October 27-28
“To be made of God is to be made of sacred imagination. It is to have the capacity to dream our way into new beginnings, in our lives and in our world”- John Philip Newell
A Dappling Light
Friday, October 27 | 7-9 pm
St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church
An evening with the Celtic teacher John Philip Newell in which he shares his own spiritual journey in relation to the great search for beginnings today.
Sacred Earth Sacred Soul
Saturday, October 28 | 9 am – 12 pm
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church
A morning of teaching and spiritual practice with John Philip Newell and his colleague Cami Twilling, exploring the main themes of his award-winning book Sacred Earth Sacred Soul: Celtic Wisdom for Reawakening to What Our Souls Know and Healing the World.
Hebridean Treasure
Saturday, October 28 | 6:30 – 8:30 pm
First Presbyterian Church
A screening of the film version of this live stage performance with a time for reflection and conversation to follow.
John Philip Newell
John Philip Newell is a Celtic teacher and author of spirituality who calls the modern world to reawaken to the sacredness of Earth and every human being.
Canadian by birth, and a citizen also of Scotland, he resides with his family in Edinburgh and works on both sides of the Atlantic. In 2016 he began the School of Earth and Soul and teaches regularly in the United States and Canada as well as leading international pilgrimage weeks on Iona in the Western Isles of Scotland.
His PhD is from the University of Edinburgh and he has authored over fifteen books. His latest award-winning publication, Sacred Earth Sacred Soul, was the 2022 Gold Winner of the Nautilus Book Award for Spirituality and Religious Thought of the West. In 2022 he received the Sacred Universe Award from the Well Center for Spirituality in Chicago in recognition of his significant work in furthering humanity’s relationship with the sacredness of Earth.
Newell speaks of himself as ‘a wandering teacher’ following the ancient path of many lone teachers before him in the Celtic world, seeking the wellbeing of the world. He has been described as having ‘the heart of a Celtic bard and the mind of a Celtic scholar’, combining in his teachings the poetic and the intellectual, the head as well as the heart, and spiritual awareness as well as political and ecological concern.
Cami Twilling
Cami Twilling, based in Colorado, is the Director of Earth & Soul (a Celtic initiative of study, spiritual practice and compassionate action inspired by the teachings of John Philip New-ell). As well as heading up the overall work of Earth & Soul, she facilitates the spiritual practice component of the School of Earth & Soul. Previously she was the head of Contemplative Spirituality and Youth Ministry at Trinity UMC in downtown Denver. She has studied meditation in the Tibetan Buddhist Tradition of Shambhala and received Spiritual Direction certification from the Hesychia School of Spiritual Direction in Tucson, Arizona. In addition to leading mountain and urban retreats, she has led international pilgrimage groups to Iona in the Western Isles of Scotland and work teams to Guatemala to build houses in communities that have suffered from political strife and economic hardship. Cami is passionate about the relationship between spirituality and action and believes that spiritual vision and practice can play a vital role in helping to heal and transform our lives both individually and together.