union, a deeper communion with our Lord.

Come on Tuesday, December 8 from 1-2 PM for our prayer time together at Wedgwood Presbyterian Church. Louise Holert will be our leader. After our prayer time there will be a short team meeting.

New Meeting Date

At our last gathering we decided to move our meeting date from the 2nd Tuesday to the 4th Tuesday, beginning in January, 2010. Time and place - 1:00 at Wedgwood Presbyterian Church - will remain the same.

Our next gathering for prayer will be Tuesday, December 8th. Louise Holert will be our leader, using material she has prepared for a retreat on the poetry of T. S. Eliot. Look for more details in the weeks to come.

November Retreat Postponed

We have decided to postpone the November 20 & 21 retreat days. Too many scheduling conflicts for those who had hoped to be retreat leaders. We'll let you know when we have a new date.

Looking ahead to November 10th, come join us for prayer at Wedgwood Presbyterian Church from 1-2. This month we will share Celtic Daily Prayer on the theme of peace. I hope you can join us on the 10th.

October 13th - three invitations!

You are invited to join the Spiritual Formation ministry team of Seattle Presbytery for prayer and fellowship on Tuesday, October 13th.


We will meet for prayer from 1-2 at Wedgwood Presbyterian Church, 8008 35th Ave NE, Seattle. At 2:00 we will hold a short business meeting to begin planning in earnest for the November retreat (see below.) Spiritual Directors are invited to bring a brown bag lunch at noon for networking and discussion.

Our monthly prayer times this year will focus on prayers for peace in our personal relationships, our church communities, and our world. Our October meeting will be led by the Rev. Amy Delaney.

Friday November 20th or Saturday November 21st: Advent and Christmas planning is underway. Don't forget to schedule some time for your own prayer and reflection! The Spiritual Formation Ministry team will be offering a day of retreat on Friday November 20th and Saturday November 21st at beautiful St. Mary-on-the-Lake retreat center on the shore of Lake Washington in Bellevue. Come for either Friday or Saturday - we're offering the same program both days in the hope that both elders and pastors may attend. Mark your calendars now and invite a friend.

Presbyterian Spiritual Directors Networking meeting -- at noon on October 13th, also at Wedgwood Pres. If you are currently in a ministry of spiritual direction, I hope you will join us for a time of conversation and brown-bag lunch together. This month's starting questions are about beginnings and endings. How do you begin a new directing relationship? How do you discern when to end a relationship? The monthly prayer time will follow at 1:00.

Save the Date - November 20/21

I'm already hearing of churches working on their Advent and Christmas planning. Don't forget to schedule some time for your own prayer and reflection! The Spiritual Formation Ministry team will be offering a day of retreat on Friday November 20th and Saturday November 21st at beautiful St. Mary-on-the-Lake retreat center on the shore of Lake Washington in Bellevue. Come for either Friday or Saturday - we're offering the same program both days in the hope that both elders and pastors may attend. Mark your calendars now!

Pray for Peace

Come and join the Spiritual Formation Ministry Team as we begin a year of prayer for peace in our personal relationships, our church communities, and our world. We meet the second Tuesday of the month from 1-2 at Wedgwood Presbyterian Church (8008 35th Ave NE, Seattle.) Our September meeting will be Tuesday, September 8th and will be led by the Rev. Vonna Thomas.

The Spiritual Formation ministry team is taking the summer off -- as usual. Go enjoy the sunshine, the cool rain, and the rest that only a vacation provides.

We will resume on September 8th with a 1:00 time of prayer at Wedgwood Presbyterian Church.

The team was convicted at our June meeting of the need for prayer for our world. Our season of prayer for 2009-10 will be prayers for justice. Look for more information as September approaches. We will keep our usual meeting time -- the Second Tuesday of each month, 1-2 PM.

We are also planning a retreat for early November. We'll post the dates once they are confirmed. It will be a single day retreat, offered both on a Friday and Saturday. It is our hope that it will fit into our busy calendars on one or the other date.

Our network of Presbyterian Directors keeps meeting. It's good to see the connection among people who share a common ministry. The next meeting will be Tuesday, October 13th at noon.

And now it's time to go pick some berries ...

Earth’s crammed with heaven,

and every common bush afire with God;

and only he who sees takes off his shoes;

the rest sit round it and pluck blackberries.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning, from the collection “Aurora Leigh”

Lectio Divina Take Two ...

Come join the team for prayer from 1-2 PM, Tuesday June 9, 2009 at Wedgwood Presbyterian Church. Vonna Thomas will lead our time together. She writes,

“Join us for a journey of remembrance and a renewed opening of ourselves to God’s Spirit. We will have a time of lectio divina and a guided meditation remembering the gift of our baptism and God’s ongoing generous outpouring of the Spirit.”

Also on the 9th, there will be a networking brown-bag lunch for Spiritual Directors -- also at Wedgwood. Our topic for discussion is retreat ministry -- bring your ideas and favorite resources!

