Index Page - Holy Manners Study # 26
The Extraordinary in the Ordinary - 2 Studies: Taylor and Abuelaish

  Course Outline and Links to the 10 Session Pages 
Part 1 - An Altar in the World - a geography of faith - by Barbara Brown Taylor
Links to purchase this book: Amazon (us) Amazon(ca) Chapters(ca)
"I trust that these practices, like the central practices of all the worl'd great faiths, are meant to teach people what it means to be more fully human. ... So welcome to your own priesthood, practiced at the altar of your own life. The good news is that you have everything you need to begin." ... pxix
1
24 Jan
Introductions. How Taylor follows the Celtic practice of finding the holy in the ordinary. Taylor Video.
Group decision on which chapters to focus on in the next 4 sessions.
2
31 Jan
Chapter 3 The Practice of Wearing Skin - Incarnation.
3
7 Feb
Chapter 5 The Practice of Getting Lost - Wilderness.
4
14 Feb
Chapter 6 The Practice of Encountering Others - Community.

21 Feb
No Meeting - Family Day
5
28 Feb
Chapter 8 The Practice of Saying No - Sabbath.
Part 2 - I Shall Not Hate- a Gaza doctor's journey - by Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish
Links to purchase this book: Amazon(us) Amazon(ca) Chapters(ca)
"The Quran taught me that we must endure suffering patiently and to forgive those who create the man-made injustices that cause human suffering. ... I hope my story will help open your mind, your heart and your eyes to the human condition in Gaza, and hlep you avoid making sweeping false judgments." ... p191
6
7 Mar
The Backstory - Palestine and Israel over 60 Years. Chapters 1-2
8
14 Mar
Intifada - The Present Stalemate. Chapters 3-6
8
21 Mar
The Trials of Job - Taylor. Chapter 10
9
28 Mar
The Trials of Job - Abuelaish. Chapter 7
10
4 Apr
What Can We Do? Chapter 8. Possible

Note on Documents and Videos. If in clicking documents linked in these web pages, you cannot open them, it may be because you do not have Microsoft Office installed at the computer you are at. There are two FREE alternatives. First, Microsoft themselves offer auxiliary programs called "readers" for their various programs like PowerPoint and Word. LINK. Second, a complete Office Suite is available that can read and write Microsoft documents. The Open Office Project is now in about 80 languages and an excellent program set. LINK.
Holy Manners The background on the phrase and why we have adopted it. The guidelines for our studies.
Click to visit the St. David's Adult Ed Forum  Internet Discussion Group at Yahoo - the St. David's Forum. The archive is public and readable. Participation is by invitation. Click HERE if you would like to join. You will then be able to post your own responses to the list and will be emailed the notices and contributions of the others. Click left to visit the archives of the site (read only). There are presently 88 persons.
Apply your heart to instruction and your ears to words of knowledge. ... Proverbs 23:12 (NIV)
Group Facilitator. Wayne Holst              EMAIL WAYNE

I spent most of my life thinking like a church professional, rather than as a regular congregational member. My training as a pastor always had me asking myself 'how can I apply this discovery, insight, new information to a regular church setting?'

Often, clergy have been hesitant to share the discoveries they have made through a 'critical' approach to the Bible with their parishoners because they wonder how laypeople might accept it. I have found that many thinking laity are professionals in their own fields of endeavour and understand a critical approach very readily. What they seek are ways of relating faith to daily living.

I am grateful for the journey I have been taking through ordained ministry to teaching at the university and serving as a fellow layperson at St.David's United Church. Here we find that questioning and honest expression of our faith and doubt is readily accepted and supported.
Group Facilitator. Jock McTavish           EMAIL JOCK

I am a student and a poet, a democrat and a techocrat, an eclectic eccentric. I grew up in a loving Baptist community, so in my heart I'm still a Bible loving evangelical. As I grew in learning I found a new home in the United Church whose tolerance embraces the broadest range of Christian understanding. I most enjoy the illumination of our ancient traditions by modern scholarship. For they show in clear novel ways that the perspectives of the Special Ones were seldom the understandings of those that followed. They show all knowledge to be in relationship .

There seems a lack of understanding in our secular world for religious practices. The reasons why I still gladly - even necessarily - attend church are difficult to voice to those unfamiliar with church, or those injured by church. Elliott got it right. We find our way back to the place we started from. But with new understanding.