2009 Lenten Study/Discussion & Sermon Series
During the upcoming season of Lent we will have a special church-wide study combined with a Sunday sermon series featuring four of our staff as preachers. Keith Thompson will introduce the series in a sermon on Sunday, March 1; conclude it with a sermon on Palm/Passion Sunday, April 5; and facilitate the study/discussion sessions each of the five weeks. Zac Alstad will preach on Sunday, March 8; Aerin Bender-Stone on Sunday, March 22; and Claire Childress on Sunday, March 29. (Note: we will take a Sunday off from the series on March 15 to celebrate the anniversary of our commitment to be a Reconciling Congregation.) By having four different preachers who will also participate in the study/discussion sessions that deal with their portion of the book, we will experience this deeply spiritual book by Henri Nouwen from a variety of perspectives
From the book’s back cover: “A chance encounter with a reproduction of Rembrandt’s painting The Return of the Prodigal Son (see book cover above) catapulted Henri Nouwen on a long spiritual adventure. Here he shares the deeply personal and resonant meditation that led him to discover the place within where God has chosen to dwell.”
Discover how you, too, can “live this painting.” Make plans now to participate in this series; it will enrich your 2009 Lent/Easter experience.
Sermon series during 10:30 am worship on Sunday mornings
Identical study sessions each Monday, 7:00-8:30 pm and the following Thursday, 1:00-2:30 pm
Books are available for the discounted price of $11.00 (a savings of $5.00)
1st Sunday in Lent, March 1 – Communion and short introduction to the sermon series (Keith)
Study 1: 3/2 and 3/5 – Introductory sections, pp. 1-23 (23 pages)
2nd Sunday in Lent, March 8 – Sermon on “The Younger Son” (Zac)
Study 2: 3/9 and 3/12 – Part I: The Younger Son, pp. 25-58 (33 pages)
3rd Sunday in Lent, March 15 – Break in series for Reconciling Ministries Anniversary
Study 3: 3/16 and 3/19 – Part II: The Elder Son, pp. 59-88 (29 pages)
4th Sunday in Lent, March 22 – Sermon on “The Elder Son” (Aerin)
Study 4: 3/23 and 3/26 – Part III: The Father, pp. 89-119 (pages 30)
5th Sunday in Lent, March 29 – Sermon on “The Mother/Father” (Claire)
Study 5: 3/30 and 4/2 – Concluding sections, pp. 120-139 (19 pages)
Palm/Passion Sunday, April 5 – Conclusion of the series (Keith)
Please note: The staff member who is preaching on a section of the book will also participate in the study/discussion sessions for that one section. In that regard, it’s important to see that for the first two weeks the sermon on a section of the book will precede the study/discussion classes on the same section, while for the last three weeks the sermon on a section of the book will follow the study/discussion sessions on the same section.
More about Henri Nouwen:
Henri L. M. Nouwen was born in the Netherlands, where he was ordained to the Roman Catholic priesthood. He taught at the University of Notre Dame, Yale Divinity School and Harvard Divinity School. In 1985 he was called to join L’Arche in Trosly, France, the first of over 100 communities founded by Jean
Vanier where people with developmental disabilities live with assistants. A year later Nouwen came to make his home at L’Arche Daybreak near Toronto, Canada. He died suddenly on September 21st, 1996, in Holland and is buried in King City, Ontario. (The following is taken from the Henri Nouwen Society webpage:
Nouwen was a spiritual thinker, a synthesist and one of the first in our time, along with Thomas Merton, to consciously develop a “theology of the heart” and to lay this down as a template for both clergy and lay persons. Henri had an unusual capacity to write about the life of Jesus and the love of God in ways that have inspired countless people to trust God more fully.
He showed, and continues to show, a generation of ministers, teachers and seekers how one's gifts are to be placed at the service of
those whom God places in our path. He gives us a model for building the kinds of relationships and communities that will allow each person to find his or her personal mission.
As Merton before him, Henri always stressed the relational. He writes very directly about our contemporary longings for meaning, belonging, and intimacy and, at the same time, integrates this with a powerful vision of service and social justice. Fr. Nouwen often used the three core themes of solitude, community, and compassion to help people enter into a fresh vision of the spiritual life. “I believe you can look at solitude, community, and ministry as three disciplines by which we create space for God. If we create space in which God can act and speak, something surprising will happen. You and I are called to these disciplines if we want to be disciples.”
--Henri J. M. Nouwen