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The Pastor's Canvas –August 2004
A year ago, Pastor Judy received a grant from the Lilly Endowment to take a time of sabbatical study and renewal. She was away from her regular parish responsibilities for two months in May and June of 2003. In June, I sent my application to the Lilly Endowment for a similar grant for sabbatical study and renewal. On the one hand, I am hopeful that the proposal I sent will be well received and I will receive a grant. I also know, however, that awareness of this source of money for sabbatical grants has grown greatly among clergy throughout the country. Competition for the 100 grants given each year has increased, even since Pastor Judy applied only two years ago. I thank Roger Boatman and Joey Ranta for their input into the proposal that I submitted. Below are highlights of the grant proposal I submitted to the Lilly Endowment. Spiritual Communities as Resources for Congregational
Renewal The importance of
community in the small congregations I serve is the context out of which I am
planning my sabbatical. I propose to
spend my sabbatical time exploring how various expressions of spiritual
community can be a resource to renew congregational life. I am interested in
exploring this in a variety of historical and contemporary contexts. In the Roman Catholic traditions, Benedict
and Francis established spiritual communities that still bring renewal to the
church today. The Celtic Church, with
its roots in Ireland, Scotland, and Northumbria, provided a resource that
sustained and renewed the Christian faith in the British Isles following the
collapse of the Roman Empire and various invasions. The Celtic-inspired Community at Iona, Scotland continues to
renew the church today. In recent
times, Latin American churches have been renewed from the bottom up through
the “Base Christian Community” movement.
My sabbatical time will explore through both readings and community
experiences, a number of these forms of spiritual community. My two-month sabbatical
time during May and June of 2006 will include time for reading, spiritual
direction, travel, and experiencing examples of spiritual community. In May I will travel with my family to
Italy and to Scotland. The focus in
Italy will be to go to Montecassino, where Benedict established his community
of monks and developed the “Rule of Benedict;” and to Assisi, where Francis
began his community of Friars. From
Italy, we will then travel to the island of Iona in Scotland and stay for a
week at the Abby in Iona, experiencing the Celtic community that has been
established there. During June, I plan two
other experiences of Spiritual Community.
Our Synod has made ongoing connections with a community in
Honduras. This began as a work
project to help rebuild in that area following Hurricane Mitch. It has grown into a deeper relationship
and the Synod has organized trips to Honduras on an annual basis. Though the trip for 2006 is not yet
scheduled, if the time-frame permits, I plan to participate in this trip as part
of my Sabbatical. It is another
example of Christian community from a Latin American perspective, which I
feel is a rich resource for congregations in the U. S. The final piece of my
two-month Sabbatical time will be a week at a Benedictine Retreat Center This
will give me an opportunity to experience the daily rhythms of Benedictine
life, and also time to read and reflect on my theme of spiritual community as
a resource for congregational renewal. These grants will be announced in October and I will let the parish know if I have received a grant as soon as I learn. Your Brother in
Christ, Pastor Loren
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