Prayer and Meditation Series at the Church of the Good...

CHURCHOFTHEGOODSHEPHERD,ROSEMONT,PA

TheChurchoftheGoodShepherd,1116LancasterAvenue(LancasteratMontroseAve.),Rosemont/BrynMawr,PA,announcesaLentencourse:

PrayerandMeditationSeriesattheChurchoftheGoodShepherd,Rosemont

TaughtbyHeidiScheer,StevensHeckscher,Obl.OSB,withSisterTeresaIrene,OCD,andSisterBarbara,OCD.

DoyouwishyoucouldreallyprayandconversewithGod,buthaveneverknownhow?

Doyouseeothersprayingbuthavenorealideawhatitistheyaredoing?F

DoyoufeelthatGodisimpossiblydistant,butwishyoucouldreachHim?

Contemplativeprayer,oftencalledmeditation,isawaytocomeclosetoGodthathasstoodthetestoftwothousandyearsofChristianexperience.

ContemplativePrayerasunderstoodintheeverancientandevernewChristianTradition,isasimplewayoflisteningtoGodandcomingtoknowHim.

During Lent 2017, the Church of the Good Shepherd in Rosemont (Bryn Mawr), PA, isoffering a series of weekly classes designed for beginners, and also for moreexperienced persons, to deepen their relationships with God through contemplativeprayerandmeditation. Thiscoursewillbe taughtbytwohighlyexperiencedteachersofprayer and meditation: Heidi Scheer and Benedictine Oblate Stevens Heckscher, withopeningandconcludingworkshops ledbyCarmeliteSistersTeresa IreneandBarbaraoftheEpiscopalCarmelofSt.Teresa.

Hereistheformatplannedforthisseries:

• Saturday,March4,2017,from10AMto1PM,endingwithHolyEucharist:Workshop,aninvitationtocontemplativeprayer,tobeledbytwoSistersoftheEpiscopalCarmelofSt.TeresainRisingSun,MD,SisterTeresaIrene,OCD,andSisterBarbara,OCD.

• SubsequentTuesdays,March7,14,21,and28,andApril4,2017;from7to8:30PM,ledbyHeidiScheerandStevensHeckscher:Thefollowingsubjectswillbecovered,withinstructionandactualpractice:

1. March7:TaizéPrayerwithchantsusedbytheTaizémonasteryinFrance.HeidiScheer.

2. March14:Systematicexercisestodeepenmeditationandprayer.HeidiScheer.

3. March21:LectioDivina:UsingtheBibleinprayer.StevensHeckscher.4. March28:CenteringPrayer.StevensHeckscherandHeidiScheer.5. April4:TheJesusPrayer.StevensHeckscher.

• Saturday,April8,2017,from10AMto1PM,endingwithHolyEucharist:

ConcludingworkshopprovidedbytheSistersTeresaIreneandBarbara:Wrappingitallup.

AllsessionswillbeheldattheChurchoftheGoodShepherd,andareFREEandopentoall.Ifyoucannotattendtheearliersessions,youwillstillbenefitfromattendingthelaterones.Knowthatyouwillbewelcometoanyandall!

ABOUTTHELEADERS:

StevensHeckscherholdsadoctorateinmathematicsfromHarvardUniversity,hastaughtscienceatRutgersUniversity,SwarthmoreCollege,andtheUniversityofPennsylvania.Heis a graduate of the two-year Spiritual Guidance Program of the Shalem Institute forSpiritualFormationinWashington,DC,andisanexperiencedSpiritualDirector. HeisanOblate of St. Gregory’s Abbey, an Episcopal Benedictine monastery in Three Rivers,Michigan,and iscurrentlycompletingabiographyof themodernEnglishmysticDorothyKerin.

Heidi Scheerhas stayed at themonastery of Taizé, France,while its Prior, Frère RogerSchütz,wasstillliving.Inadditiontothis,shehasattendedmanyTaizéPrayermeetingsinlocal churches in Europe and in the United States. Heidi Scheer has received intensivetraininginmonasteriesandretreatcenterssince1999.Shepossessesextensiveknowledgein practice and teaching of different styles of meditation, including Vipassana(mindfulness), Jhana (deep concentration), and Yoga Nidra (body scan, mantra, andvisualization). Over the course of several years, she was also taught the method ofCentering Prayer. In recent years, Heidi Scheer has led small and larger groups inMeditation,inYoga,andinHealing.

SisterTeresaIreneOCDisanunofEpiscopalCarmelofSaintTeresa.SheisaRegisteredNurse, having graduated from Miami University of Ohio and Virginia CommonwealthUniversity. She studiedPastoralMinistry at SaintThomasUniversity and completed theEducationforMinistrycoursefromtheUniversityoftheSouthinSewanee,Tennessee.Sheis a graduate of the Spiritual Guidance Program of the Shalem Institute and is anexperienced Spiritual Director. She spent several years testing her call to life as acontemplativenunwiththeSistersoftheLoveofGodinOxford,England.SheisalifelongEpiscopalian.

SisterBarbaraOCDisanunofEpiscopalCarmelofSaintTeresa.SheisaformermemberoftheEpiscopalOrderofSaintAnneandhasbeenanEpiscopalPriestforalmost28years.She served parishes in Utah and Alaska before fulfilling a lifelong dream of becoming aCarmelite. She joined theAnglican Church of Canada as a teenager, graduated from theUniversity of British Columbia, and later, from the Vancouver School of Theology. ShecurrentlyservesasVocationsDirectorforCarmelandteachesaboutContemplativePrayer.