Air: Freeing
Long, long ago and far, far away, a certain middle eastern peasant is said to have shaken the faith of his people loose from the legalistic and deadened forms into which it had grown. He handed back to the people of his time the honour of speaking their own truths and creating the forms through which they might do so. Freeing them from what no longer mattered, he allowed them to create a whole new way of understanding their place in the society, religion, and the world. As we explore progressive perspectives on Christianity, we find we have much in common with that man.
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Rituals Out-Side The Box
-A workshop with ritualist-officiant, Janice Meighan
“Human longing for ritual is deep, and in our culture often frustrated.” – Tom F. Driver
Ritual has generally been the domain of religious traditions rich with symbols, rites, and meaning. Some religious denominations detest ritual – not recognising that in their dislike, they too create ritual. Ritual(s) are indeed longed for by the culture, but for many, ritual has become associated with a religious “trap” that they do not want to participate in any longer. As Mary Daly pointed out three decades ago, “Religious symbols [and rituals] die when the culture that supports them ceases to give them plausibility.” New rituals and new symbols are required, but they are not created in a vacuum or around conference room tables. They are created in community – they are communal. This workshop offers both theoretical and experiential ways to consider creating and developing ritual ‘out-side the box.’
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Prayer
Using techniques from a variety of traditions, Dyane will invite participants to reflect on the meaning and place of prayer in their own personal lives. Examining prayer as used in traditional Christian liturgy, they will identify and set aside elements that diminish their experience of communal prayer and, following their intuitive responses to this ancient spiritual practice, find their way forward to its transformative potential.
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Keeping Current in the Country
This workshop will explore progressive, open, and inclusive ways of “doing church” in a rural setting. Deborah and her congregations see their mission as emerging and evolving. This rural community strives to take church to meet people where they are physically at; at the arena, gardens, the beach or park – creating worship that is different. This workshop will offer practical advice for participants to frame and reframe questions to provoke conversation in accessible ways. You will definitely want to try this at home!
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Aren’t You a Freethinker?
The term “freethinker” has a noble tradition, coming into common usage during the enlightenment as a way of describing those rejecting traditional forms of authority and hierarchy, preferring the use of reason and science to answer a great variety of questions. In recent years the badge has been worn mostly by atheists and secular humanists. Does one have to reject belief in god to be a freethinker? Is this a smart PR label for advancing atheism? Where do those rejecting traditional forms of religion but still holding to belief in god fit in? What can we offer and learn from each other?
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Aren’t You an Atheist?
Christopher diCarlo, “Canada’s No. 1 Atheist”, discusses the concepts of community as it relates to atheist. There is often a misconception that only “religious people” require community but recent humanist and atheist societies are showing that gathering with others to explore life and values is vital for those without a theistic faith.
