Information Session and Invitation to Explore Group Spiritual Direction with Lydia Mercado

I invite you to explore Group Spiritual Direction (GSD), which has been for me an important way of relating to and connecting with others who seek a deeper and honest relationship with God.

In Group Spiritual Direction five to six people gather on a regular basis to assist one another in an ongoing awareness and responsiveness to God. Members commit themselves to an honest relationship with God, participate wholeheartedly in the group process through prayerful listening and response, and open their spiritual journeys for consideration by others. GSD groups will meet monthly for 6 sessions.

If this opportunity warms your heart or stirs your curiosity, please consider attending the information session on Sunday, January 22, 2023, from 11:30 am to 12:30 pm in the Norwood Room. If you have questions, do not hesitate to reach out to me at by e-mail.

Blessings,

Lydia E. Mercado

ABOUT LYDIA

In September 2019, I moved from Northern Virginia to Richmond to be closer to my daughter and her family. The aim of my career in the private sector and government as a city planner was to put food on the table and raise and educate my daughter. Once that phase of life ebbed and I retired, I fully embraced my calling to a ministry of contemplative prayer and spiritual direction of individuals and groups. I was able to cultivate this calling over many years through a Master of Divinity from Andover Newton Seminary, Shalem Institute of Spiritual Formation, and Richmond Hill’s RUAH Spiritual Guidance Program. I was raised in Puerto Rico and Massachusetts. My father was an American Baptist pastor, New Testament professor and president of Seminario Evangélico de Puerto Rico. My mother was a former missionary, teacher, and nurse.

I find that group spiritual direction opens me to see “that of God” in every person, as well as appreciate the sacredness and uniqueness of every person. It is a holy privilege to support each other as we commit to an honest relationship with God and open our daily spiritual journeys for prayerful reflection by others. Sometimes others can sense God’s presence in my journey when I don’t.

We are currently full. CLICK HERE to put your name on the waitlist.

Annual Parish Retreat at Shrine Mont in Orkney Springs, VA from May 5th – May 7th, 2023.

Join us! This is a time when all are welcome to join us for a weekend in the mountains. The Rev. William Bradley Roberts D.M.A. (bio below) will be leading our programming, “Music, Icons, and the Contemplative Life.” There will be plenty of opportunities for fellowship and spending time in nature with one another- not to mention sharing meals! We have 100 spots available.

CLICK HERE to put your name on the waitlist

SCHOLARSHIPS
Limited financial assistance is available, please make sure to register and indicate in the additional questions section that you need a SCHOLARSHIP and choose “pay in person” or “pay with check” when completing your registration. Rev. Keli will follow up regarding assistance.

REGISTRATION COSTS
Adult and Youth (14+ yrs) (Shared Room): $215/ person
Adult and Youth (14+ yrs) (Individual Room): $275/ person
Children (4-13 yrs): $100
Children 3 and under: Free
There is a family cost cap (for two generations) of $650 which will be applied when the registration is completed.

FACILITATOR BIO – Rev. Bill Roberts
The Rev. William Bradley Roberts, DMA, is professor emeritus of church music at Virginia Theological Seminary. Prior to VTS, Bill was an Episcopal church musician for over thirty-five years. He is a composer, primarily of choral music, and author of the book Music and Vital Congregations. He and his husband David Hoover moved to Richmond three years ago, when Bill retired from VTS, in order to be nearer their son Seth Roberts, M.D., and his family. Bill does frequent workshops around the country and conducts the professional choral group Vox Humana, but his favorite area is helping others connect with the Holy Spirit in meditation.

LOCATION – Shrine Mont Conference and Retreat Center
Shrine Mont is a conference and retreat center located in Orkney Springs, a community in western Shenandoah County, Virginia. With accommodations for up to 550 people, we offer groups as well as individuals fun things to do, beautiful places to explore and abundant hospitality. At our heart is the Cathedral Shrine of the Transfiguration, the Cathedral of the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia with public services held at 11:00 on Sundays from early April through mid-November. From workshops, conferences and music festivals, to family reunions and family vacations, parish weekends or an individual retreat, Shrine Mont is a great destination year around! (https://shrinemont.com/)

If you have questions about retreat programming, logistics and lodging contact Rev. Keli Shipley Cooper at 804-545-5405 or by e-mail. If you have any questions or need help with registration, contact Sarah Nolan at 804-545-5407 or by email.

Join St. Paul’s parishioners Dr. Christine Luckritz Marquis and Dr. David Coogan as they co-facilitate our monthly Faith and Culture Conversations. We invite speakers who have experience with pressing issues in our community and nation, discussing them through the lenses of faith and culture.

January Topic: Faith, Culture, and Incarceration Justice | Voices of Jubilee

Featured Speaker(s): Rev. Lauren Ramseur and Rev. Ashley Diaz Mejias (see bios below).

