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New Book by Seminary Director Bastiaan Baan

Lord of the Elements

Interweaving Christianity and Nature

Lord of the Elements cover

The four classical elements of earth, water, air and fire are present in Genesis and the New Testament. But while traditional Christianity moved away from seeing the spiritual in nature, other streams of thought — such as Celtic Christianity, the School of Chartres, medieval mystics like Hildegard von Bingen and the alchemical search for the philosopher’s stone — continued to emphasize the importance of the elements. In this unique book, Bastiaan Baan, an experienced spiritual thinker, brings these elements together with ideas from Anthroposophy. He considers in particular how elemental beings — nature spirits — relate to the four elements, and explores the role of elemental beings in our world. This is a fascinating and original work on the connections between Christianity and the natural world.

The book is available from Floris Books at www.florisbooks.co.uk  Read more

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Impossible?!? The Winter Youth Conference 2013

During the festival of Epiphawash mon from linc monny, we speak of the star that guided the kings as it was entering into the earthly sphere to take on a sunlike presence on earth, to guide humanity to renewal and healing. We can also call that star the incarnation of the Christ into humanity.

Spending a few days twice a year with a small group of teenagers at one of our youth conferences, it is possible to perceive the drama of this incarnation, the utter necessity and longing which the human being perceives in the soul to find that star—and a longing to summon the courage to align oneself with this true guiding star of one’s life—a great challenge, particularly amidst all the bright twinkling lights which shine along our way… We can be left asking: but which one is the right one?

Our theme each year at the Winter Conference, now fairly well anchored on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday weekend, always has to do with looking at how Dr. King followed the star that he perceived…and how it led him to great sacrifices for the healing of a broken humanity.

We also asked a question this year in our title for the conference: Impossible?!? What is it that makes something impossible possible? How do we overcome the obstacles of our lives to be able to do that which we are called to do, to become that which we are called to become? Read more

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The Seminary Fall Newsletter 2012

Click on the below link to access the newsletter of The Seminary in Chestnut Ridge, NY. seminary_ImageTrakker

[download id=”78″]

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Upcoming Retreat in Pennsylvania

Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread

February 8 – 10, 2013
Tenemos Retreat Center, 1564 Telegraph Road (Rt. 162) West Chester, Pennsylvania 19382

And Jesus said unto them: I am the bread of life. He who comes to me shall never hunger and he who trusts in me shall never thirst… John 6:35 One of the basic, daily tasks we all face is finding and taking in nourishment. Eating and drinking belong to the core rhythms of our day. Yet sometimes, we reach the end of our day and find that, despite being well-fed, we are living with a much deeper hunger that has not been fulfilled. This awakens in us, the question: What is the daily bread of which the “Our Father” speaks? All over the world, many are awakening to the question: What is it that truly nourishes us? The question will live at the center of our retreat community for this year.

Helping to facilitate our work together at the Retreat will be:  Rev. Marcus Knausenberger, Rev. Nora Minassian, Rev. Peter Skaller and Gillian Schoemaker, Eurythmy

The cost for the weekend is $240 (including meals). For a single room, the cost is $270.00. The deadline for registration is February 4th. Those who register before January 18th will receive a discounted rate of $230.

For registration information and the schedule click on this flyer link:  [download id=”75″]

For information about the retreat center, visit, http://www.temenosretreat.org/

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Perspectives Journal

Perspectives is the journal of The Christian Community in English. Published quarterly in the UK, Perspectives contains articles on religious and theological themes as well as news about Christian Community events. The first issue of the year in December also contains a listing of the Gospel readings for the coming year.

Recent issues have included articles on Crisis and Transformation,The Re-enlivening of the Dying Earth and The Mysteries of the Heart.

The theme of the current issue (Dec. 2012) is “Heavenly Hierarchies”. This issue includes an article written by Cynthia Hindes, priest in Los Angelas, entitled, “Guardian Angels”.  Read Rev. Hindes article here in our blog.

To subscribe (and living in the USA), send a check for $26, payable to The Christian Community San Francisco, to c/0 The Christian Community, 906 Divisadero Street, San Francisco, CA 94115.

