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Generally speaking, the 'Catholic' model of spirituality tends to be strong in its tradition of withdrawal and its long practice of spiritual disciplines, but weak in its ability to translate its vitality beyond the spheres of the cloister.
On the other hand, the 'Protestant' model of spirituality tends to be strong in its ability to engage lay people in their life in the every-day world, but weak in its disparagement of tradition and its tendency towards activism and individualism. Many people assume that spirituality is about becoming emotionally intimate with God but as Eugene Peterson has said, that is a naive view of spirituality. 'This promise of intimacy is both right and wrong. There is an intimacy with God, but it's like any other intimacy; it's part of the fabric of your life. In marriage you don't feel intimate most of the time. Nor with a friend. Intimacy isn't primarily a mystical emotion. It's a way of life, a life of openness, honesty, a certain transparency.'
Our ISS program for 2013 seeks to be 'catholic' in the sense of attempting to relate the 'whole gospel' (as it addresses the individual, city and environmental context) to the 'whole city' (including ethnic minorities, homeless people and the gay community) and to the 'whole person' (minds, emotions, spirits and wills). It is a fundamental conviction at the heart of the life of St Peter's that the 'catholic' gospel is capable of deeply changing the mental, experiential and social worlds we inhabit. In a culture which is thirsty for authentic spirituality, I commend the program to you and your friends.
Bishop Graeme Rutherford
Chairman of the Institute for Spiritual Studies
Program for 2013
Click on the name or title for further details about any event.
- 1. Helen Edmonds & Josie Gregory.
Lenten Quiet Morning
- Saturday 16 February, 9.30 am–12.30 pm
- 2. Rev'd Dr Graeme Garrett.
'Beloved Father: Beloved Son — A Conversation about faith between a Bishop and his athiest son', Book Launch
- Sunday 17 February, 12.45 pm–1.45 pm
- 3. Rev'd Dr Keith Mascord.
Journeying on what often feels like a
'slippery slope'
- Thursday 21 March, 7.30–9.30 pm
- 4. Archbishop Philip Freier & Mrs Joy Freier.
Aboriginal Communities and
Aboriginal Spirituality
- Wednesday 3 April, 7.30–9.30 pm
- 5. Dr Claire Renkin.
The Face of Christ in Some Works in the
Collection of the NGV
- Saturday 13 April, 10.30 am–12.00 noon
- 6. Rev'd Dr Ross Fishburn.
'Discovering the Risen Life of Christ amid the
Contradictions': Michael Ramsay on Easter, Transformation and the Church
- Thursday 2 May, 7.30 pm–9.30 pm
- 7. Tarrawarra Abbey.
Ecumenical Vespers for the Vigil of Pentecost
- Saturday 18 May, 3.00–6.00 pm
- 8. Rev'd Michael Raiter.
Different Views of 'Holy War' in Islam and the
Old Testament
- Wednesday 26 June, 7.30–9.30 pm
- 9. Donna Jacobs Sife.
A Jewish Story Teller
- Saturday 27 July, 9.30 am–12.30 pm
- 9a. Andrew Raiskums & Michael Leighton Jones
Benjamin Britten Festival
- Sunday 18 August, 11.00 am and 1.15 pm
- 10. Fr Denis Edwards.
A Non-interventionist View of God: How God Acts
- Thursday 22 August, 7.30–9.30 pm
- 11. Rev'd Dr Hugh Kempster.
Faith and Positive Psychology
- Wednesday 18 September, 7.30 pm–9.30 pm
- 12. Dr Meg Warner.
Abraham the First Ecumenist
- Thursday 17 October, 7.30–9.30 pm
- 13. Benjamin Myers.
God and Other Strangers: Rowan Williams as a Public Theologian
- Saturday 2 November, 9.30 am–12.30 pm
- 14. Rev'd Dr Graeme Garrett.
An evening with Graeme Garrett
- Thursday 14 November, 7.30–9.30 pm
Other Events Planned for 2013
The details of these events have not been finalized at this time. Abstracts with dates and times will appear on this website as they become available. Alternatively, if you subscribe to the ISS e-mail list, you will receive the relevant details by e-mail nearer the time.
- Benjamin Britten Festival: to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of this great English composer.
Authorized by the Vicar
(vicar@stpeters.org.au)
and the Institute for Spiritual Studies
Maintained by the Editor
(editor@stpeters.org.au)
© 2013 The Institute for Spiritual Studies
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