(For Clergy who are neither rectors nor deans)
Wednesday, March 7, 2:00-6:00 PM, Thursday, March 8, 9:00 AM-12:00 Noon
Title: Wearing the Habit of Priesthood: Recovering Your First Love
Book: Praying Our Days by Frank T. Griswold
Facilitators: The Most Rev. Frank T. Griswold, 25th Primate of the Episcopal Church
Our time together will provide an opportunity to reflect on the priesthood we share in union with Christ, and to look deeply at some of the ways in which we, in the midst of busy and complex ministries can remain united to the One calls us to share his life and saving work of reconciliation. The danger likes in becoming a technician of the sacred and a victim of the mechanical Church. Your own life of prayer, sacraments and scripture as something living and vital is terribly important to keep your focus on. As George Herbert says, "Without spiritual refreshment and reflection, your own sermons can become waterish and thin if you have not embodied the Gospel in your life." But how do you avoid becoming simply professional? How do you stay grounded and centered as a priest? Vocation is like getting married: we often marry for all the wrong reasons, but we stay married because we find the right reasons. Ministry can always become routine and empty if we don't take time to reflect on it theologically. How do you avoid mechanical ministry? Through intimate companionship with Christ, through prayer, scripture and sacramentally - as well as through the community in which we serve.
This session, through conversation, reflection, and meditation, will invite participants to look at their vocation through refreshed eyes and emerge with a deepened commitment to, and love for, the priesthood.