Our January series “Theology for Thine Ox and Thine Ass: On Work, Rest, and Ennui” continues at 7 pm next Tuesday at the Rattlesnake Bar and Grill with the presentation beginning at 7:30 p.m. We hope to see you there!
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
“And it is Good: Sabbath as Play-day of Grace”
Ms. Susan P. Currie, Associate for Spiritual Formation, Leadership Transformations
“Sabbath”—depending on your past personal or community experience, the word may evoke feelings of intrigue, boredom, restriction, refreshment… And no matter what your direct experience, it’s likely to be a word that is more theoretical than it is descriptive of your life. Yet in its biblical roots, the practice of Sabbath has everything to do with our identity and our calling, and is intended to not only evoke and invite but to actually draw us into freedom and wholeness, laughter and joy. Take an hour to explore Sabbath together—it will reorient your life!
Susan Porterfield Currie serves with Leadership Transformations, a parachurch ministry committed to helping ministry leaders care for their soul. As their Associate for Spiritual Formation, Susan directs Selah, LTi’s Spiritual Direction Certificate Program for Ministry Leaders, and works with Masters students at Gordon-Conwell Seminary in a spiritual formation program. In and around her programed ministry life, Susan also leads retreats and meets with people one-on-one for spiritual direction. She finds her joy in helping others grow in attentiveness to God’s loving presence and ways in their lives. Susan received her theological training at Gordon-Conwell Seminary (DMin, MATS) and did her undergraduate studies at Bryn Mawr College. Her exploration of Sabbath living has been forged in an active vocation and household whose calendar invites everything but rest. (Susan and her husband Dave have been married for 30 years and have served in both parish and seminary ministry; they are the parents of 3 now grown children; and their home is filled with long-term family members as well as short-term students and visitors. Still, they lean into daily, weekly, quarterly and annual rhythms of Sabbath.)
In this series we look at how the Gospel of Jesus Christ informs and transforms our relationship to work and rest, including such topics as:
- Why the calling to love and follow Jesus Christ is the root of every other calling
- The Trinitarian doctrines of creation and redemption as models for work and leisure
- What the Bible teaches, in the Old and New Covenants, about our work and the Sabbath
- How Christian community, the world’s needs, and your skills inform your vocation
- The Gospel’s interruption of our dispersing, frantic and busy modern lives characterized by boredom
- You need a break: Sabbath-as-refreshment, delight and restoration through Grace
- Trusting the Lord of the Sabbath: Resting in a world of anxiety, worry and exhaustion
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