Meeting Jesus in the Gospel of John

Have you ever wished to deepen your relationship with God? To experience a warm friendship with God? Maybe even fall in love with God – again – or for the very first time?

Meeting Jesus is a six-week journey and reflection on the Gospel According to John that includes videos from the monks of SSJE, a beautiful prayer journal, facilitation guide for small groups and more.

The Center for Lifelong Learning at Virginia Theological Seminary has created resources to help your community get small groups going. These resources include:

  • Step-by-step small group facilitation guides for teens, young adults, adults, older adults, online, multi-parish, and diocesan small groups
  • Weekly small group curricula for teens, young adults, adults, and older adults
  • Daily, image-based, postable questions for online small groups
  • Discussion questions & activities based on the prayer journal
  • Faith at Home questions, prayers and activities
  • Quiet day planning tips, schedule and content
  • Timelines and helpful guidance for getting a new group going
  • Recommendations for dealing with “Extra Grace Required” folks
  • Moderated Facebook support group for facilitators
  • Facilitation coaching and live online facilitation Q&A sessions
  • Meeting Jesus orientation video
  • Communications materials

To download these resources, click HERE. 

SSJE (The Society of St. John the Evangelist better known as the Cowley Fathers) is  an Anglican religious order for men. The members live under a rule of life and, at profession, make monastic vows of poverty, celibacy and obedience. SSJE was founded in 1866 at Cowley, Oxford, England (hence the common name for the order). The order house closest to Rhode Island is located in Cambridge, MA with a retreat center, Emery House in West Newbury, MA. The brothers offer spiritual direction, individual and group retreats, workshops and you are always welcome to attend worship. Visit their website at https://www.ssje.org/visit/. You can also explore the possibility of becoming a brother by starting with this page on their website: https://catchthelife.org/.

LENT: Life Transformed

Life Transformed: The Way of Love in Lent

The journey through Lent into Easter is a journey with Jesus. We are baptized into his life, self-giving, and death; then, we rise in hope to life transformed. This Lent, communities are invited to walk with Jesus in his Way of Love and into the experience of transformed life. Together, we will reflect anew on the loving actions of God as recounted in the Easter Vigil readings. Together, we will walk through the depths of salvation history into the fullness of redemption.

This resource features two curricula: one for a quiet day and one for a seven-session series of adult forums. These resources can, of course, also be used at other times of the year. You can download both curricula below or go to https://www.episcopalchurch.org/life-transformed where you can also download eight videos.

Adult Forum Curriculum

This set of seven Adult Forums ties the Easter Vigil readings to the seven practices of the Way of Love. Drawing on the ancient practice of setting aside Lent as a period of study and preparation for living as a Christian disciple (known as the catechumenate), the forums encourage participants to reflect on salvation history; walk toward the empty tomb; and embrace the transforming reality of love, life, and liberation. As we stand with the three women at the empty tomb, we hear his call to go and live that transformed reality.

  • Session One / TURN: Dead to Sin, Alive in Christ (Romans 6:3-11)
  • Session Two / PRAY: Israel’s Deliverance at the Red Sea (Exodus 14:10-15:1)
  • Session Three / LEARN: Learn Wisdom and Live (Proverbs 8:1-8, 19-21; 9:4b-6)
  • Session Four / BLESS: A New Heart and a New Spirit (Ezekiel 36:24-28)
  • Session Five / REST: The Valley of Dry Bones (Ezekiel 37:1-14)
  • Session Six / WORSHIP: The Gathering of God’s People (Zephaniah 3:12-20)
  • Session Seven / GO: The Empty Tomb (Luke 24:1-12)
DOWNLOAD Way of Love Lent Curriculum  



Quiet Day for Lent Curriculum

This Quiet Day for Lent curriculum ties the Easter Vigil readings to the seven practices of the Way of Love. Suitable for use at a day-long retreat, this curriculum condenses and adapts the seven-session curriculum above into four 75-minute blocks. Included in this resource are excerpts from Scripture and a participant guide.

  • Session I: 
    Introduction to the Way of Love and a Rule of Life; TURN: Dead to Sin, Alive in Christ (Romans 6:3-11)
  • Session II:
    PRAY:     Israel’s Deliverance at the Red Sea (Exodus 14:10-15:1); LEARN: Learn Wisdom and Live (Proverbs 8:1-8, 19-21; 9:4b-6)
  • Session III:
    BLESS:     A New Heart and a New Spirit (Ezekiel 36:24-28); REST: The Valley of Dry Bones (Ezekiel 37:1-14)
  • Session IV:
    WORSHIP:     The Gathering of God’s People (Zephaniah 3:12-20); GO: The Empty Tomb (Luke 24:1-12)
DOWNLOAD Quiet Day Curriculum 

TURN Overview

Pause, listen, and choose to follow Jesus.

Like the disciples, we are called by Jesus to follow the Way of Love. With God’s help, we can turn from the powers of sin, hatred, fear, injustice, and oppression toward the way of truth, love, hope, justice, and freedom. In turning, we reorient our lives to Jesus Christ, falling in love again, again, and again.

 

 

The Episcopal Church website offers a range of resources for TURN including: