The Presiding Bishop has called our church to follow the Way of Love — practicing seven spiritual practices (turn, learn, pray, worship, bless, go, rest). You can learn more on the Way of Love website or by checking out the resources in the Way of Love section of this Resource Library. You also can find a wealth of resources on the topic of spirituality on the internet or at your local bookstore. The following are just a few we recommend to help get you started:
- Practicing Our Faith: A Way of Life for a Searching People (2nd Edition, book)
- “Many Christians are looking for ways to deepen their relationship with God by practicing their faith in everyday life. This best-selling guide helps take belief out of the realm of theory and shows how to live it out in a series of twelve central practices such as hospitality, forgiveness, healing, testimony, and keeping Sabbath.”
- Practicing our Faith website contains many resources and links to useful websites.
- “Christian practices are not activities we do to make something spiritual happen in our lives. Nor are they duties we undertake to be obedient to God. Rather, they are patterns of communal action that create openings in our lives where the grace, mercy, and presence of God may be made known to us. They are places where the power of God is experienced. In the end, these are not ultimately our practices but forms of participation in the practice of God.” (Craig Dykstra)
- Always We Begin Again: The Benedictine Way of Living (book)
- “This book holds timeless appeal for readers who hunger for a meaningful and creatively balanced framework for life. It offers a simple blueprint, based on the Rule of St. Benedict, to order one’s time and create physical and inner space, to step back from the demands and pressures of the moment, and to step into a place of peace.”
- At Home in the World: A Rule of Life for the Rest of Us (book)
- “Margaret Guenther offers a warm and sensible guide…to create a helpful and balanced rule of life to help us in our search for faith. She explores ancient and contemporary meanings for the classic vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, along with the distinctively Benedictine ethos of stability and conversion…and the different elements of a rule of life — such as authority, money, pleasure, stinginess, friends, enemies, and living through hard times. The final chapter gives practical ideas for crafting a rule of life that encourages each of us to grow, stretch, and flourish.
- Every Earthly Blessing: Rediscovering the Celtic Tradition (book)
- This concise and clear introduction to Celtic spirituality provides an overview of all aspects of Celtic understandings. Esther De Waal looks at their understanding of core Christian concepts, such as sin, sorrow, salvation, and the cross. Excellent for parish study as well as individual reading.
- Soulfaring: Celtic Pilgrimage Then and Now (book)
- In the past few years pilgrimage—going to ancient holy sites in search of God—has become increasingly popular for people seeking to deepen their relationship with the Holy. Soulfaring explores the history of pilgrimage, beginning in Celtic times, and moving through the early Christian period, the Middle Ages, and even the revival of pilgrimage today. She explores fifteen sites in Wales, Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man.
- Teach Us to Pray: Prayer Practices for Today’s World (downloadable program)
- This program introduces participants to the full spectrum of Christian prayer methods and encourages them to incorporate these practices into their daily lives. Twenty-two lesson plans can be used as a year-long course, as four separate courses or as individual sessions. Also can be used to introduce a group to a specific prayer method (see list below). Appropriate for adults and youth groups.
- Six Smooth Stones: Spiritual Practices for Everyday Life (book)
- Sister BJ introduces you to five spiritual practices that can be used for Lent or any time of the year: Spiritual Reading, Prayer of Attentiveness (contemplation), Fasting, Works of Kindness (mercy) and Worship in Community. Each of the six chapters includes an introduction, practical steps and a list of additional resources.