Life in the Trinity Ministry (LTM) will offer a new program for intensive adult spiritual formation beginning in 2010. The institute, entitled Means of Grace, will be limited to forty (40) registered participants who are prepared and able to participate in all scheduled events over a two-year period. The program’s curriculum will integrate teaching and practice of the classical spiritual disciplines, with a specific focus on living out the disciplines in Christian community.

Means of Grace offers participants a rare opportunity to practice intentionality in their personal spiritual journey, to focus on personal growth and transformation in the context of loving community.

The History and Vision of Means of Grace

It has been said that there is nothing we can do to make God love us more, and nothing we can do to cause God to love us less. From the very moment of our creation, we are each beloved children of God, a loving Father who desires nothing more than to walk in close relationship with each of us. Through grace and the example of Christ Jesus our Lord, we have been shown ‘the way’ of union with God, and we have been commanded to live our lives as an expression of our love for God and our neighbor. As we seek to live out the ideal of the loving life that God requires, each of us need the help of God’s Holy Spirit and a community of fellow travelers to assist us on the way.

At Life in the Trinity Ministry, we often say the work of spiritual formation is ‘solitary work that cannot be done alone.’ The Means of Grace institute for spiritual formation is our way of helping fellow travelers along this transformative journey.

We seek to foster spiritual transformation in the lives of our brothers and sisters, and to encourage each person as they seek deeper union in their relationship with God and one another.

In the words of Christian leader and author Richard Foster, there are seven (7) reasons for participation in a spiritual formation group:

1. Sense of Community

2. Nurturing of Character

3. Intentionality of Spiritual Growth

4. Loving Accountability

5. Balanced Vision

6. Practical Strategy for Living

7. Freedom and Fun

On the character of a spiritual formation group, Foster says, “…give encouragement as often as possible; advice once in a while; reproof, only when absolutely necessary; and judgment, never.”

Means of Grace Schedule

Jan 15-16

May 21-22

August 27-28

November 12-13

All Dates are Friday evening 6:30-9:30 pm, and Saturday 9 am - 4 pm

Register at http://lifeinthetrinityministry.com/calendarviewevent/20930

or call 214-366-3377

In order to provide participants with a comprehensive understanding of the classical spiritual disciplines, Means of Grace will include elements of both Contemplative and Active approaches to spiritual formation:

I. Contemplative Spiritual Life

1. Prayer

2. Centering Prayer

3. Scripture Study

4. Examen (Ignatian)

5. Spiritual Direction and/or Spiritual Formation Group

6. Lectio Divina

7. Silence and Solitude

II. Active Spiritual Life

1. Simplicity

2. Sabbath Keeping

3. Labyrinth and Walking Meditation

4. Bodily Prayer

5. Fasting

6. Reading

7. Service

Each participant will be required to make the following commitments of time and spiritual practice:

1. Daily prayer and spiritual practices (including devotional reading, journaling, etc.)

2. Creation of a ‘sacred space’ for worship in the home

3. Completion of assigned reading each quarter

4. Preparation of a personal ‘order of spiritual life’, to be written at the conclusion of the second year

Participation in two (2) class service projects (one each year