By Christine Hall IF WE CARE ABOUT vibrant, transformative faith communities, how do we help it happen? That’s the ideal we foster in Way of the Spirit—an 18 month program for learning and spiritual growth from Quaker spirituality. Over the years, we’ve taken up the...
Christine Hall’s Blog
Blackberries & Burning Bushes: The Holy in the Ordinary
Earth’s crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God;
But only he who sees, takes off his shoes,
The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries…
—From ‘Aurora Leigh’ Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861)
“The Same Spirit”— Bridging Theological Divides
By Christine Hall RECENT TRAVELS BROUGHT ME FACE TO FACE with people who think and talk about God very differently than me or my little Quaker meeting on Whidbey Island, in Washington State. There were different expressions, songs, and theological emphases, yet I...
Self, Spirit, and the Inner Journey of Advent
MANY OF US WERE TAUGHT TO MISTRUST OUR OWN SOULS or at best to minimize our inner lives in faith. Go to church, know the Bible, and be kind to others... Instead, I’m reflecting on Advent as a profound inner journey of hope and joyful promise. Will you join me? We...
BYO”E” — Bring Your Own Experience
What makes Way of the Spirit so profound for participants? In part, it's the approach I've tried to describe below. Is this for someone you know? THE WAY OF THE SPIRIT APPROACH to retreats and spiritual growth is "experiential". The specifics of one's experience,...
A Good Question for “God-Language”
By Christine Hall A FRIEND BICYCLED 2,700 MILES THIS SUMMER along the Continental Divide. In a newspaper feature piece, she described a key question that carried her through the challenges: "When doing endurance races, I have a question I ask myself when I want to...
A Dog Playing Frisbee, Synchronicity, and Grace
WHAT TO MAKE OF AN ODD OVERLAPPING of circumstance? When these things happen (and they DO) I often wonder who I'll tell. Who would believe me, or "get" the meaning I make of it all? A summer story is just too fun to keep quiet about. Imagine me praying on a beach....
Way of the Spirit: Fuel for Faith in Action
By Christine Hall, Director of Way of the Spirit Spiritual retreats are powerful opportunities to cultivate our best intentions for a life of faith, and help to grow the kind of courage needed to act as led by the Spirit. Strengthen our best intentions Retreats are...
Invisible Ministry: Spiritual Accompaniment in Two Voices
by Christine Betz Hall and Becky Wood W hat Else is God Doing Among Us? —Chris Not the people whose words flow easily and often in worship. Not the teachers who open hearts to new ideas and ways of living faithfully. Not the prophets who beckon us forward into scary...
The Transformer — Not Child’s Play
by Christine Hall M aybe you've seen those mechanical toys that change shape from robots to planes or cars with the shifting of a few pieces? What I’ve seen in participants in the Way of the Spirit program is transformation that’s deep and lasting, no plastic hinges...