Sarabinh Levy-Brightman and Charlie Stang are among the organizers of an upcoming conference at Harvard Divinity School, and we are invited. You can speak to either one of them on Sunday for more information, and you can register by going here: Information and Registration for HDS Conference

The 3rd Annual
New England Anglican Studies (NEAS) Conference
April 20, 2013

Keynote Speaker: The Most Rev. Frank T. Griswold III, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, 1998-2006

Contemporary Christianity has seen a resurgence of interest in contemplation: the retrieval of the rich resources of the pre-modern Christian contemplative traditions, as well as the exploration of contemplative practices in other religious traditions. Together these trends enliven contemporary prayer and practice. Common to all these efforts, however, is a conviction that contemplation is not a flight from the world and its many challenges, but rather a mode of delivering oneself and others into the world anew, renewed, and ever ready to face those very challenges. This conference aims to investigate and deepen this conviction by asking what contemplation is, and how it acts, both on the practitioner and his or her world. What can contemplatives and activists learn from each other? Might contemplation be a form of activism? Might the struggle for social justice be a form of contemplation? What other forms of religious “action” might be shaped or driven by contemplation? Given our investment in both the contemplative life and social activism, we Anglicans aim to convene this conversation and to ground it in our tradition, but also to widen it to include other voices and other traditions.

Registration: 8am
Opening Remarks: 9am
Closing Eucharist Concludes: between 6 and 7 pm
Harvard Divinity School
Cambridge, MA

Hosted by the HDS Episcopal/Anglican Fellowship and the Episcopal Chaplaincy at Harvard.

Dear Friends,

We often talk about hitting the ground running. The phrase suggests that in starting in on something, one has to have sufficient energy to keep up with all that is going on.

After a restful week away, I was prepared to come back to work doing just that. I knew there was much happening here at St. John’s, and that there would be emails and messages to respond to, and tasks left uncompleted at the start of a vacation.

But I did not hit the ground running. Instead, I found myself being lifted up — lifted up by the energy and commitment of people here in this place, and by the variety of ministries that are being carried out and expanded. I was lifted up by the awareness of the work of our dedicated staff. I was lifted up by comments and observations people made about Holy Week and Easter, about how our work and our worship in that time gave us a deeper understanding of the Paschal mystery. I was lifted up by persons calling to talk about ministries in which they are engaged, and ways they want to serve. I was lifted up by the commitment and faith of our vestry members, who are committed to listening for God’s guidance as they lead us in the year ahead. In all these things, I was lifted up by the wind of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of the risen Christ which is moving through our midst.

I know there will be days when it does feel like I am running and not able to catch up. But I know in my return from a week away that ultimately it is not my energy upon which I will need to rely, but rather the abundant energy of new life which we are given in Jesus Christ.

Faithfully,

Tom