Dear Middleway Urban Monastery friends,
It’s our first anniversary and we’re asking for a unique gift – you!
Middleway Urban Monastery will soon move into a physical location to parallel our virtual presence which began in June 2020, and that means we need you. The monastery operates with no paid staff, so there are plenty of areas you may offer yourself. The needs are described below but know this: Middleway offers an experience like no other because while volunteering in a particular area, you also get to enjoy the quiet, reverence of a holy place with a community of others doing the same. Prayerfully consider how you will serve to make this place a reality for others and yourself.
Read about what's going on at Middleway below. Make a note to check out our Facebook group page or website.
Middleway needs you: Circles of Stewards
Doors to Middleway Urban Monastery will open soon, and we’re looking for people who would like to be a part of a community that offers hope, comfort and peace as together we explore ways of experiencing God’s love.
We will offer prayer rooms, a library, an art room, a worship center and such, all in a peaceful environment for individuals to explore God alone but with others in community of people likewise seeking.
Middleway will provide this at no cost to visitors, though donations will be accepted to help sustain the facility. Thus, we will operate 100 percent by volunteers such as you. A Guiding Council will serve as the overseers connected to Circles of Stewards. Each circle will play a different role at the Monastery, and people will be able to serve in more than one circle. For example, there will be people who serve in reception, hospitality, library, art, technology, worship, plants/garden, cleaning, growth, administration, and spiritual direction.
An online signup will be available soon but, in the meantime, if you already feel called to one of these areas - or simply would like to find out more - contact us know at info@middlewayurbanmonastery.org.
Poetry as Prayer set for Saturday in person, continuing online through July
Poetry as Prayer will continue virtually through the month of July. We will offer a poem at 10 a.m. Saturday mornings on our Facebook group. If you would like to share a poem, please contact Aneya Elbert at aneya.kay@gmail.com. She will set up a time to speak with you either in person or over Zoom. You can watch all editions of Poetry as Prayer on our website or youtube channel.
"Searching for Sunday" topic of weekly book club
July marks a couple of changes for Middleway's book club. We'll begin a new book AND a new day. Our book club will move to Thursday's at 7 p.m. beginning July 8.
For July, we are reading "Searching for Sunday: Loving, leaving and finding the church" by Rachel Held Evans. On July 8, we will discuss from the Forward through Chapter 6.
Other upcoming books are:
August - "Halleluja Anyway: Rediscovering Mercy" by Anne Lamott
September - "An Altar in the World: A Geography of Faith" by Barbara Brown Taylor
October - "Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus" by Ann Spangler and Lois Tverberg
November - "Amazing Grace: A Vocabulary of Faith" by Kathleen Norris
December - No meetings
January 2022 - "The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You're Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are" by Brene Brown
The group is open to all. Here's how to join:
Meeting ID: 862 8991 8385 Passcode: 164675
or call in 1 346 248 7799
Interested in spiritual direction or formation training?
If you've considered learning more about Christian spirituality and how the training might impact you and your ministry, check out FIND - School for Spiritual Direction and Formation. Applications are being accepted until June 30 for the ecumenical school which offers classes once a month on a Saturday so that busy lay and clergy people can attend more easily. NEW THIS YEAR: FIND is launching a second version of the school -- a parallel school which will be exclusively online to enable anyone to attend without regard to location. The traditional school, which was founded in 1997, will return to an in-person venue at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Bryan, Texas. A person may choose to enroll in either the online or in-person school. FIND hopes to move to Middleway Urban Monastery when a physical location is established. For more information, see www.schoolforspiritualdirection.org.
How to Visit Middleway Urban Monastery
Ready to dig a little deeper spiritually? We're here for you. Very soon, we hope to have our physical space in Bryan, Texas ready for in-person visits. In the meantime, come virtually.
You're a "member" if you are receiving this newsletter. Come and see what the monastery has for you online. When you enter our URL, https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheMiddlewayUrbanMonastery, it is like opening the door of a physical building, and you will find all that is offered there.
Likewise, you can come to our website and explore the offerings, including links to our Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube accounts, if you like those formats and want to follow.
If you know others who would like to "join," ask them to subscribe to our weekly newsletter by going to https://www.middlewayurbanmonastery.org/contact and entering their email address at the Subscribe button on the lower right.
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