Why subscribe?
The Compass Spiritual Formation Newsletter is built on the ideas and practices that were once the bedrock of biblical, Christian faith. For centuries, the primary calling of pastors and communities of Christian faith was to help people and culture learn to pay attention to the Real Presence of Living God. The pastors and community influencers were, themselves, on pilgrimage into the Presence of God. They were pilgrims of the inner way. They excelled at the interior journey, at soul-development, and at enlarging spiritual capacities which help us experience God as a real, intimate, and living Presence.
But the theory and art of awareness of God as a formative and real presence in personal and communal life has been largely lost. In the words of Martin Thornton, there are plenty of fun and energetic “walloping congregations” available, but few transformative and healing communities where people are exploring and discovering a deeper, more formative life with Jesus.
We focus on the theory, the practices, and the stories of spiritual formation. In plain speak, we’re curious about the spiritual dimension of persons and cultures. We’re curious about spirituality. Unrelentingly curious. It’s our bottom line, our one thing. We know, in the words of Dallas Willard, that “everyone gets a spiritual formation in life,” but we wonder about the moment when people and communities start searching for a better spiritual formation. We want to know what spiritual pilgrims on the way to God have discovered that will help our own spiritual journey. We have some core questions that are increasing our passion about spiritual formation:
What kind of practices and capacities spark and deepen spiritual growth?
What are the roadblocks that obstruct a deeper, more transformative life with God?
What kind of communities and leaders help, not harm, the spiritual journey?
Can healthy personal spiritual formation bring transformation to host cultures?
Compass is focused on the theory, theology, history, and practices of spiritual formation. You may not have heard of all of them. We think that is exactly the point. For far too long, frankly speaking, they’ve been largely stuffed into a dusty closet in some back room of most faith communities. We’re uncovering and retrieving them and bringing them out into the open of the living room. Expect story. Expect ideas and practices that are outside the lines of contemporary church as you know it. Expect live conversations with people who are on the way.
Here’s where it all leads: a deeper, more transformative life with God.
To learn more, visit Compass.
Here’s what readers are saying:
Ginger Irvine:
“Well, this is fun! This longing for the Presence—I definitely resonate with that!! Excited!!!”
Jackie Brookshire-Doyle:
“Compass feels like a life preserver thrown to a drowning person.”
Jill Metteer:
“Thank you for the reminder to praise God and thank Him for who He is and what He has done, right now, in the middle of this storm.'“
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