ONLINE ONLY – CLICK HERE to REGISTER.

OUR CONVERSATION PARTNER(s):

Voices of Jubilee is a new worshipping community of hope and liberation accompanying incarcerated youth and their families in central Virginia: www.voicesofjubilee.org.

Rev. Lauren Ramseur is a Co-Pastor of the Voices of Jubilee along with Rev. Ashley Diaz Mejias. She has served as a pastor for over 20 years in a variety of contexts. She has served as pastor to men on Georgia’s death row and has been deeply involved in the death penalty abolition movement. She is a restorative justice practitioner and serves on the board of the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy and Rise for Youth. Lauren and her husband Doug are the parents of two children. She is a graduate of James Madison University and Candler School of Theology at Emory University.

Rev. Ashley Diaz Mejias co-pastors the Voices of Jubilee, a new worshipping community accompanying incarcerated youth and their families in central Virginia. Ashley also works with the Richmond Community Bail Fund and lives in Richmond with her husband and three daughters.

For some, Christmas can be a painful, difficult, and lonely time of year because of the recent loss of a loved one or painful memories. The Liturgy of the Longest Night, also known as “Blue Christmas,” is symbolically held on the Winter Solstice (December 21st). This service creates a sacred space to lift up our grief and lament to God as we wait together in hope and longing for the Eternal Word Made Flesh to be born anew in our weary hearts and world. Please join us for this special service of Holy Eucharist that will include candle lighting and healing prayers with oil.

Liturgy of the Longest Night | December 21 @ 7 PM | Service Leaflet

Join us for a beautiful choral liturgy, which includes scripture readings alternating between carols and hymns, preparing the way for Christmas.

A festive reception will be held after the service. Childcare will be available.

In-person and live-streamed.

In 1934, sixteen years after he had introduced to King’s College, Cambridge the Festival of Lessons and Carols for Christmas Eve, Dean Eric Milner-White, composed a further service, a service of Advent Lessons and Carols. This move was brought about by his concern for more imaginative forms of worship. The new service was so well suited to the Chapel that Lydia Lopokova (ballerina and wife of John Maynard Keynes, then of King’s) commented ‘Now we know why the Dean is such a lover of ballet: he is the best choreographer of us all.’
Milner-White wrote of it: “In the old English liturgies, the Advent Offices made a preparation for the coming of our Lord to this earth far more vivid and eager than those of our present Prayer book. The purpose of the service is not to celebrate Christmas, but to expect it.”

The liturgy alternates lessons from the Old and the New Testaments with carols and hymns, finally climaxing in St. Matthew’s Gospel, in which the angel brings the news that Mary will bring forth a son, “and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.”

Join St. Paul’s parishioners Dr. Christine Luckritz Marquis and Dr. David Coogan as they co-facilitate our monthly Faith and Culture Conversations. We invite speakers who have experience with pressing issues in our community and nation, discussing them through the lenses of faith and culture.

December Topic: Faith, Culture, and Affordable Housing: Maggie Walker Community Land Trust

Featured Speaker(s): Erica Sims (see bios below).

This will occur in person with a possible live stream option. Conversations will last approximately an hour. Light refreshments are available before and after the conversation. CLICK HERE to RSVP.

OUR CONVERSATION PARTNER(s):

Erica Sims, Chief Executive Officer, Maggie Walker Land Trust

The Maggie Walker Community Land Trust (MWCLT) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that seeks to develop and maintain permanently affordable homeownership opportunities for low and moderate-income households and to foster racially equitable communities.

Erica Sims has worked in the non-profit management, affordable housing development and community organizing fields for over 17 years. Her focus has been on social and economic justice through housing and economic development. Ms. Sims has held private sector, nonprofit and government roles and has overseen the development of over 2,500 units of affordable housing and 50,000 square feet of commercial development space in new construction and renovation projects. Prior to joining HDAdvisors in 2017, she acted as Deputy Executive Director of Mutual Housing Association of New York, an non-profit affordable housing developer, owner and manager with a portfolio over 1,500 units of affordable housing. She received a Bachelor’s in Economics and a Bachelor’s in Urban Planning from the University of Michigan and a Masters of Business Administration from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Want to know more about arranging flowers? Howard Wells, head of the Flower Guild, will hold a hands-on workshop on flower arranging in the Atrium (in the Parish Hall) on Saturday, November 5, from 10:00-12:00. Howard will have flowers and materials ready for you to use; bring clippers if you have a pair. The results of your work will be used to decorate the church for the next day, our All Saints Day celebration. Come learn more about Howard’s “secret” techniques, meet other flower lovers, enjoy a light breakfast, and help prepare the church for Sunday worship. The deadline to reserve a spot is Monday, October 31. Please email Lindy Wright.