Theology and Religious Studies Historic Christian Spirituality

Question: Discuss about theTheology and Religious Studies for Historic Christian Spirituality. Answer: Overview of Diversity and Richness of Historic Christian Spirituality Promoting spiritual practices among our church members is necessary. There are very many ways in which spiritual practices from different traditions of the historic Christian church can enrich us as believers in churches in the 21st century[1]. There is enough evidence that supports that spiritual practices promote the well-being of the church members. Most of the church congregation stay well and healthy for an extended period of time before they can complain of any mild illness as a result of the spiritual practices. The spiritual practices engage the church members and hence divert their attention to focus on some specific areas. Many of the old Christian traditions observed spiritual practices to promote empathy, attention, and compassion[2]. The spiritual practice of meditation would induce calm feelings among the members of the church. Past research has shown that meditation increases the density of grey matter of the brain. The effect of the increased density of the grey matter reduces a persons sensitivity to pain and promotes his or her immune system. It further regulates the persons emotions, and he or she is relieved of stress. Meditation has hence been recommended by doctors, particularly to people who are suffering from cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, fibromyalgia, depression and anxiety among others[3]. The practice of prayer produces a relaxation response in the interested persons. One further develops the feelings of compassion, gratitude, and hope. All these feelings promote the well-being of a person. We have many forms of prayers. However, all of them promote the well-being of the church congregation[4]. All the prayers in the Christian religion are based on the belief of the existence of a superbeing by the name God who is powerful and can influence all the occurrences that take place in our lives. The belief in the ability of God promotes among people. They also develop a belief that they are likely to be supported wherever they are in difficulty. Yoga is another spiritual practice that promotes togetherness of Christians. The activity advocates for ethical behaviours breathe expansion and physical postures. Studies have shown that yoga reduces depression, inflammation, low blood pressure and stress. In general, it plays a very critical role in the development of the peoples well-being. Journaling practice is yet another spiritual activity that has been overlooked in the past. The practice enables an individual to be more informed. One would hence develop the feeling that he or she is well connected to the surrounding world. Writing of articles during the times of difficulty can enable one to find solutions to the challenges of life[5]. One would hence develop resilience against all the obstacles that he or she may be faced with after that. The practices are likely to enrich us a lot if all of us who believe in the church can embrace them. One Hour Sessions of a Weekend Spiritual Retreat Based around the Theme of Christmas Connect Group Spiritual Retreat The connecting group will be made up of youths between the ages of 12 years and 19 years. This group of people is mostly school boys and girls. They are active and like things that interest them. At the same time, they are people who like activities that promote competition amongst them[6]. This group of Christians will be divided into manageable groups of six people each. We intend to have a rented space for the subgroups to carry out their spiritual activities over the weekends. We would also like higher the services of one or two senior youths within the church who would guide the group members on the activities that they would be expected to carry out during the sessions[7]. In a single one-hour session, the connect group would carry out their activities as follows; Time allocation Activity 5Minutes Introduction: All the group members would introduce themselves to the rest. They would also tell the rest about what they like most about the group and what they have not liked. 10 Minutes Provision of guidelines: Senior youth members of the church would give a clear guidelines in regard to the activities of the connect group. For example, during one weekend, the youth members would be guided in performing a drama about the journey of the wise men during the birth of Jesus Christ. 15 Minutes Drama training and demonstration: During this period, The group members would train on the performance of the drama in their respective sub-groups 30 Minutes Presentation: The youth groups would present their dramas in the presence of other groups and the best group would be declared the winner. 5 Minutes Lessons learnt: The members of the connecting group would then connect with one another and discuss the lessons that Christians learn from the performance of the weekend. They would further look at how Christians can apply the lessons learnt from the journey of the wise men from the East in their day to day lives. The experience gained from the activity would enable the youths to develop the practice of appreciation. Christmas is a festive season when Christians remember the birth of Jesus Christ[8]. Borrowing from the incidence in which the wise men from the East travelled a long distance in their effort to present gold and incense to the born baby. They were guided by a star as they didnt know the direction. They Christian youths, therefore learn about the need to share during charismas festivals[9]. Home Session This group would be made up of senior men and women in the church. This group of people would meet in their adjacent homes because they would be unable to walk for longer distances. No cost would be incurred in hiring for them grounds because they would converge within the church members houses and homes. The elderly church members are rich in Christian teachings. However, they would still be guided by church elders[10]. Time duration Activity 5 Minutes Introduction: Group members introduce themselves 15 Minutes Songs: Group members sing songs of praise for the newly born Jesus Christ and