Here in North America it’s the end of summer. Bees are still buzzing in my garden, pollinating the last of the summer crops and the new flowers emerging on the fall/winter crops. MSA/Godspace also continues to buzz.
For those of you that follow our Godspace Community Blog, you’ve probably noticed that, although Christine has officially retired from her Director of MSA job, she has not retired from writing. I’m excited and a bit relieved that Christine will continue writing her Monday Meditations as well as prayers which show up on our various Facebook pages.
Christine and I are also in discussion about how to revamp our two main workshops and find new ways to lead, and co-lead, and bring updated ideas and content to those who attend. We’re still looking for catchy titles for these workshops, so if you’ve attended “The Spirituality of Gardening” or one of our creative spiritual practices workshops or retreats in the past and have some ideas, we’d love to hear from you. Currently our working titles are “Gardening with God and Neighbor” and “Cultivating Effective Spiritual Practices for Personal and Community Transformation”.
Upcoming Speaking Engagements
Andy and Christine will be in Surry, British Columbia on Saturday, October 15th presenting “Creating Gardens of Hospitality” at A Rocha B.C. From there we head south to Tacoma, where we’ll be presenting at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church’s Celtic Faire on Sunday at 3:30pm. The Celtic Faire is actually going on all weekend, so if you’re in the area, you’ll probably want to check that out.
Tom is busy as ever with his new book, Live Like You Give a Damn! Join the Changemaking Celebration. Two weeks ago he was at the national Christian Community Development Association (CCDA) convention in Los Angeles. Last week he attended the SOCAP (Social Capital Markets) convention and held a “Live Like You Give a Damn!” event at Grace Fellowship Community Church, in San Francisco.
Next month Tom will be at Missions Fest Seattle on October 8th, and then in the Twin Cities at Colonial Church to connect with their exciting program, Innove, a community entrepreneurial competition for young folks to “create social and cultural betterment”. While in the Twin Cities Tom will also be connecting with United Seminary as well as Intervarsity Christian Fellowship.
Praying with Creation
New prayer cards, “Praying with Creation” are ready to ship! This new set is printed on heavy stock with a glossy finish, which really makes the images pop. I love nature, and discovering new ways to focus on creation in giving glory to God has been a fun and exciting adventure.
Looking Ahead
The Godspace Community Blog has been buzzing. This month’s theme, “The Prayerful Imagination: Praying Creatively for More Meaningful Connections with God and Others” has really taken off. We’ve had a wide variety of posts from all over the world including many new prayer practices that really engage the imagination.
“Living into the Shalom of God” is our theme for October. We’ll be exploring what this looks like in a variety of contexts and would value your contribution. If you’ve not joined us as a writer on the blog, take a minute to see what it means on our writer’s FAQ page. You can write just one post, an ocassional post, or become one of our regular contributors.
Featured Authors for October include:
- Leroy Barber and his new book, Embrace
- Brenda Salter McNeil and her new book, Roadmap to Reconciliation
- Soong-Chan Rah and his newest book, Prophetic Lament
Expect great things in October!
Looking Further Ahead on Godspace Community Blog
November is a great time to start preparing for Advent and Christmas — Not preparing by decorating and buying a lot of stuff we don’t really need, but by “Preparing our Hearts and Homes for Advent and Christmas” (our theme that month) so that it doesn’t end up a whirlwind of stress, busyness, and anxiety.
We’re going to take a little different approach on the blog in November, choosing to focus on specific sub-themes for each week. Here’s a little foretaste to whet your appetite and, for you writers, get you thinking ahead about how you would like to contribute:
- Week 1: Overcoming Consumerism — resisting the drive for more
- Week 2: Resting in Chaos — How to create space for rest when the world is whipped up into a frenzy.
- Week 4: Making Space for Hospitality — Ideas for gatherings of welcome and moments of connecting.
- Week 5: The Beginning of Advent…
Our December Advent theme this year is “Entering the World with Jesus: Looking for Jesus in all the right places”. How do we do that? We’re planning to explore what that means, what it looks like, in very specific places. Again, we’ll focus on weekly sub-themes:
- Week 1: …in our home
- Week 2: …in our neighborhood
- Week 3: …in our city
- Week 4: …in our world
As you can see, there are a lot of great things heading our way! What really excites me about all of this is that our little team at MSA/Godspace isn’t creating all of the content from perpsectives limited by our small staff, but we are connected through our ever-growing community of writers from all over the world. And, just in case you missed it before, we’re always looking to expand that community of writers. If you think you might be interested, or maybe just want to try writing one post to see how it goes, please check out our writer’s FAQ page then drop us an email to find out more.
Please continue to pray:
- For our board of directors as they help us walk through this important time of transition and discernment.
- For Gil George’s continued healing following a bicycle accident in July. We’re grateful for healing that’s already come, for new front teeth, and that he’s back editing and posting our blog contributions for Godspace.
- For our upcoming travels and speaking engagements.
- For Christine and Tom as they navigate the changes in their lives.
- And for me as I continue to adjust to my new role as Director.
Together creating pathways of Shalom,
Andy Wade
Director
Mustard Seed Associates // Godspace
You Make it All Possible!
At MSA//Godspace we work hard to make sure every dollar is well spent and not wasted, but the truth of the matter is that your support is critical to the ongoing ministry of this unique community.
So let me keep this short and to the point: Please take a moment now to send in your financial contribution to continue to make this work possible.
You can GIVE ONLINE or mail a check to:
PO Box 45867
Seattle, WA 98145
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