Adult Formation

Lenten Weekend with Rev. Lisle

March 6, 2020 by St. George's Leave a Comment

We were blessed to have Rev. Lisle Gwynn Garrity with us for our 2020 Lenten Weekend – The Spirituality of Creativity and Play. Rev. Lisle spoke with us about the cycle of creation and how it is core to who we are as God’s creation. She led us in creating art in community and challenged us to accept our creation and our creativity as something from the Divine.

A highlight of the weekend, was her sermon and live painting during worship on Sunday! Below are pictures of her process, including the finished work, “Wilderness Way”.

Click here to read her sermon

Click here to read her artist statement

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Wilderness – February 2020, St. Georgian

February 12, 2020 by St. George's 2 Comments

The following is Associate Rector Areeta Bridgemohan’s monthly opening message from our weekly e-newsletter the St. Georgian. If you’d like to receive our weekly e-newsletter, sign-up here.

Wilder · ness

“state of the wild”

The Rev. Lisle Garrity, Founder and Creative Director of A Sanctified Art, a collective of artists and ministers seeking to offer their gifts to the church and to the world, will be our Lenten weekend facilitator this year. Her group has developed Lenten resources on the theme of wilderness, and St. George’s will be drawing on their resources this Lent.

The wilderness is an important space in our sacred story. The wilderness is a place of despair, barrenness, wandering, exploration, growth and purification. The Israelites wandered for 40 years in the wilderness. In that time, they learned about trusting God, about waiting patiently, and they learned about the risk and the possibilities of freedom. Daily, they relied on God to feed their bodies with manna. They relied on God to feed their souls by holding fast to the promise that God would lead them to the promised land. This was a critical time in the formation of the community’s identity.

Lent also begins in the wilderness. On the First Sunday of Lent we’ll hear that “Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness” (Matt 4:1a). Although the wilderness may seem to have limited signs of life, God uses it to spark spiritual growth. Sometimes the wilderness helps us see more clearly where God is active and moving. Sometimes the wilderness helps us let go of the baggage we don’t need but stubbornly or mindlessly cling to. Sometimes the wilderness leaves us with no choice but to trust God. Sometimes the wilderness helps us discover treasures in the world that we overlooked and reveals hidden treasures within ourselves. In our wandering in the wilderness, we discover that there is no place in our lives or in our souls where God does not dwell. May this Lent be a time for us to discover what God has in store in the wilderness.

Your sister in Christ,

Areeta+

Prayer

The Rev. Sarah Are, A Sanctified Art (2020)

One: God is in the water that restores our soul.

All: And God is in the night when we lose our way.

One: God is in today and tomorrow, raising up leaders, prophets and dreamers.

All: And God is in the wilderness with us—every step of the way.

One: So with confidence we declare—

All: If God is in those spaces, then God is surely here.

One: Let us worship the God of creation.

All: Let us worship the God of wilderness spaces.

St. George Chamber Orchestra to Perform Free Concert

February 4, 2020 by St. George's Leave a Comment

The St. George Chamber Orchestra will perform a free concert on Sunday, February 16 at 3:00 pm at St. George’s Episcopal Church. The concert is part of the church’s Chamber Concert Series. Selections include works by Robert Fuchs and Johannes Brahms.

James Kazik, staff arranger at one of the premiere Washington D.C. service bands since 2001, will conduct the Chamber Orchestra. Kazik is a renowned composer and orchestrator, staff writer for Hal Leonard Corp, and the current composer-in-residence for the Washington Metropolitan Philharmonic in Washington D.C.

Located at 905 Princess Anne Street in historic downtown Fredericksburg, Virginia, St. George’s Episcopal Church offers a wide range of concerts throughout the year featuring local and out of town musicians. The nave’s lush acoustics provide the perfect backdrop for “beautiful music in a beautiful space”.

The concert is free with donations accepted at the door. For more information, contact (540) 373-4133 or music@stgeorgesepiscopal.net. To learn more about St. George’s concert series, visit www.stgeorgesepiscopal.net/music/concerts.

Lenten Weekend 2020

January 16, 2020 by St. George's 3 Comments

The Spirituality of Creativity and Play

February 28 – March 1, 2020

Featuring Rev. Lisle Garrity

How do play and creativity nurture our spirituality? Our keynote speaker is pastor, retreat leader, and artist Rev. Lisle Garrity. We will connect art with spirituality using “Visio Divina” for a unique creative process and ultimately, a shared sacred journey. No experience or proficiency with art is necessary for this wonderful weekend! Youth and adults are encouraged to attend.

