Prophets from Prison

a. Expectations and objectives for the week:

Participants will:

(1) Read selected writings of four persons in prison who had illuminating experiences of God, of seeing the unjust condition of the world; who had insights into new relationships with people they considered friends, enemies, different from themselves.
(2) Gain some understanding of the following terms: spiritual gifts; prophets; prophecy; new monasticism; a school of the spirit;
(3) Reflect and share, as led, their reactions, “stops”, any new understandings.
(4) Examine Bonhoeffer’s ideas for building up the “church” in today’s world for any relevance to the condition of the Religious Society of Friends.

b. A list of the specific areas or topics that you expect to cover.

How did these individuals survive? Grow? Come to a new way of thinking?
How did each experience God? Jesus? Prayer? Reality? Suffering? Injustice? Responsibility? Faith? Hope? Love?
How do I experience these in my life?
What did the writers have in common?
For me, what is a right relationship with the Divine? With the Other? With the World?
How do I understand my Meeting as an essential part of my spiritual journey?
How do I understand spiritual gifts? My Meeting as a body? A church?
How has there been LIFE in my Meeting? Joy? Peace? Patience? Gifts of the Spirit?
What do these authors have to say to us Friends?

c. A rough description of the format.

Each morning will begin with a time of worship to ground and prepare us for the morning. At least 20 minutes. Each day will also have a time of journaling and worship-sharing, to invite our reflection on the morning’s readings to go deeper. The worship-sharing may occur in pairs at first, and then, as people become more connected, in full circle.

Each day we will take up one of the readings. Because some may not have had opportunity to read, we will take some time, either reading quietly or aloud, depending upon the material. A summary may be offered; I like to ask people to first pick out a word that spoke to them, then a phrase. Then, was there anything that created a “stop” for someone?

Roughly, the topics will follow this order

Day One
Opening Worship
Introductions
Bonhoeffer, Letters and Papers from Prison
Reactions (in small groups)
Spiritual gifts – Read slowly and unpack the meanings in 1 Corinthians 12 and 13.
What is a prophet? Prophecy?
Meetings as church?
Worship sharing on a query (to be determined?)
Overview for the week

Day Two
Worship
Immaculee Ilibagiza, Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust
Reactions (in small groups)
How did she survive? How did she discover God? How did she grow/change? What is her message?
Introduce the ideas of relationship: Who is my Neighbor/Who is my enemy/Who is not like me? The Other
Journaling Time: In my life, who has been Other for me? Who has taught me?
Worship-sharing

Day Three
Worship
Eva Hermann
Reactions in large group
How did she survive? How did she discover God? How did she grow/change? What is her message?
Introduce the ideas of individual spiritual journey; corporateness; the tension between the person and the meeting.
Journaling time: Where has there been LIFE in my Meeting? JOY? PATIENCE? The gifts of the spirit?
Worship-sharing: What would I like to bring to my meeting, to offer my meeting?

Day Four

Worship
Martin Luther King. Letter from Birmingham Jail
Reactions in large group
How did he survive? Discover God? Grow? What is his message?
Introduce the Sermon on the Mount. Read slowly and unpack the meanings.
What is the disconnection in our time between the instructions of the Sermon on the Mount and challenges of Today?
What would it take to follow the sermon?
Where does my meeting come into play with regard to following the Sermon on the Mount?

Day Five
Worship
Bonhoeffer’s proposal: a new monasticism; commitment to Sermon on the Mount; nonviolence.
Small group discussions
Large Group sharing
Closing exercise: Writing a prayer

d. Specific recommendations for advanced reading, or reading assignments during the Gathering.

Excerpts will be prepared from the following writings, and made available at the Gathering workshop; also for advanced registrants for optional preparation:

Dietrich Bonhoeffer. 1972. Letters and Papers from Prison. New York: MacMillan.
Immaculee Ilibagiza. 2006. Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust. New York: Hay House.
Eva Hermann. 1984. In Prison Yet Free. Philadelphia: Tract Association of Friends.
Martin Luther King. 1963. Letter from Birmingham Jail.
Sermon on the Plain. Luke 6: 20 – 49.
Sermon on the Mount. Matthew 5: 1 – 11.
Spiritual Gifts. Paul. 1 Corinthians 12 and 13.

e. Specific requests for items to bring to the Gathering, such as artwork or manuscripts in progress: None