Dear friend,
 
Hopefully you are feeling a sense of anticipation about being on retreat again with the Transforming Community® on January 13-15, 2020. By the 4th retreat we desire you to experience an increasing sense that you are coming home when you arrive. To help you prepare, there are important updates below for our upcoming retreat.

I am looking forward to being on retreat with you once again and praying we will find our way to each other with ease and timeliness. Let us know if there is anything else you need for your preparations. 
 
Yours on the journey,

Preparation for the Retreat


The theme of our upcoming retreat is Engaging the Scriptures for Spiritual Transformation. While we will be talking about the role of Scripture in our spiritual formation, the emphasis will be on experiencing Scripture as a place of intimate encounter with God rather than using it merely as a tool for ministry. Our prayer is that through these experiences you, as a person who so faithfully opens the Scriptures for others, will have the opportunity to receive a word from the Lord that is for you personally.

Reflecting on the Last Quarter


As you prepare for our upcoming retreat, please set aside time to
reflect on your experience with prayer during the last retreat, the reading and reflecting you have done since then, and your practice throughout the quarter. As you reflect on the reading you have been doing—notice those places where the readings were helpful and supported your practice, along with the places where you felt resistant, challenged, or had questions. If you are working toward the Certificate in Spiritual Transformation, you will be preparing your thoughts in the form of a 2–3 page reflection paper responding to the following questions: 

  • What was your prayer life like as you came into the last retreat? Do you sense that you are in the transitional place that was described in the first teaching?
  • What have you noticed about your patterns of intimacy and non-intimacy (attachment patterns) with others? What observations have you made about how these patterns have affected your relationship with God?
  • What has it been like for you to listen for your breath prayer? Have you discovered it? How have you practiced it?
  • What other prayer practices did you explore this quarter? How have they impacted your life and ministry?
  • How have the assigned resources supported and challenged you?

    Please email your paper to TC16papers@transformingcenter.org by the Friday before the retreat.

Retreat Start and Small Groups


We will gather at the St. Charles Amphitheater starting at 5:30 p.m. for prayer and then be dismissed for dinner in groups. As always, your time over Sunday dinner will be in your small groups, sharing about your experience of prayer during this last quarter. The dinner conversation with your small group is an important part of the community aspect of the Transforming Community experience, and we ask you to make every effort to be there. If you will not be there, please email both the TC team and your small group.

The "reflecting on the last quarter" questions above will be the basis for your discussion so feel free to bring a copy of your paper, your journal, or any other notes you would like to have with you to help with your sharing. 

Our hope is that everyone will be seated with their small groups by 6:00 p.m., so the sharing can begin at that time. The TC16 team will be following up with an email that identifies the convener for each group, along with simple guidelines for making that time as profitable as possible. Gathering Prayer will be at 7:00 p.m. 
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