One of the great challenges for all those involved in new forms of ministry, mission, fresh expressions of church, and forming missional communities is that it can be utterly exhausting. Missioners as activists are expected to make things happen often in very difficult contexts with scarce resources. Working in such a vocation can be bruising. One of the great consequences is that missioners can find it very difficult to develop a spiritually nourishing prayer life. Further, it can be that missioners as activists put their identity in doing and can become quite controlling which can result in burn out, loneliness, and ill-health. In this situation it becomes hard to trust God when you have experiences that you interpret as being burnt by God and the Church when such work has become very hard or complex. Many Pioneers carry a sense of guilt because they know that the fulfilling Christian life is about surrendering their lives and work to following God, but in practice find it very difficult to do this—particularly through prayer and meditation.
This five-week development experience seeks to help missioners explore four steps of the twelve-step approach to face themselves and the difficulty of letting go of being in control before God. By doing so, the Missioner can then dig deep with personal insight to rebuild a trusting relationship of surrender to God to then be able to rebuild and develop a personal prayer and spiritual life, and the conditions and foundations to keep this healthier in the longer term.
What You’ll Learn
This course will introduce you to a twelve-step approach to developing a personal prayer and contemplative spiritual life that invites you to:
- Try out and develop new forms of prayer practices,
- Personally reflect in order to increase insight and preparation for developing a healthier prayer and contemplation life,
- Develop personal journaling habits to reflect your ongoing learning and encounters with God, and
- Avoid vocational burnout by being more firmly rooted in a nourishing, contemplative prayer life.
How It Works
Join our instructor, Canon Ian Mobsby, and an engaged learning community of fellow clergy and parishioners live online and in online forums.
- Participate in five two-hour sessions with Ian and the learning community.
The learning community will meet weekly on Tuesday mornings, 9:00a – 11:00a (Ontario time), May 10 – June 7. - Practice in your context.
During the course you will be encouraged to apply your learning in your context to deepen your understanding. - Reflect within the learning community.
Your new knowledge and experience will become even more meaningful when shared with other learning practitioners like yourself. You will use the online forums between sessions and break-out sessions within learning community gatherings to further integrate your learning.
