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Adult Learning Archive - Living Faith Events
The Environment
Go Forth .. Go Green! (July 2007)
Earth, Wind and Water: Exploring Faith and Environmental Stewardship (May 2009)
The Sacred Balance (September/October 2011)
Social Justice
Radical Discipleship: An Evening with Ched Myers (October 2010)
Radical Faith
Grief
Movies that Move Us: When Mourning Goes to the Movies (May 2009)
Movies that Move Us: The Lenten Edition (February/March 2010)
Reading
Best Books for Lent (February 2006)
Redeemer Readers 2008/2009
Redeemer Readers 2009/2010
Redeemer Readers 2010/2011
Redeemer Readers 2011/2012
Art/Music
Faith-Based Art Tour (October 2005)
Jazz and the Spirit (October/November 2005)
Art, Body, Soul (October/November 2009)
Rockin' n' Rowan (April 2010)
Restoring the Wellsprings: A Lenten Retreat into Creative Practice
Other Traditions/Outreach
World Development in Bangladesh (November 2005)
Ecumenical Pilgrimage: The Armenian Orthodox of the Middle East (October 2006)
Lenten Courses on Asceticism, Atonement, Forgiveness and Prayer
Asceticism: Ancient Ideal, Modern Anathema? (February/March 2007)
Tricking the Devil: Atonement Then and Now (February/March 2008)
The Difficulties of Forgiveness (March 2009)
Journey in Prayer: Seeking the Stillpoint (March 2012)
Other Living Faith Events
Spirituality on the Web: Sites to Explore and Sites to Bookmark (January 2006)
Bread for Your Journey (October 2007)
Living in God's Abundance: Preparing for Retirement from a Faith Perspective (April 2008)
The Woman at the Well - A Conversation for Women about Caring for Body and Soul (June 2011)
The world is experiencing an environmental crisis. Have you wondered how to respond as a Christian? On three evenings we met for a light supper, engaged in Bible Study, and participated in discussion with the experts:
- Andrew Asbil, Incumbent, explored the theological context for participating in the environmental movement. He looked at our relationship with Creation through Genesis and Mark, and considered what is meant by “Go forth and multiply” and to have dominion over all.
- Andre Maintenay, PhD. Candidate with the Centre for the Study of Religion, University of Toronto, helped us critically reflect on our own position and how it relates to everyday life and beliefs. He explored ethics and faith (traditional and non-traditional) and the effort to work together to implement Mark’s commissioning to “go forth and preach the good news for the whole of creation”.
- Rich Whate, health promotion consultant for Toronto Public Health, looked at the notion of an environmental footprint. He reviewed results of the Redeemer environmental audit and will showed us how to conduct a personal environmental audit of our own.
The course took place at the Duke of York Pub, 39 Prince Arthur Avenue, on the main floor in the Prince Arthur Room. There was a fixed charge of $15 for the meal.
Earth, Wind and Water: Exploring Faith and Environmental Stewardship
A three-part workshop series presented by the Stewardship Committee and Adult Christian Education Committee.
We met for a spiritual, provocative and empowering exploration of environmental issues and our role as stewards of God's creation. We gathered over a simple meal and followed with music, scripture and facilitated discussion.
The Anglican Diocese of Toronto Green Witness Community and Church of the Redeemer were pleased to present The Sacred Balance, a family-friendly series of four film nights on Wednesday evenings in September and October 2011.
| September 21 | Journey into New Worlds |
| September 28 | The Matrix of Life |
| October 5 | The Fire of Creation |
| October 12 | Coming Home |
We began with a light supper of pizza that was followed by one of the films from the David Suzuki hosted television series, The Sacred Balance. Each evening will focused on the way we see our world and how we understand our place in it. The films took us around the globe to visit fascinating cultures and returning to Canada we gained a new appreciation for all life.
Radical Discipleship: An Evening with Ched Myers
What does it mean to be a radical disciple of Jesus in our contemporary context?
Jesus’ invitation remains the same for us today as for his earliest disciples two thousand years ago: “Follow me”. This is a call to both transform ourselves and join Jesus’ movement to completely transform our world.
In a time when it is easy to become conformed to the mainstream and look very much like the society we inhabit, Jesus calls us to be radically different.
When and where are we to begin? Jesus tells us that “the time is now, and the place is here”.
On a Friday evening in October, 2010 we gathered to hear noted theologian and activist Ched Myers explore what it means to be a radical disciple in our time as we re-contextualize the words and actions in which Jesus spoke truth to the powers of his day.
