Dwelling in the Word

Saturday Festival Dwelling session movie
In this short video you see people from 7 countries Dwelling in the Word in our Saturday morning session. Each crossed the room to find a reasonably friendly-looking stranger to listen into free speech. What a powerful experience!

The South African contingent with Pat Keifert at the public worship part of the Festival at Maple Grove Town Green

back row: Jannie Swart, Danie Mouton (hidden), Marius Nel, Coenie Burger (hidden)

Front row: Theo Marais, Johan Kotze, Bruce Theron, Frederick Marais, and Pat Keifert

June 14-16

Wayzata Community Church – Dwelling, supper, and opening presentation by David Tiede

Mt. Olivet Lutheran Church in Plymouth – full day of Dwelling, panels, and food, plus Jim Johnson concert

Maple Grove Lutheran Church – open community worship at the Town Green, final Dwelling, and farewell lunch

Looking forward to being with old friend Pastor John Pederson and his congregation, Augustana Lutheran Church in Denver, Colorado.  The weather is supposed to be so beautiful that we may have to do one of our Dwelling listening times outside. If we do, I’ll take pictures and post them on Saturday.

If you want to come, go to their home page to register: www.augustanadenver.org

Forty people from 8 different Central Missouri congregations joined Pat Taylor Ellison to learn or sharpen their Dwelling in the Word skills on April 13.

They worked hard, inspired each other, ate well, and practiced this spiritual habit, making plans for how to spread the practice back home.

The next morning the participants from St. Andrew’s told Ellison they were thinking of how they could use Dwelling listening skills with their children’s Sunday School classes and while visiting shut-ins.  Already it’s moving…

Folks from several congregations in the NW Hennepin Conference of the Minneapolis Area Synod came together for a Dwelling Learning Day. After Dwelling in Luke 10 three different times and getting used to the spiritual habit, teams from each church made plans for how to plant the habit back home in their congregational life.

Dwelling Learning Events:

April 13: St Andrew’s Lutheran Church in Columbia, Missouri

April 27: Augustana Lutheran Church in Denver, Colorado

Sept 14: Desert Cross Lutheran Church in Tempe, Arizona

On June 8, the entire Southern Ohio Synod Assembly, gathered in Springfield, Ohio, will Dwell in the Word together, led by Dr. Pat Taylor Ellison.

JUNE 14-16: Twin Cities: The International Dwelling in the Word Festival!                                   

Thriving in Change events:

On April 5, our partners in the Dallas-Fort Worth area will build on their Dwelling in the Word habit by learning Spiritual Discernment for Thriving in Change, at Advent Lutheran Church in Arlington, Texas.

On September 28, ’13 and January 25 ’14, our partners in the Chicago area will learn Thriving in Change, at Grace Lutheran Church in River Forest, Illinois.

On October 12 our partners in the Pacific Northwest will learn Thriving in Change in Portland, Oregon.

Around 100 youth and one or two of their parents gathered from 9 to 3 on Saturday, January 26, to LISTEN UP!  The sponsoring churches of KCLYC organized the day to get teens and their parents together to Dwell in the Word and consider holding regular family meetings. Those meetings create the space to talk about the important things in life, like one another and God.  Pat Taylor Ellison brought the Dwelling and Thrivent brought lunch. Excellent videos, great Tweeting, and meaningful conversation happened at Holy Cross Lutheran. Thanks, everyone, for coming!

Last Saturday, Jan. 19, we had a great day Dwelling in St. Louis’s University City. Here are some comments about the day:

“Take your time with the text. Listen to the word; to each other.”

“It was wonderful to validate my faith in conversation with the people I worship with every week.”

“One can really continue to get more out of a Bible passage time and again.”

“We laypeople can find things in the text that even pastors find new.”

“Great ideas about how to increase participation and reduce the time taken by each speaker – by requiring people to report their partner’s viewpoint rather than their own.”

“Within seconds of working with a partner, I felt connected with them, even at the lunch table. It was a warm feeling.”