An Invitation: It was just a year ago this month that we first met during the Week for Christian Unity (January 18-25) to see if a few of us who wanted to pray the Daily Offices might meet together. It was at that time that Tom Bryan, Leslie and Jim Farris, Mason Smith, Carol Poston, Fr. Birch Rambo, Grace Gutekunst, Stephen Locke, Lynne Shearer, Steven Sells, Virgil Brewer, and Patricia Harris met at one or more of our round-robin gatherings for some dozen or so evenings at various parishes in town. Then one or two times we met in our homes and eventually decided that we’d get together during Advent and Lent to renew our commitments and encourage one another in deepening our prayer lives.

At the beginning of Advent it became apparent that our schedules were so filled up with previous commitments that the beginning of the Church year would not be a good time to renew our efforts to get together. I made a few phone calls, and several of you suggested that we might re-establish our ties during the Week of Christian Unity in 2008.

A few days ago I contacted Grace, and she's since written back to say she thinks "we would be wise to find a spot to meet and stick with it." Tonight Grace will speak on our behalf to the Session and seek to reserve several Thursdays at 7:00 p.m. (as we did last year), beginning on January 24 in the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

There seems to be a general concensus that we might do three or four things during our sequence of meetings.

1. Pray Evening Prayer together.

2. Use Cynthia Bourgeault's Chanting the Psalms with its Practical Guide with Instructional CD and teach ourselves how to sing psalms to simple tones for our personal and group prayers.

3. Take a look at the Liturgy of the Hours: An Inclusive Language Setting, used by the Benedictine Sisters at The Dwelling Place Monastery in Martin, Ky, to see if that prayerbook might be useable among us, again for our personal and/or group prayers.

4. Bring everyone up-to-date about what's happening at the now "ecumenical" Dwelling Place Monastery and report on the monastery's oblate program.

Assuming that the Presbyterian Session opens up its facilities for us, let renew our commitments and encouragements to daily prayer by meeting on January 24th, 7:00 p.m., in the Library/Parlor of First Presbyterian Church.

As we come closer to the 24th, I'll send out some more reminders. May your Epiphanytide be blessed. --Andy


PS: This morning I received this wonderful news from the monastery's Sister Judy Yunker:


Dear Andy,

Happy New Year. Our Ecumenical Independent Monastery in the Benedictine Tradition has been launched. We made our Monastic Profession in the Ecumenical Monastery on January 1,2008. Our dispensations from our canonical vows came in the last week of December. We are overjoyed that eveything has worked out so well. Thank you for your prayers. I will remember you in spirit on your meeting nights. Peace, Sr. Judy