Praying with Art - May 12th

Art often speaks to us subliminally: sub-liminally, 'below the threshold' of our conscious awareness." It "helps us to see the unseeable and know the unknowable, ushering us into the realm of the transcendent." (Lucy Shaw)

At our meeting on Tuesday, May 12th, Louise Holert will lead us in a time of prayerful meditation on "The Supper at Emmaus" with the aid of Caravaggio (1571-1610), a master of devotional art. . It will be a time both to listen and to respond to God through the invitation of the art and related Biblical texts.

Come join us - 1 - 2 PM, Wedgwood Presbyterian Church.

Lectio Divina

Once again, we postponed our planned session due to illness. Come June 9th to experience this prayer time.

Come join the team for prayer from 1-2 PM, Tuesday April 14, 2009 at Wedgwood Presbyterian Church. Vonna Thomas will lead our time together. She writes,

At the April SFMT meeting, we will draw upon material from the Bergan/Schwan book, Surrender, A Guide for Prayer for Lectio Divina. Since we will be meeting the Tuesday after Easter, it will be an appropriate time to consider our own surrender. In these difficult times many are facing economic challenges…whether ourselves or folks in our congregations. We can find peace and strength as we examine again our own need to daily surrender and reflect on what it means to us to call Jesus our Lord.

Also on the 14th, there will be a networking brown-bag lunch for Spiritual Directors -- also at Wedgwood. Our topic for discussion is spiritual formation and spiritual direction in the parish.

March Happenings

It was an interesting March prayer time. Louise had to cancel due to illness, so Amy & Vonna pinch-hitted.

Amy began by pressing the play button on the CD player, and encouraging us all to sing along with a 20 minute sung morning prayer, courtesy of GIA's two-CD set, "My Morning Prayer." Even though it was Tuesday, we used the prayer for Wednesday so that we could sing the prayer of St. Patrick.

Vonna then led us in a presentation about healing prayer. Similar to what she has shared with her church, Vonna spoke about her own call to healing prayer ministry and what forms that has taken. She encouraged each of us to be open to this ministry and to pray for those who are in need. Ask Vonna for a copy of her presentation, if you'd like more information.

See you in April! (Tuesday, April 14th, at 1:00).

Praying with Art

Art often speaks to us subliminally: sub-liminally, 'below the threshold' of our conscious awareness." It "helps us to see the unseeable and know the unknowable, ushering us into the realm of the transcendent." (Lucy Shaw)

EVENT POSTPONED DUE TO ILLNESS. At our meeting on Tuesday, March 10th, Louise will lead us in a time of prayerful meditation on Christ's crucifixion with the aid of a master of devotional art, Diego Velazquez. It will be a time both to listen and to respond to God through the invitation of the art and related Biblical texts.

Come join us - 1 - 2 PM, Wedgwood Presbyterian Church.

Pastors' Sabbath Retreat

The North Puget Sound Presbytery is partnering with Renewal Ministries NW to host the Pastors' Sabbath Retreat on March 13, 2009 at North Creek PC, Mill Creek, WA. Rev. Darrell Johnson, Associate Professor of Pastoral Theology at Regent College in Vancouver, will lead this retreat. All ministers in Seattle Presbytery are invited to attend. For more information and to register, visit: http://www.npspresbytery.org/pastorssabbath

Coming in February

Tuesday, February 10th

12 Noon - Presbyterian Spiritual Directors' networking brown-bag lunch. All NW directors are invited to join us as we discuss the role of prayer in direction. Yes, that's what it's all about, but how do you use prayer in, before, and after your direction session.

1 - 2 PM - Donna DeCou will lead the Spiritual Formation Ministry Team and friends in an hour of prayer. Her focus will be on music. Donna writes, "We'll do some listening to music, some singing, give some attention to hymn texts and observe some times of silence. " Come for a creative and prayerful time together.

2PM -- a short meeting of the SFMT

All of these events will take place at Wedgwood Presbyterian Church, 8008 35th NE, Seattle.

An update on Group spiritual direction groups --
We are forming monthly groups for clergy and interested laity for spiritual direction. If you have signed up for a group, you should be contacted soon regarding potential meeting places and times. If you have not yet signed up -- email Amy Delaney or leave a comment on this blog if you would like to join a group at this time.

Two Tuesdays

Look at what is happening on Tuesdays in January:

January 13th -- the team meets for its monthly hour of prayer, 1-2 PM at Wedgwood Presbyterian Church. This month David Emery will lead us -- and the topic is silence. David writes, "I will be sharing a listening process of non verbal proportions. In other "words" what is all this silence stuff really about? Where is God's voice shouting in the midst of what is? "

January 20th -- What is Group Spiritual Direction and is it for me?
Come and learn about spiritual direction, and, in particular, what group spiritual direction looks like. We will be offering monthly spiritual direction groups for those who are interested beginning in February. There are more details in the older posts below. When? 4:00 PM, Mercer Island Presbyterian Church, just prior to the Presbytery meeting. It will be time well-spent. I hope to see you there!