If a resident of Canada, send a check for $28 made out to Dean Rachel to c/o Dean Rachel, 5279 Oak Place, Delta BC V4K 1L8, Canada

If residing outside the USA or Canada, see [download id=”77″]

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Words for the Newtown Tragedy

For so long humanity has used the sun to guide its way on long journeys. And as striving Christians we too are on a long journey. And on this journey, we are called to put our faith in the sun of what is truly human, to guide our way.

But as everyone knows, the sun sets. Its light goes dark. The tragic events at the elementary school in Connecticut are a picture of the sunlight of our humanity growing dark.

And what can one say in the face of such darkness; such a tragedy? Political debates and discussions about independence and freedom seem out of place and opportunistic. Psychological analysis feels lacking. Even philosophizing about God and the problem of evil seems to take us away from bearing the pain, simply feeling the sadness of the tragedy. Sometimes things happen where silent prayer is the only response.

And even still…. it is true that we are in a battle. Our battle, however, is not with human beings but with spiritual beings and forces that do not believe in the human being. Forces and spiritual beings that work in us, that work in the world that want the sun of our humanity to grow dark.

And so we must fight. But not with aggression and outer weapons, our weapons must be weapons of the active human spirit. We fight with our capacity to endure: courageously enduring together the darkness when it comes. We fight with the weapon of trust; deep trust and understanding that the sun of our humanity is still there even at night, even when the lights go out. And if we have the eyes to see, there were also powerful deeds of sacrifice and love at Sandy Hook. The sun was still there even in the dark.

In this way, we join the ranks of those spiritual beings that do believe in what is human; those spiritual beings that would seek with HIS strength and HIS love to lead us more and more to what we can become.

Rev. Jonah Evans

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The Future Initiatives Group 3-Year Report

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Still Sparkling: Report on the “Living Gold” Conference

The “Living Gold” conference for congregations and  priests from North and South America took place on Vancouver Island, July 21-29, 2012. The final number of participants was 196, which included fifteen priests, ten children and five Camphill companions. From Canada there were 75 (some only part-time), 53 from the USA, 32 from South America, and also a diverse group from Germany, the UK, New Zealand, South Africa, the Netherlands Antilles and the Philippines.

The venue was a private boarding school with beautiful grounds and ample room in the chapel, dining hall, classrooms and dormitories. Surrounded by this gracious setting, we could be grateful that such an institution feels a mission of service to the wider community, and generously offers their campus and facilities for rent to groups whom Shawnigan Lake School recognizes as serving “the greater good.”

As diverse as both the group and the daily themes were, there was an uplifting sense of overall harmony. The lectures built upon each other, which was remarkable when considering the speakers did not know what the others were going to say. We followed the role that gold has played in relationship to Man, society and the Earth. Read more

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Welcome New Priests!

The Christian Community in North American congratulates and warmly welcomes two newly ordained priests!  Ann Burfeind and Darryl Coonan were both ordained this past March in New York, and we would like to introduce you to them here.

 Rev. Ann Burfeind was born in Chicago and grew up on a farm in the upper Midwest. She was a Waldorf class teacher in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and for many years worked, in various capacities at the Christian Community summer camp in the Midwest. Earlier this year she completed the Seminary curriculum in Stuttgart, Germany, and was ordained on March 18th, in Spring Valley, NY. Rev. Burfeind is now returning to her roots in the Midwest as a priest in the Christian Community in Chicago. Welcome back Ann!

 

  Rev. Darryl Coonan is a native of Australia and lived there until he entered the Seminary in Chicago, in 2008. During his time in his home land, he worked as a nurse for 13 years. His experience working as a community health nurse led him to further his education to more effectively work with drug dependence and mental illness. He went on to complete  four graduate level programs, which he then utilized in his work in the field of addictions, major psychiatric conditions, and in his own private psychotherapy practice.

Rev. Coonan completed his Seminary studies and training at the Seminary in Stuttgart, Germany, earlier this year and was ordained in the Taconic-Berkshire Community in New York, on March 16, 2012. He is presently visiting with the Boston congregation and their affiliates in New Hampshire and Maine. A member of the Christian Community since 1997, Rev. Coonan has a 30 year old daughter and two grandchildren who currently live in Melbourne, Australia. Welcome Darryl!

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