Radical Faith: Following Jesus in our Context
On three evenings in November, 2010 we combined thought-provoking speakers and inspiring music that challenged us to re-discover how our faith intersects with our everyday lives.
| Radical Reconciliation Indigenous Bishop Mark MacDonald |
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| Radical Hope Dion Oxford, Director Salvation Army Gateway |
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| Radical Peace Jim Loney, Christian Peacemaker Team Member (and former hostage in Iraq) |
Movies That Move Us: When Mourning Goes to the Movies Spring 2009
William Cooke, long-time member of Church of the Redeemer and couple & family therapist, uses discussion/viewing of clips from films to explore grief and faith with his clients.
William says: “Several years ago I realized that people who were mourning often weren’t able to read or talk about their loss, but they would regularly describe a film or a segment of a film that had literally moved them to tears. As I began to ask more about this, I found that it was often many of the same films and even the same scenes from films that was having this impact. In fact, it seems that film may be one of the ways we learn how to mourn in our culture.”
The evening drew from that experience, while inviting the reflections and insights of participants. Scenes from A River Runs Through it, Billy Elliot, In America, and Waking Ned Devine were shared.
Movies That Move Us: The Lenten Edition (2010)
Long time Redeemer member and couples and family therapist William Cooke expanded spring 2009's popular discussion of how films help us to mourn into a three-part series. Participants examined three films: Departures, Shadowlands and Young at Heart.
Just before Lent we were joined by three authors represented by the Anglican Book Centre. The panel offered readings to introduce new authors and topical publications, chosen to provoke thought and reflection during the Lenten season. The authors and their books were:
Working with Spirit: Spirituality in the Workplace, by Lucy Reid and Fred Evers. Lucy Reid joined us to tell how she and Fred Evers explore the place of spirituality in the workplace. The book also offers a compendium of resources to provide practical ways of engaging spirituality to meet challenges in the workplace today.
Practical Prayer: Making Space for God in Everyday Life, by Anne Tanner. Anne Tanner leads workshops offering spiritual guidance, and draws on the tradition of Christian prayer to offer practical ways of making space for God in our lives. The book gives clear instruction on various forms of meditation, speaking to both those experienced in prayer, and beginners.
Emotional wisdom: A Journal of Prayer and Reflection, by Robert Maclennan. Emotions run the gamut from joy to despair. Robert Maclennan leads the reader in a spiritual exploration of human emotions, helping us to make deeper contact with our own souls and with God.
Redeemer Readers offered an opportunity for interesting reading and thought-provoking discussion. Carol Finlay and Erna Redekopp led a book discussion group for four Wednesdays in 2008 - 2009. The books chosen for discussion were theological in nature, with an emphasis on contemporary Christian themes:
| The Case Against Perfection | Michael Sandel |
| The Heart of Christianity | Marcus Borg |
| Why Go to Church | Timothy Radcliffe |
| Dimensions of Evil | Terry Cooper |
Carol Finlay led Redeemer Readers - a book discussion group devoted to interesting reading and thought-provoking discussion with an emphasis on contemporary Christian themes. Titles and authors were:
| Hunger and Happiness | L. Shannon Jung |
| God Is | David Adams Richards |
| Noah's Other Son | Brian Arthur Brown |
| An Altar in the World | Barbara Brown Taylor |
| Finding Sanctuary | Abbot Christopher Jamison |
Pauline Thompson led the 2010/2011 season of Redeemer Readers. The group read and discussed:
| Sisters of Sinai: How Two Lady Adventurers Discovered the Hidden Gospels |
Janet Soskice |
| The Dawkins Delusion? Atheist Fundamentalism and the Denial of the Divine |
Alistair McGrath & Joanna Collicut McGrath |
| Anglicanism Reimagined: An Honest Church? | Andrew Shanks |
| Why Believe? | John Cottingham |
| What Jesus Meant | Garry Wills |
Redeemer Readers read five books in the 2011/2012 season. We started out with The Bible: A Very Short Introduction by John Riches and followed that with Bible: The Story of the King James Version 1611-2011by Gordon Campbell. 2011 marked the 400th anniversary of the publication of this translation of the bible, and so it seemed fitting to read about its fascinating and influential history.
After Christmas we read The Koran: A Very Short Introduction by Michael Cook, so that we could see in what ways the holy book of one religion differs from that of another, and what they have in common. After that Luke Timothy Johnson's book on The Creed: What Christians Believe and Why it Matters was on the agenda, since it helps to sort out just what sort of doctrines Christians have derived from their holy writings. A lot of modern-day Christians have trouble saying the Creed, perhaps because they don't understand it, or think that modern science or biblical criticism or ancient politics has rendered much of it unbelievable. Johnson addresses all these concerns.
