Come share in the May 19 Gathering!
Our last Gathering was a glimpse of what it would be like to build a study group together as a community. We moved away from the “typical” book club where you only discuss one book, and we wondered what it would be like to foster an ongoing space with multiple conversation partners. What voices are speaking to you as you grow in your practice of faith? At the first Gathering, I heard folks speak just as excitedly about Freddie Mercury as they did Richard Rohr, and that made me smile.
Our next Gathering will be Sunday, May 19, at 5:00 PM at Linwood Nature Preserve. (The GPS address for the entrance to Linwood Nature Preserve is 170 Springview Drive, Gainesville.) We are continuing to read Richard Rohr’s Universal Christ, and we are laying it alongside Barbara Brown Taylor’s Holy Envy. But, we’re not stopping there! I encourage you to bring your conversation partners—and to learn from others who introduce you to theirs.
I wanted to meet outdoors at this point, to put ourselves in a different space to wonder together. To that end, I also want to introduce you to Fred Bahnson, a professor at Wake Forrest Divinity School and a writer at Harper’s Magazine. Fred was here with us on Palm Sunday, working on an upcoming article on “the contemplative turn” that will run in the Fall. He shared an article that I have found deeply meaningful: “The Priest in the Trees.” As we look toward our time together on May 19, spend a bit reading this and seeing what it stirs in you, putting it alongside Fr. Richard and Barbara’s work.
You are invited to come share-even if you couldn’t make the first one. Come and bring your notes, an open heart, a curious mind, as we gather outside this time to keep our conversation going. And bring a friend!
Fr. Stuart+