Thursday, October 10, 2013

Spiritual Formations - First Class of the Year


Hey everyone it has been a busy couple weeks here in the program and there is so much to fill you in on. This week I am going to share a glimpse into the Students first class of the year spiritual formations, and also a few photos from a Qwanoes Road Tour.



In this class the students learned all about what it means to be a disciple - a true follower of Christ. They had opportunities to learn different disciplines and practices they can use in their life, seeking to have a healthy faith walk and grow closer to God. They spent time looking into what it means to live in Christian community and how that is important. This class also provided lots of time for inner-reflection and spending time alone listening to God. 

There was beautiful sunny weather most of the week.
It provided awesome times for outdoor chapels as well as opportunities for personal reflection
 all around the beautiful Qwanoes property.

 

Students were given opportunities in groups to lead different chapels and worship services that took place throughout the week. These gave them opportunities to express creativity and make the chapel their own - it was wonderful to see students gifts come forward as they led their peers in these times of community worship.

Students discussing together in groups different attributes about God during one of the chapels. 
Towards the end of the week the students spent a little under 24 hours in silence and solitude. They spread out in all different areas of camp and didn't speak or see each other for their whole time apart. It was an awesome opportunity for them to really focus and listen to God and reflect on His word and what they had been learning in the course so far. Despite at first wondering what they would do in so much time alone with God, most of the students came back from their time wishing they could have more of it.


We all gathered the morning after their time of solitude to take communion together. It was an awesome moment where each student had the opportunity to share with the group what they had learned. A majority of the students had been fasting during their time of solitude as well, and what better way to break that fast together but with communion.



Here are a few thoughts from the students on this course.



The students have also been busy reading Life Together and Prayerbook of the Bible by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. An excellent read that share Bonhoeffer's thoughts on the nature of Christian community and how individuals relationships with God affect the path of a Christian community's path to God. They are currently writing response papers to this book, as well as finishing up work form Camp and Youth Ministry.



A Few of the students had the opportunity to help run a Qwanoes event at a local church called Road Tour. It was sometimes hard to tell who was having more fun, the students or local youth that were attending.


There has been so many exciting things going on, and even more seems to be just around the corner - look forward to a post next week about our previous trip on SALTS!

Until next time,
Levi


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