Longing for some prayerful and reflective time in your busy life?
Thinking about the relationship between Christian faith and social realities?
Interested in a renewed perspective on the Bible in these United States?
William Stringfellow
Thinking about the relationship between Christian faith and social realities?
Interested in a renewed perspective on the Bible in these United States?
William Stringfellow
An Online Novena Retreat
August 3-11 , 2015
August 3-11 , 2015
What, when, where
* An online nine-day spiritual retreat, August 3-11, 2015, with the help of the writings of William Stringfellow (1928-85).
* Simple and accessible:
one quote per day
one spiritual exercise per day
one prayer per day
* At home, in your daily life: read, meditate, and pray in a way that suits your schedule.
* You'll need just 20 minutes a day of focused time and a computer or tablet with internet access.
* Spiritual refreshment, nurture, and challenge.
William Stringfellow (1928-1985),
was a lawyer by training and trade, not a professional theologian,
though he wrote a dozen books and was one of most astute and insightful
Christian thinkers of the 20th century. An
Episcopal layman who understood himself very much as "Protestant" and
who engaged in open criticism of his own beloved church, he was grounded in
the prayerful study of scripture. Stringfellow was also a radical social critic preoccupied with the powers of sin and death in the world and in the cosmos.
"My concern," Stringfellow wrote, "is to understand America biblically -- in contrast to the more common tendency, to understand the Bible 'Americanly.'" One of the published summaries of his work notes that his great theme "was the Constantinian compromise, the accommodation of Christianity to the values of the empire and the preservation of status quo."
"My concern," Stringfellow wrote, "is to understand America biblically -- in contrast to the more common tendency, to understand the Bible 'Americanly.'" One of the published summaries of his work notes that his great theme "was the Constantinian compromise, the accommodation of Christianity to the values of the empire and the preservation of status quo."
Click here for an informative essay on William Stringfellow
if you want to know more about his life, work, and significance.
Details about the retreat below the picture.
 |
| Block Island, R.I., where Stringfellow shared a home with the poet Anthony Towne |
"Novena retreat" ?
A novena is a sequence of nine successive days of prayer–usually prayers of either petition or thanksgiving. It is generally a public and popular spiritual practice and is found most often in the Roman Catholic religious tradition.
This novena retreat is ecumenical, accessible to Christians of any background or affiliation, and open to all. It is a new twist on the traditional novena.
I am using the word “novena,” meaning nine days, as part of the description of this retreat to indicate that it is nine days long and involves daily meditation and prayer.
An online retreat? How does that work?
* The retreat offers daily resources (the quotes, spiritual exercises, and prayers mentioned above, with some images as well to nourish you visually) online on a blog. More specifically, a closed blog.
* What's a closed blog? It's a blog like this, but it is not public: it is open only to those whom the blog owner-administrator (that's me) has signed in. In other words, it is not open to anybody wandering around the internet. It is not "searchable": random web surfers will not be able to view either the blog or our conversations in the comments.
* The retreat offers daily resources (the quotes, spiritual exercises, and prayers mentioned above, with some images as well to nourish you visually) online on a blog. More specifically, a closed blog.
* What's a closed blog? It's a blog like this, but it is not public: it is open only to those whom the blog owner-administrator (that's me) has signed in. In other words, it is not open to anybody wandering around the internet. It is not "searchable": random web surfers will not be able to view either the blog or our conversations in the comments.
* Once you register for the retreat by e-mailing me your intention to participate, I will send instructions for the one-time-only sign-in mechanism. After that, the blog will always recognize you.
Registration
To register, write me, Jane Redmont, stating your intention to take the retreat, and make your payment.
Cost and payment
* $60 if you register by Monday, July 26.
* $75 if you register between Tuesday, July 26 and Tuesday, August 3, the day the retreat begins.
It's best to register before August 3, but you are still welcome if you sign up at the 11th hour!
Some discounts are available for those in financial hardship. Talk to me.
If you prefer to pay by check, I will send you the mailing address when you write me to register.
Privacy and community
During the retreat, you can remain private and just read the blog and use the quotes, spiritual exercises, and prayers on your own.
or
If you are more extroverted and communal or in need of companions on your retreat, you can share your thoughts, experiences, and questions via the comments function on the blog and engage in conversation with other participants and with the retreat facilitator.
A full list of online retreats for summer 2015 is here.
[Originally posted July 3, 2015.]
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