The Wilderness Time

So God led the people by the roundabout way in the wilderness. -Deuteronomy 13:18

The roundabout way! We tend to prefer the most direct route, unless we are on enjoying a balmy spring day on a winding country road.   Most of the time, we are on a schedule and, as we all know, schedules do not allow for roundabout ways. Yet that seems to be where God often leads us... on a roundabout way into the wilderness.

Whether we like it or not, the wilderness is a place where God likes to take us. It is the place where God helps us to deal with endings that we might be readied for new beginnings, not of our own making, but of God's heart and will. Another term for wilderness is "liminal space." As Ruth Haley Barton writes:

Liminal space, the place of waiting, is a unique spiritual position where human beings hate to be but where the biblical God is always leading them. It is when you have left the tried and true, but have not yet been able to replace it with anything else. It is when you are finally out of the way. It is when you are between your old comfort zone and any possible new answer. If you are not trained in how to hold anxiety, how to live with ambiguity, how to entrust and wait, you will run... anything to flee this terrible cloud of unknowing.

We are in a wilderness time: as a denomination, as a nation, as a world! Be it the national political arena, the world of finance, or the future of the church as we have known it, uncertainty abounds. The tenuousness of it all has led many to look for a quick fix, seeking certainty in any false god that will promise a way out of the desert-even if it means returning to bondage in Egypt. But as anyone who has read the Exodus story knows, there is no going back. There is only going forward, even if in a "roundabout way."

Much as we hate "in-between times", they are crucial to our unlearning the ways that have enslaved us. It is the only way to live forward into God's new. William Bridges in his classic, Managing Transition, talks about the difference between change and transition. Change, he notes, is situational: a baby is born, a beloved family member dies, a friend loses their job, and a colleague gets married. Transition, by contrast, is a process by which people come to terms with change.  

All transitions begin with endings.   The challenge is learning how to let go of what was. The question is will we hang on to the past or will we make a real ending, thereby opening the way to a new beginning? Letting go must precede taking hold. We must be willing to live in the liminality in-between spaces. And so, we must train ourselves to hold anxiety, to live with ambiguity, to entrust and wait... to enter into the cloud of unknowing. For such is the way to life.

For such a time as this, God has called us. And for such a time as this, we are blessed.

Cutting Edge Psychotherapy Conference
Mercy Medical Center in Canton

Saturday, April 14th 
   

Formational Prayer Seminar Description:

The Institute regularly holds training seminars in Formational Prayer for those men and women engaged in care-giving ministries. This seminar provides the tools for addressing dysfunctional behaviors; teaches steps for dealing with deep wounds; presents information on spirituality and world view as each relates to helping the broken; and demonstrates pathways that help people dismantle destructive false beliefs.

Link to June Formational Prayer Seminar:

http://seminary.ashland.edu/documents/IFC/june6-9-2012_broch.pdf

Explanation of the Formational Prayer Seminar:

June 6-9, 2012 we are holding a Formational Prayer Seminar.  At this seminar, participants will receive in-depth instruction on Formational Prayer.  The seminar is based on Dr. Terry Wardle's Book Healing Care Healing Pray.  Each participant will receive a copy of the book Healing Care Healing Pray as well as a large three-ring note taking manual. You will also receive hands on experience in a small group setting.  The groups are comprised of three seminar participants and lead by a caregiver.  Caregivers are doctoral students in the Formational Counseling program at ATS.  This seminar runs four full days, a total of 30 hours training.  Wednesday you start at 8:00 with registration and end at 6:30 in the evening. Of course, you will receive a lunch and dinner break along with a few 15-minute stretch breaks throughout the day.  Thursday and Friday the seminar runs from 8:00 to 5:00 and Saturday 8:00 to 4:00 again with lunch and stretch breaks throughout the day.

I have attached endorsements written by a few people who have attended the seminar in the past.  They range from a Seminary president, to a professional in the counseling field, doctoral students, pastors, seminar participants, etc.   I think this may give you some clarity as well. The cost for the four-day seminar and materials is $475. However, a group rate of $375 is available to groups of three or more participants who register together.

Healing Care Small Group Leaders Training:

Since seminar participants will not be in class on Thursday evening , Dr. Donna Thomas will be presenting an additional training on Dr.

Wardle's "Healing Care Group Material".  Dr. Wardle has designed a 16-week small group experience that is now being widely used by caregivers with very positive results.  The purpose of this small group curriculum is to offer individuals a safe place to heal from deep wounds, false beliefs, damaged emotions, and dysfunctional behaviors in a confidential small group setting.

Seminar participants are welcome to be a part of this one evening training session.  While the normal cost for this training is $250, you are able to attend for the cost  of the Small Group Leader's Materials.  Which include a Leaders Guide,  an instructional CD, copies of Dr. Wardle's books "Wounded" and "Draw Close to the Fire" and a copy of Dr. Thomas' book "The Healing Christ In Community"  for $155.00.  This Leaders Guide is a 250 pages color manual that provides everything you would need to do Healing Care groups.

If you are interested in registering for the Formational Prayer Seminar and additionally the Healing Care Small Group Leaders Training, please contact me as soon as possible.  We will be glad to have you join us.

The Healing Care Leaders training is only available to those who have completed or are in the process of completing the Formational Prayer Seminar.

If you have, any further questions feel free to contact me at any time.

Lynne Lawson

Assistant Director

The Institute of Formational Counseling

419-207-5547

Formational Prayer Seminar Endorsements (.PDF)

Prayer Request:   

If you or someone you know has a prayer request,

please send them to: Shauna at Shauna@MVPJourney.org