Pastor Dan initiates an 8-week Sermon Series on Spiritual Disciplines on Sunday September 23rd. Group Life and Adult Christian Education (GLACE) invite you to season your fellowship this fall by reading and discussing any of three books suggested by Pastor Dan relating to Spiritual Disciplines.

Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth, written by Quaker pastor and theology professor Richard Foster in 1978, pioneered the current Protestant connection to the Spiritual Disciplines. If you have never read this book, it is a classic must-read highlighting the liberating, never outgrown benefits of any of a dozen spiritual disciplines. (171 pp.) A group study guide is sold separately.

Soul Feast: An Invitation to the Christian Spiritual Life Marjorie Thompson, a Presbyterian pastor and director of a spiritual leadership ministry, writes Soul Feast: An Invitation to the Christina Spiritual Life (1995/2005) to respond to the current longing for the Spiritual Disciplines – for transformational actions that go beyond informational concepts. In fresh language using scriptural and liturgical imagery, her book encourages the practical benefits of Spiritual Disciplines for ordinary time and every-day relationships. (154 pp.) A group study guide is included in the book (10 pp.).

The Spirit of the Disciplines: Understanding How God Changes Lives. Philosophy professor and Baptist minister Dallas Willard, in The Spirit of The Disciplines: Understanding How God Changes Lives (1988/1991), writes a theological treatise to followers of Jesus to become Christ-like by practicing the same activities as Jesus, that we might “remain constantly at home in the fellowship with his Father.” Dillard elaborates an historical context and a biblical grounding for spiritual disciplines as the way of following Jesus, and encourages our practice of these as “nothing but the love of Jesus” and as the time-tested path to “life as it was meant to be.” (254 pp.)

Interested in Joining a Small Group?
Being a part of a small group of people who meet regularly is an important way to grow closer to God and to have a more intimate sense of community at Bethany. Fall is a great time to start something new and the GLACE team is praying for how we can help form and nurture small groups. To join a group, or learn more, contact Marie Fritzberg (352-2234, fritzbergs@comcast.net)