Rooted in God: Personal Prayer as the Soil of Ministry

This course focuses on personal contemplative prayer as essential for our relationship with God and the soil out of which healthy and effective ministry grows. The course covers Biblical teaching on prayer; the contemplative tradition arising from the early desert fathers and mothers; spirituality, theology and psychology of prayer; and various Christian traditions of prayer including lectio divina, Ignatian prayer, other forms of scripture prayer, centering prayer, Christian meditation, and the awareness examen.The course concludes with suggestions for planting and growing a prayer-based parish ministry. Lectures, small group and plenary sharing, and practicum. Two reflection papers and a final paper designing a course to be taught in a ministry seeting. Also self-evaluation based on a learning covenant which includes a daily prayer requirement. This course will be held at St. John's Convent, 223 Cummer Ave., North York.