Living on the Border of the Holy
and Exploring Thin Places
September 22nd through October 29th, Fridays from 11:00am – 12:00pm
[Please click here to register]
In this study I hope to combine two concepts: the Celtic idea of thin places, where we feel the Divine more closely or have closer access to God, and the ministry of all – that is, how we serve as ministers for each other in our daily lives. We will close-read L. William Countryman’s book, Living on the Border of the Holy: Renewing the Priesthood of All as our main “text” and supplement each week’s reading with resources around the topic of thin places.
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About the Book: Living on the Border of the Holy
From the author: “The first thing to say in our exploration of priesthood is this: priesthood is a fundamental and inescapable part of being human. All human beings, knowingly or not, minister as priests to one another. All of us, knowingly or not, receive priestly ministrations from one another. Unless we begin here, we are not likely to understand the confusions and uncertainties and opportunities we have been encountering in the life of the church itself in recent years…”
Review from Bruce Bawer, author of Stealing Jesus: How Fundamentalism Betrays Christianity: “What a blessing to have at hand William Countryman’s book, which, by disentangling ordination from real ministry, does an extraordinary job of clarifying what we mean when we speak of the church, of religion, and of God. I wish every self-identified ‘person of faith’ could read this remarkable, thought-provoking book.”
About the Author:
L. William Countryman is a priest in the Episcopal Church and retired professor of New Testament from Church Divinity School of the Pacific. He lives in Berkeley, California and is an associated priest at The Church of the Good Shepherd.
About the Group
We will meet weekly to discuss what we have read and may use email and online media to further the conversation. All are invited to join in reading along with the group, even if you are not able to attend all or some of the Zoom discussions. Please sign up so we know who is reading along!
Please get a copy of the book and read the Preface and Part One if possible prior to our first meeting.