About Pastor Lisle

As an artist, pastor, retreat leader, and creative entrepreneur, Lisle works with communities of all kinds across the nation. In addition to leading retreats and serving as artist-in-residence with churches, she is the founder and creative director of A Sanctified Art LLC, a collaborative arts ministry providing multimedia resources for worshiping communities. As an ordained Minister of the Word and Sacrament in the Presbyterian Church (USA), she approaches her work as an artist primarily through the lenses of pastor and theologian. Residing in Black Mountain, North Carolina, with her husband and two wiggly pups, Max and Maven, she has a deep love for exploring mountains, creative opportunities of all kinds, and new ways to be church. Her work and writings have been featured in Reformed Worship, Call to Worship, NEXT Church, and Presbyterians Today.

Click here to register.

This weekend is accessible to all Deaf, hearing, and ASL communities. Childcare is available upon request. Please indicate your need on your registration.

Schedule of Events

Friday – February 28
Sydnor Hall
6 pm: Potluck dinner – bring a dish to share!
7 – 9 pm: Interactive presentation on the role of creativity and play for living a wholehearted life. We will reflect on creative identity in light of the imago dei. Using a creatio divina art exercise, we will explore connections between faith, play, and the creative process. Come prepared to get your hands dirty as we play and create together with pastels. Youth and adults are welcome to attend!

Saturday – February 29
Sydnor Hall
2 – 5 pm: Faith and the Creative Process. Pastor Lisle will present briefly on the birth, life, death, and resurrection of the creative process. Groups will then create silk painted banners together, working from scripture. The completed silk banners will be displayed in our Nave. Youth and adults are welcome to attend! Please note that we will be working with ink dyes – come prepared to get your hands (and maybe your shirt) dirty.

Sunday – March 1
Nave
9 am, 11:15 am, 5:30 pm: Worship Service with Live Painting by Pastor Lisle. Pastor Lisle will offer a visual meditation of the Word by painting throughout our worship services.

Sydnor Hall
10 am: Adult Forum discussion “Why Art Matters to the Church” led Pastor Lisle.

Pray – January 2020, St. Georgian

January 15, 2020 by St. George's Leave a Comment

The following is Rector Joe Hensley’s monthly opening message from our weekly e-newsletter the St. Georgian. If you’d like to receive our weekly e-newsletter, sign-up here.

Our theme for this month is “pray,” one of the seven steps on the Way of Love. It seems appropriate given some of the current events we have seen so far in the new year.

In early January, our nation took significant military action against Iran, and we are waiting to see whether more escalation will occur. Bushfires in Australia have been devastating and deadly. Earthquakes in Puerto Rico have left many homeless and frightened. There are more things we could name which point to a sense of living in chaotic times, and who knows what will happen before the end of this month.

At such times, I turn to the Book of Common Prayer for prayers that express my feelings sometimes better than I can express them myself. By entering into these prayers which are part of our common life, I feel part of the larger Body of Christ. The prayers section begins on page 810. You can also find the BCP online: https://www.bcpo nline.org/ Click on the “Prayers and Thanksgivings” tab.

Another section of the BCP which does not get much attention is the Great Litany (p. 148). This intercessory prayer covers a wide variety of conditions. There is a modern adaptation which you can find here. Some examples that apply to our current events:

“From lightning and tempest; from earthquake, fire, and flood, from plague, pestilence, and famine, good Lord, deliver us.”

“That it may please thee so to rule the hearts of thy servants, the President of the United States, and all others in authority, that they may do justice, love mercy, and walk in the ways of truth, We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.”

“That it may please thee to make wars to cease in all the world; to give to all nations unity, peace, and concord; and to bestow freedom upon all peoples.”

“That it may please thee to support, help, and comfort all who are in danger, necessity, and tribulation.”

We do beseech God to hear us when we pray. There are also times when, as Romans 8:26 says, “We do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words.” My sense is that God is always praying in us and through us. When we pause to pray, whether with words or in silent surrender to the Spirit’s deep sighs, we are joining with the divine prayer that is never ceasing.

I will close with some words from The Supplication (BCP p. 154): “From our enemies defend us, O Christ; Graciously behold our afflictions. With pity behold the sorrows of our hearts; mercifully forgive the sins of thy people.… Graciously hear us, O Christ.”

Joe+