spiritual disciplines

2010 Academy

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Daily Office

The Daily Office and Eucharist define the community worship and corporate prayer times.  Morning prayer and Evening prayer comprise the brief Daily Offices celebrated at the Five Day Academy.  They are brief markings of the rhythm of the day in rising and returning to rest.  These offices follow the format given in the Upper Room Worshipbook.

Eucharist

The Evening prayer has been combined with Eucharist (communion or the Lord's supper) to mark the ending of the day's work.  Eucharist is celebrated as in the United Methodist tradition as a table open to all who seek new life in Christ.  This daily Word and Sacrament helps celebrate the greater mystery of Christ's real presence in the gathered community.

Silence

In accordance with the Spiritual Formation Academy tradition of nurturing the spiritual discipline of silence, you are asked to maintain silence and to respect the silence of others during certain times of the day. These silent times include the hour following the presentations by each of the two principal speakers, the Great Silence from the close of Evening Prayer to the beginning of Morning Prayer, and near the Chapel before all worship services. The Academy seeks to achieve a balance between solitude and community and to provide appropriate opportunities both for group interaction and for personal reflection. “Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10).

Journaling

The discipline of keeping a journal is an essential part of the Inward Journey. It serves as a written record of the journey; a tool for exploring one’s inner depths; a reminder of one’s growth and development - or in certain areas, the lack of movement; a way to communicate with hidden things within and a way to commune with God.

“Keep the Journal for your own sake and your own eyes, so that you write in it without reservations. Let it be description of your inner world and what is happening there.
1) Put in it all the feelings you are aware of - feelings of love, hate, fear.
2) Include what you unearth in your meditations.
3) Write in it your prayers, your dreams, your fantasies.
4) Write in it your response to events and people.
Let it be representative of both your spiritual and psychological odyssey. Always include what you have observed about yourself as you work with study and Scripture for the week.Ӡ Your journal is another way of being in dialogue with yourself and with God.

Specific exercises are available in Our Many Selves and Eighth Day of Creation by Elizabeth O’Conner. Another resource is Ann Broyles, Journaling: A Spirit Journey.

When you look back and read it, you will discover recurring themes and questions that will be helpful to consider further in times of meditation.

MATERIALS AND STYLES:
You will need a notebook of a size comfortable to you. It should be sturdy to handle wear and tear of travel and future reference. Some people prefer using a loose leaf binder so they can write on any kind of paper and not have to carry a journal with them. These, however, can obviously lose sheets more easily. One can also paste pages into a bound journal - it can become a scrapbook of your spiritual life.


†Elizabeth O’Conner, Our Many Selves, p.xxi, no.10.

Inclusive Language

The Academy for Spiritual Formation is a program which supports a policy of encouraging inclusive language in every way possible. Being inclusive initially means avoiding exclusive use of male pronouns in reference to God, and substituting for “man” more inclusive words like “people”, “humanity”, “humankind”, or “all.” But it also means reaching for balance in the use of biblical female metaphors and male metaphors for God.

Being inclusive means including some male images for God, such as Jesus’ own intimate manner of relating to God as “Father”, or “Abba”, and the traditional names for persons of the Trinity. It also includes using feminine characteristics of God from scripture (God like a mother or God like a nursing mother) and other names of God that expand upon the biblical witness (God as friend, God as mother).

Inclusive language is the direction for the future. It is a positive phenomenon which the Academy wants to support and encourage.

It is the policy of the Academy to use inclusive language. We recommend that all worship leaders be sensitive to language and that they use the New Jerusalem Bible, the New Revised Standard Version, the Revised English Bible, or the Priests For Equality version.

The Nebraska Five Day Academy for Spiritual Formation is sponsored by the Board of Laity and Discipleship of the Nebraska United Methodist Annual Conference under the authority of The Upper Room.

Last modified: 09/23/09