Close to 60 clergy and laypersons attended the You are Leaven Ottawa mini-conference held at St. Clare’s Anglican Church in Winchester, Ont. in the Parish of North Dundas on Jan. 18. It was hosted by the Anglican Diocese of Ottawa in collaboration with the ADO Learning Commons, Saint Paul University’s Anglican Studies Program, and the Anglican Diocese of Montreal.
The mini-conference was organized by both lay and ordained members of the Anglican faith community. It was inspired by a similar four-day retreat “You Are Leaven: Fermenting Cultures of Spiritual Formation,” which was supported by the national church and brought Anglicans from across Canada together in Mississauga, Ont. last April. The one-day “You are Leaven Ottawa” mini-conference featured a wide variety of workshops on three themes — Everyday Spirituality, Practices of Prayer and the Spirituality of Church Operations.
Archdeacon Rhonda Waters said the mini-conference provided an opportunity for people to discover innovative practices to take back to their parishes. She mentioned that the workshop leaders and facilitators from both the clergy and the laity were volunteers who wished to share practices they use to enable spiritual development.
The Rev. Dr. Jonathan Martin, another member of the organizing committee, explained the conference was intended to examine ways that church communities can encourage spiritual development through everyday activities. “God is already present,” he said.
As people arrived at St. Clare’s, they enjoyed a time for light refreshments and socializing before the Rev. Colin McFarland from St. Margaret’s, Vanier in Ottawa called everyone into the opening worship by playing the “Washerwoman of Ireland” on his fiddle.
The morning session on Everyday Spirituality was divided into workshops for smaller groups:
- Pretzels with Auntie Patti – Pattie Robillard shared her family’s Lenten tradition of making pretzels, an ancient symbol representing two arms crossed in prayer
- 10,000 steps for Jesus – Ron Hubbard shared his practice of spiritual walking
- Spiritual Formation through Role Playing Games — the Rev. Geoff Chapman guided participants through a session of Dungeons & Dragons, exploring themes of identity, morality, choices and the joy of imaginative play
- Doodling — the Rev. Fresia Saborio and the Rev. Dr. Neil Mancour of the Diocese of Montreal, explored ways of using paint, crayons and collage, doodling and drawing as a medium for expressions of soul and prayer
- The Creative Connection: Art and Spirituality — Karen Daley’s group explored arts and crafts as an expression of prayer, study of scripture, and focused thought
*Editor’s update: In case you missed this event, Julian of Norwich is hosting a mini mini-conference, Spiritual Dimensions, with some similar sessions on April 5.
Heather Mallett, a parishioner at St. Thomas the Apostle in Ottawa, facilitates creativity workshops herself and told Crosstalk she was especially interested in learning “different ways to meld creativity and spirituality.”
The Rev. Fresia Saborio said people are able to connect with the Divine and the Sacred in more ways than can be imagined, with shapes, colours and forms used to make the connection.
The design of St. Clare’s lends itself to events such as this with the various areas of the church and technical equipment used for different groups and activities. Registration, coffee breaks and lunch as well as workshops were held in the hall, with other workshops using smaller spaces of meeting rooms, the Memorial Chapel, Nave, and the kitchen.
The other morning session Practices of Prayer was divided into four workshops.
- Introduction to Contemplative Prayer Practices – The Rev. Canon Kevin Flynn offered a brief overview of the variety of contemplative practices with a focus on yoga.
- Spiritual Autobiography – The Rev. Mark Lewis and the Rev. Pat Martin offered participants a tool to help consider the critical moments in their lives and faith journeys
- Gospel-Based Discipleship – The Rev. Ben Stuchbery shared a highly adaptable prayer practice from the Indigenous church, which anchors people’s common life in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus through a shared engagement with a passage from the gospels.
- Praying with Music – Joshua Zentner-Barrett led an exploration of the spirituality of music in worship, engaging with psalms, short songs, instruments, and more.
After the whole group gathered together for lunch and some social time, they again broke into smaller groups for the Spirituality of Church Operations workshops:
- Shaped by the Altar Guild – Meghan Kitt led a group exploring expressions of beauty, hospitality, inclusion, and devotion in the altar guild and its work.
- Sacred Hospitality – The Rev. Dr. Jon Martin introduced the founding principles of sacred hospitality and the challenge to be open to the transformation that comes from genuine engagement and connection to the world around us.
- Change as Spiritual Formation – Archdeacon Rhonda Waters led a group exploring ways to respond to change in spiritually life-giving ways for both individuals and parishes.
- Spiritual Formation for Pastoral Caregivers — The Rev. Canon Hilary Murray led a group exploring the Divine call and how it is actualized through pastoral care and ways that it can deepen spiritual formation and one’s relationship with God.
The day ended with everyone coming together for a closing worship service with Joshua Zentner-Barrett leading them in music and even a small foray into dance.
Dr. Sarah Johnson, director of Anglican Studies at St. Paul University, reflected on the day’s aims and activities in a homily. Reminding those gathered that the church is not its buildings, it is made of people listening to and filled with the Holy Spirit. “Our aim today was not to become educated in strategies and techniques. Our aim was to share with one another how the Spirit is forming us through scripture and prayer and song, through … writing and drawing, through role playing and pretzel making and more. Our aim was to receive from one another practices that we can bring back to our own communities that nurture openness to the work of the Spirit within us, among us and beyond us.”
With files from Leigh Anne Williams
Saint John, Innisville — Deanery of the Southwest