Centre For Christian Spirituality

June 2010

 

 

Greetings!

 

The Centre for Christian Spirituality in Calgary is officially ‘birthed!’

 

We were delighted to welcome Dr. Eugene Peterson to Calgary and to our campus on May 27 and May 28.  Dr. Peterson was invited to participate in the official opening of the Centre, which has been established to serve the local, worshipping community of faith within our city.

  

Dr. Peterson's public lectures included an address to pastors and Christian leaders in the morning and a public lecture in the evening of May 27.  He challenged his listeners to become more aware of the 'Jesus way' in ordinary life.  His message was a reminder that living the Jesus way has its easy parts and difficult parts - and to consider how we in our Christian culture must find our way back to the basics of Christian worship and living a holy life.

 

On May 28, Dr. Peterson was the inaugural speaker at the dedication of the Centre for Christian Spirituality.  Speaking to the Rocky Mountain College ‘family’ and invited guests, he reminded us that Christian spirituality is “centered in worship, structured by word and sacraments, and takes itself seriously as the custodian of the ‘faith once handed down to the saints’ in a world that does ‘not know Joseph.’”  The commonest way to cultivate spirituality is to do it individually, privately, or with a few friends of like-mindedness.  Basically, Peterson noted, this amounts to spirituality without Jesus, or the Trinity, or the history and story of the community of faith.  He challenged us to recognize that spiritual formation is not a specialized interest or practice in the church – it is the center of what the church is doing.

 

As Gordon Elhard prayed the dedication prayer for the Centre at the morning service, I was acutely aware of God’s guidance to this moment.  The ‘birthing’ moment came out of a dream that God implanted in my heart 25 years ago.  I had to wait and allow the gestation time to occur – as Dr. Peterson noted, a long pregnancy – and trust God to bring into being a spiritual formation setting which would serve the Christian community in Calgary.  I was also aware of my colleagues, Christian leaders from our Calgary community, who serve with me as the Centre council, providing wisdom, encouragement, and guidance toward this dream.  Susan Thiessen, Doug Schroeder, Rob Low, Oz Lorentzen, and Fay Wuthrich donate their time and energy, and continue to partner together in prayer and counsel.

 

I would direct your prayerful considerations toward the upcoming events that are being planned from the Centre for Christian Spirituality.  For the fall and coming year, we have planned:

 

Listening for God in the Ordinary – October 1 and 2;

 

Retreat in Everyday Life – November 21-27; and

 

Entering Lent 2011 – March 5, 2011.

 

In addition, we will launch our 2-year spiritual direction program, entitled Caring for Souls: Foundations for Spiritual Direction.

 

For information regarding these events, please check our website under Upcoming Events and Spiritual Direction Training.

 

I wish you a restful and rejuvenating summer.  May God grant you safety in all you do and bless you with an added measure of His presence and peace.

 

 

Blessings, 

 

 

        Joyce  

 

 

Joyce Peasgood

 

 

Rev Dr Joyce Peasgood

Director: Centre for Christian Spirituality

Associate Professor of Christian Spirituality

Rocky Mountain College

Phone: 403.284.5100, ext 237