Tuesday, February 27, 2007

2007 LENTEN SERIES

Lent as Love’s True Way

Dear Friends in Christ;

It seems as though Christmas is barely over, but in fact Lent will soon be upon us. Some see this as not very good news, a season that begins with ashes, drags on through the gloom of late winter, and doesn’t end until Easter Sunday. As important as self-denial, repentance and discipline are, they are a rather limited menu for forty days, so I propose something that will get at what Lent really ought to be about

Over four Wednesday evenings, beginning February 28th, we will explore the life of faith as a journey in love. True Love: the Good Life will be an exploration of authentic love through Scripture, film, literature, painting, music, poetry, and history. What does it mean to love? How does God’s love for us make it possible for us to love others? What are the qualities of love shown through the media of our culture, and how are we influenced by them? What are the substitutes for love we most commonly settle for, and how do they effect us? Finally, what is the relationship between love and justice: how does the love we enjoy move us and empower us toward the repair of the world?

Betsy McConnell, LICSW, will join me in leading these evenings. As a psychotherapist, Betsy will focus on the nature of love as a category in human development: the benefits of love to the whole human being, and the consequences of its denial; how love is often hindered by our experience in life, and how such barriers can be removed. Interwoven with this will be an ongoing exposition of the mystery of God’s love shown us in Christ, how this love nurtures, shapes, transforms, and enlightens us from our earliest days until the end of life; how grace through prayer and Word and Sacrament can actually create in us the faith we need to love more truly.

This is not an academic course. Everything we hear, watch, read, and talk about will be approached as instruments for deepening our own lives as beloved of God and lovers of one another. By the end of the course, our expectation is that we will all be changed more into the likeness of Christ.

The evenings will begin with a light supper at 6:15 in the parish hall, and the class will begin at 7:00, ending at 8:30. Please sign up, so we can plan the evenings in advance in the most comfortable and convenient way.

And may Christ richly bless you during the remainder of this Epiphanytide, and the coming holy season.

Faithfully in Christ,

Dorsey †

Stewardship 2007

If you have not yet made your pledge to the church in support of the 2007 Annual Operating Budget, please do so at your earliest convenience. Your pledge card can be put in the mail, you can call the church financial office, you can hand deliver your pledge, or you can pledge on-line at www.redeemerchestnuthill.org. Thank you in advance for your prayerful consideration.

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