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Spirituality Outside the Box: All Saints' summer program begins July 31

July 23, 2013

With Facebook and Twitter and a thousand and one responsibilities - how does one live anything approaching a spiritual life in the 21st century?

Spirituality Outside the Box: Living a Spiritual Life in the 21st Century is the focus of the adult education summer program starting Wednesday, July 31, and sponsored by the Parish of All Saints’ Episcopal Church & St. George’s Chapel  at 18 Olive Ave. in Rehoboth.

The five-session program will continue on Wednesday evenings throughout August, from 7 to 8:30 p.m., in the Parish Hall of All Saints’ Church. Light refreshments will be available following the presentations, provided courtesy of The Ice Cream Store on Rehoboth Avenue.

“Many of us would like to live more spiritual lives,” said the Rev. Christopher Moore, program planner and priest associate for Christian Education at All Saints’ Church.”We would like to live with more depth and intentionality, more sense of meaning and purpose and with less mindless distractions eating up our days. But how do we do it? That is the question we all struggle with.

“I expect this program will illuminate some exciting and intriguing ways that spirituality is manifesting itself in our contemporary world, and may even point to ways that Christian and other spiritualities will be manifesting themselves in the years ahead.”

This summer’s speakers, and their topics, are:

"Spirituality in the Second Half," presented by the Rev. J. Thomas Ledbetter, comes July 31. Ledbetter is a pastoral psychotherapist at the Brandywine Pastoral Institute, a pastoral counseling and education center of Wilmington and Lewes, with a particular interest in second half of life spirituality.

"What Jesus Ate: Life Style Choices, Then and Now," presented by Anthony Chiffolo and the Rev. “Rusty” Hesse, is scheduled for Aug. 7. Chiffolo and Hesse are coauthors of "What Jesus Ate, Cooking with the Bible: Recipes for Biblical Meals" and "Cooking with the Movies: Meals on Reels."  Chiffolo is also a nature photographer who blogs at divinenature.blogspot.com.

"The New Monasticism" will be presented Aug. 14 by Brother Bill Morgan, Sister Kathleen Aiden and Companion Teri Smith-Jones. Members of All Saints' as well as of the Amanchara Fellowship, the three will describe the nature of this non-geographic order of men and women living under vows in the world.

"The Spirituality of Nature," presented by Richard Laird, is set  for Aug. 21. Laird is a Wilmington-area businessman, an active Episcopal layman, and a member of a Governor’s Commission which recently laid the groundwork for the establishment of the first national monument in the state of Delaware.

"Contemplative Spirituality - East and West," presented by the Rev. Tilden Edwards, is scheduled for Aug. 28. Edwards is an Episcopal priest, founder and longtime director of the Shalem Institute of Spiritual Formation in Washington, D.C., and the author of numerous books, including "Sabbath Time: Understanding and Practice for Contemporary Christians," "Living in the Presence: Disciplines for the Spiritual Heart," and "Embracing the Call to Spiritual Depth: Gifts for Spiritual Living."

All members of the public, including the Rehoboth community and out-of-town visitors, are invited to this exploration of new directions of spirituality in the 21st century. People may attend all or part of the series. There is no charge. Parking is available on the street in front of the church or in the church parking lot near the corner of Olive Avenue and Second Street in Rehoboth.

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