the general Christmas festive songs 30 Minutes Christmas prayers: Members pray and give thanks to God. They would recall the events that took place during the birth of Jesus Christ 10 Minutes Sharing of problems and presentation of gifts: The church group members would use this time to share their problems with their colleagues. In this way, they would be able to get assistance and good advice on the best way to go about the problems that they are faced with. The spiritual practice would deepen the reflection of the members. People in a corporate setting would be encouraged to attend the sessions because they would be able to meet their corporate colleagues in the meetings. They would hence be encouraged by the togetherness that would be promoted in the group sessions[11]. The spiritual practice of prayers of the members would develop a self-belief among them that there exists an almighty God who is ready to listen to their problems at all times. The members would therefore become strong and always ready to encounter all the challenges in life[12]. Youth Leaders Session This group will be made up of all the youth leaders in the church. These are mature people whose ages range between 20 and 30 years. The youth leaders are mature and can give advice and direction to the rest of the youths in the church. As a result, it is important to constantly train the youth leaders on the best way of guiding the youths. At the same time, the youth leaders would use the opportunity to share the problems that they face in their day to day interaction with the people who they lead. A space would be rented for use by the leaders. The sessions location should be away from the rest of the youths. This is because, the discussions of the leaders should be kept confidence in the event that they go ahead and discuss some individual youths during the meetings. Specialized persons who are trained in youth matters would also be hired to further advise the leaders and train them too. In addition, the leaders would be able to share their experience with the youth leaders to give them moral support in their assigned duties. Time duration Activities 15 Minutes Introduction: Members would introduce themselves and share their experience over the previous week 10 Minutes A specialized resource person responds to the discussed experiences of the youth group leaders 25 Minutes Training of the leaders: An invited guest who specializes in the training of youth leaders takes the leaders through a training exercise on Christian values. The guest would also be able to share with the leaders what would be expected of the youths during a Christmas. Christmas is a festive season and many youths are likely to involve themselves in activities which are unacceptable by Christians. The youths would be guided on the best ways to distance themselves from vices such as drunkenness, immorality, smoking of cigarettes among others 10 Minutes Praise and worship songs: The session would be concluded through the singing of worship songs. Such songs develop a feeling of confidence among the youth leaders. They hence feel encouraged to soldier on with the responsibilities that are bestowed upon them Youth Ministry Group This group would consist of newly marred youths. This group of Christians has a common objective in life. Having just married, they will have moved into a new stage of life in which they are not used to. As a result, it would be necessary for them to belong to a spiritual group of their own where church counsellors can guide and teach them on family life. The other professional counsellor would also be invited to provide additional advice to them. The group member would occasionally be taken on a retreat away from their community. This would be done as a show of appreciation to them for the humble effort that they have made. The weekend retreats would also be done away from the rest of the unmarried youth so as to show them that they have moved into another stage of life. Time duration Activity 5 Minutes Welcome speech from the marriage counsellor 15 Minutes Counsellors take the youths through the circumstances that Mary and Joseph underwent went Jesus was about to be born 10 Minutes The youths meditate and share their marriage experience with the rest under the watch of a professional counsellor 25 Minutes The youths discuss the recommended family life that Christians should live. They should live the kind of life that Messiah was born to promote, a joyful life. 5 Minutes Singing of Christmas festival songs The spiritual practice would promote the reflection of the group members through words of encouragements that they would receive from the marriage counsellors. At the same time, they would develop a strong belief that they would be able to overcome all the challenges that come their way, borrowing from the Christian teachings of Christmas[13]. Bibliography Caroline Young (MPH.), Cyndie Koopsen. Spirituality, Health, and Healing. Jones Bartlett Learning, 2005. Cover, Front. Restoring the True Christmas Spirit. BibleTalk Books, 2005. David I. Smith, James K. A. Smith, Dorothy Bass. Teaching and Christian Practices: Reshaping Faith and Learning. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing,, 2011. Elizabeth A. Dreyer, Mark S. Burrows. Minding the Spirit: The Study of Christian Spirituality. JHU Press, 2005. Fuller, Robert C. Spiritual, but not Religious: Understanding Unchurched America. Oxford University Press, 2011. Gordon Geddes, Jane Griffiths. Christian Belief and Practice: The Roman Catholic Tradition. Heinemann, 2012. Mary Jo Meadow, Kevin Culligan, Daniel Chowning. Christian Insight Meditation: Following in the Footsteps of John of the Cross. Simon and Schuster, 2007. Ogunboye, Samuel. Spiritual Practices of the Christian Faith: A Guide for Spiritual Growth. iUniverse, 2007. Perrin, David B. Studying Christian Spirituality. Routledge,, 2007. Plante, Thomas G. Spiritual Practices in Psychotherapy. American Psychological Association, 2009. Rita M. Gross, Terry C. Muck. Christians Talk about Buddhist Meditation, Buddhists Talk About Christian Prayer. AC Black, 2003. Thorsen, Don. An Exploration of Christian Theology. 2007. . An Exploration of Christian Theology. Baker Books, 2007. . An Exploration of Christian Theology. Baker Books, 2007.