Young Contemplatives

An exciting group of young adults has come together to learn spiritual practices that lead to lives centered in God and from that place, to go about loving family, enjoying friends, and working and serving in the community. The Young Contemplatives meet monthly, September through May, to deepen their personal journey to God and make connections with other young adults. Dinner and childcare provided.

Please use the form below to sign-up. This helps us plan and connect with you before the study starts.

Come Join the Group

Consider making plans to spend the Second Monday evening of each month from 6 to 7:30 p.m. with a group of people who share a similar desire. For the fall we'll be meeting via Zoom!

You might want to attend if you are:
 ... a spiritual seeker
... desiring to improve your faith life,
     connection, and practices
... trying to find your way to the next step in your life
... wanting to live spiritually healthier each day
... interested in improving the outlook and quality of your life

The Other Side of Chaos

From satisfying work to sudden unemployment. From a happy marriage to a hurtful divorce. From caring for the kids to caring for an aging parent. These are just a few of the countless ways that life hurls us into the chaos of change, where our certainties are shaken and our faith may even begin to falter. But what if we saw the chaos—the “mess”—of our lives not as something to fear or eschew, but as something to be embraced?
 
In The Other Side of Chaos, best-selling author Margaret Silf looks closely at the subject of chaos—and the intrinsic transition it brings—through the lens of Christian spirituality. Through Scripture stories and verses, personal accounts, and other anecdotes, Silf helps us develop an authentic “spirituality of transition” that leads us to live out life’s changes constructively, creatively, and confidently.
 
Ultimately, The Other Side of Chaos gives us the courage to trust God when life is breaking down and to see our messes not as something to be rescued from, but as something that will help us break through to a place where God makes all things new.

Upcoming Schedule

YOUNG CONTEMPLATIVES meet on the Second Monday of the month, as follows:
​Sept 21st (Third Monday)- 6:00pm
Oct 12th- 6:00pm
Nov 9th- 6:00pm
Dec 14th- 6:00pm
Jan 11th- 6:00pm
Feb 8th- 6:00pm
March 8th- 6:00pm
April 12th- ​6:00pm

What is a Contemplative?

We often associate prayer with the words we say.  Contemplative prayer—a contemplative life—is a way of being with God that does not depend on giving the Holy One information about what we would like done in the world.  Just as friends can enjoy one another without conversation, a contemplative life is a way of being with God without wordiness.  Contemplatives rest and wait.  Keeping our hearts alert and awake to the presence of God and God’s Word, we listen.

The life of a contemplative requires patience, but it is not the heavy work that intercession can sometimes be.  It can even be light, playful, tender and joyful.  In a world given to activity and work, a contemplative life is peace filled—a life lived in God and God in us, attentive to God’s leading in the everyday events that make up our lives. 

A contemplative life need not be a mystical experience; it is far more likely to be a restful experience of Christ dwelling in me.

Life makes it evident that what we think about shapes us.  Saints throughout the ages have trusted that contemplating the truth, beauty and goodness of God ultimately shapes and changes their souls.  Interior transformation is the fruit of a contemplative life.

Are you a young adult?

For more than seventeen years, Spiritual Transformation Ministry has gathered people from our church, our neighborhood, and our community across denominational lines to explore how to live a life attentive to God—a contemplative life.  Six years ago, we extended a special invitation to emerging contemplatives—those young adults who desired to come together to explore what a contemplative life might look like in a contemporary world; to develop a receptive posture of openness toward God; and to be formed and transformed by the Spirit so that their attitudes, actions and decisions come from a place of spiritual maturity and trust.  There was a resoundingly positive response.  If this is what you seek, please join us. 

All young adults are welcome!

Contact:  Michael Beckmann, Youth and Family Director at (319) 365-1494, michaelb@firstlutherancr.org.