And then we concluded in the spring with Richard Rohr’s latest book, Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life, a book concerned with the importance of the “falls” in our life for our spiritual maturity.
Fr. Dan Donovan of St. Michael's College, University of Toronto, took us on a tour of his collection of contemporary Canadian art donated to the College and now on permanent display there. Dan discussed selected pieces and their relationship to faith. Visit the Centre for Contemporary Canadian Art for more about Dan, his collection and Canadian art.
Tim Elliott, Honorary Assistant Priest, believes that music opens the door to spirituality. Tim and his colleagues presented two free concerts at Redeemer:
Jazz and Genesis: Tim Elliott, on piano, was joined by the CBC's Judy Maddren and a jazz trio to explore the links between the Creation Story and Jazz. Judy read from the book of Genesis, and Tim and colleagues improvised on the themes: first, the story of creation and then the notion of Jazz as a metaphor for God.
Jazz and Life!: Tim Elliott, on piano, was joined by drums, bass, and horn to explore freedom of expression as a way of understanding how life can be lived. The improvisations by the musicians revealed how jazz can be viewed as a metaphor for life.
Over three evenings we explored the ways art and images help us to understand faith and its place in our lives. Christy Anderson and Rebekah Smick, art historians at the University of Toronto, led the discussions.
Art has been one of the most powerful ways to express faith since the time of the catacombs. Yet how do we understand what those historical images are saying to us today? What messages might art have for us in our journey? These evenings suggested the ways art of the past and present can encourage deeper understanding of faith and its practice.
Each evening explored a theme using art from the past to the present:
| The Body |
| Sacred Light |
| Stories |
An evening of music and reflection with Jesse Parker based on Rowan Williams' book Tokens of Trust.
Restoring the Wellsprings: A Lenten Retreat into Creative Practice
During Lent 2011 "Restoring the Wellsprings: A Lenten Retreat into Creative Practice" offered members of the Redeemer community an alternative, art-based path of preparation for Easter. This six-week workshop emphasized that our longing for creative expression is a manifestation of God’s image within us–of our intrinsic goodness as the beloved of God.
Focused around our calling to repair of the self and to repair of the world, the workshop, which met Tuesdays 7-9 PM, encouraged participants to search within for the wellsprings of their most authentic joy, and of their capacity to play and to create as expressions of that joy.
Those familiar with Julian Cameron’s The Artist’s Way, recognized strong parallels with her course in creative recovery. There were also parallels with the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. Like the Spiritual Exercises, this practice was grounded in the belief that God calls us to become more fully who God has already made us to be.
Every week the group made art together that was then be displayed in the narthex the following Sunday. We drew with ashes; experimented with wet-on-wet watercolour; took a lesson from abstract expressionists Mark Rothko and Cy Twombley; played with mixed-media collage.
For more information about the program, you can download the outline booklet for the series.
World Development in Bangladesh
We took a virtual tour of PWRDF projects in Bangladesh with Paul Kingston, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Toronto Scarborough. As past Vice-President of the Primate's World Relief and Development Fund Board, Paul introduced Bangladesh from a development perspective and reported on the work of three NGOs (non-government organizations) with whom PWRDF is a partner: a residence and primary school for children from brothels in the city of Jessore; a women's bookstore and empowerment program; and a community development program for some of Bangladesh's indigenous peoples. The presentation featured photographs and information slides from Paul's extraordinary trip.
Ecumenical Pilgrimage: The Armenian Orthodox of the Middle East
Under the auspices of the ecumenical Scholarship of St. Basil the Great, Anglican Foundation of Canada, The Very Rev’d Walter Raymond, Dean of Quebec, shared his experiences and observations as an ecumenical pilgrim among the Armenian Orthodox of the Middle East. Through a virtual tour Dean Raymond offered a glimpse of the life of the Christian minorities in Syria and Lebanon, living as they do among the predominantly Moslem populations of the region.
Christianity was born in the Middle East, and the Christian communities there are the oldest in the world. Canadian Anglicans were among the first to befriend the Armenian Refugees who fled to Canada to escape the Armenian Genocide of 1915, and earlier persecutions. Dean Raymond asserted: “In the mosaic of contemporary Canadian civilisation, we would do well to preserve, strengthen and inform this old friendship we share with the Armenian community. We have much to learn from our Armenian brothers and sisters as we face our own future as Christian minorities in the Diaspora of the modern world.”
Lenten Courses on Asceticism, Atonement, Forgiveness and Prayer
Asceticism: Ancient Ideal, Modern Anathema?
Should the early Christian ascetics, desert fathers and medieval anchorites be left dead in their cells, or resurrected for some good advice for twenty-first century Christians? Over three sessions, Pauline Thompson, Associate Professor at Victoria University, University of Toronto, examined three of the Lent Gospel readings, part of the Life of St. Antony of Egypt by Athanasius, and relevant pieces by other writers (e.g., J.N.D. Kelly, Benedicta Ward, Andrew Louth) in an attempt to assess the role of asceticism in our Lenten lives.
Tricking the Devil: Atonement Then and Now
Mystery play cycles were popular entertainment during the later Middle Ages and were used to instruct the laity as well as give them pleasure. The cycle known as the N-Town cycle showcases the dominant medieval understanding of the atonement, in which God tricks the devil out of something to which the devil thought he had a right.
Pauline Thompson, Professor at Victoria University, University of Toronto, led a three-part reading course to explore modernized selections from the N-Town Mystery Cycle. The course looked at three short plays and at some passages from the longer Passion Plays:
| Week 1 | #8 The Parliament of Heaven |
| Week 2 | #16 Christ and the Doctors and #18 The Temptation |
| Week 3 | Passages from the Passion Plays |
Dr. Thompson investigated the sources for the plays and for the classic view of the atonement, reasons for the adoption of this particular view, and what we make of it today.
The N-Town cycle is available online in a modernized version. The modernization is copyrighted, but is available free for academic purposes.
The Difficulties of Forgiveness
The Lord’s Prayer enjoins us to pray for forgiveness “as we forgive those who sin against us.” Does this mean that God will not forgive us if we don’t forgive those who wrong us? What do we do when we can’t bring ourselves to forgive? Are some things unforgivable? Can we forgive if the wrong-doer isn’t repentant? What is the point of forgiveness: is it a merely mechanical “tit-for-tat” sort of thing, or is there something much more profound about it?
This course, led by Paul Gooch and Pauline Thompson, looked at several biblical passages, an essay by Nick Wolterstorff entitled “Jesus and Forgiveness”, and Act V, scene I of Shakespeare's TheTempest, which was shown during the final session. Readings were made available in advance.
Journey in Prayer: Seeking the Stillpoint
Do you wonder what prayer practice might be best for you at this time in your life? Are you a regular “prayer” and want to share your experiences with others? Or would you like to start praying on your own, but don’t quite know where to start?
Every practice of prayer is a way to become aware of the presence of God in our lives. Different approaches appeal to different people. All practices lead ultimately to the experience of simpler prayer, in which we are just “there” in God’s presence.
Each evening we learned about, and practiced, a variety of prayer methods that have been a part of Christian experience throughout the ages. Some of the forms we explored were: centering prayer and mindfulness meditation, meditative reading (lectio divina), the examen of consciousness, journaling, and praying through chant and song. In each session, there was time for sharing our questions and reflecting upon our experiences of prayer.
This five week spiritual pilgrimage was facilitated by Grant Jahnke and Liska Stefko.
Spirituality on the Web: Sites to Explore and Sites to Bookmark
Dr. Thomas Power, the theological specialist librarian at the John W. Graham Library at Trinity College, University of Toronto, showed us how to use the web to enhance our spiritual life.
On Sundays we gather at the Redeemer table to share bread and wine. The bread for our journey is basic to our physical and spiritual sustenance.
Didy Erb, Cordon Bleu chef and Penelope Holeton, baker of communion bread demonstrated how to make yeast bread and the soda bread used every Sunday at the 9:30 service.
The session ended with a shared meal that included bread hot from the Redeemer oven.
Living in God's Abundance:
Preparing for Retirement from a Faith Perspective
If you are about to retire or have just retired, you are probably considering options and future possibilities. You might be wondering how to create an environment that results in a fulfilled retirement. Tim Elliott, Honorary Assistant and author of Clarity and Courage: Life as an Improvised Journey, and the Retirement Working Group hosted a four-part course for a conversation about how to make the transition from a working life to a life that considers faith as a guide.
Fellow travelers met and began the conversation with those who have the same challenges. Speakers who had made the transition shared practical considerations and offered ways in which faith had guided them. Investment councillors, actuaries, and representatives from care facilities were not present. The course went beyond the purely practical and helped participants to take a look at how retirement really is, "Living in God's Abundance".
The Woman at the Well - A Conversation for Women about Caring for Body and Soul
Thinking theologically about self-care: How do we enrich our lives as women? What does it means to care for ourselves and honour our bodies and souls?
What it was: An evening of hospitality and conversation that explored the theological dimensions of what it means to take care of ourselves and create space for ourselves in the midst of busy lives and in transition toward middle age.
What it was not: A therapy session or a self-improvement course