Contemplative spiritual formation appears to be making its way into every church denomination, including the Christian & Missionary Alliance in Canada…
In a CMA article called Books that Make you Think – A perspective and some suggestions to help you decide what to read next (cmalliance.ca), the author (Larry Thiessen) shares with readers “a short list of some of the books that have been classics for me in the sense that they changed my thinking. These are books that are worth reading more than once.” Included in this list are:
–Answering God – Eugene Peterson
–Sacred Journey – Frederick Buechner
–Divine Conspiracy – Dallas Willard
These authors all play a part in the contemplative movement, as shown here:
EUGENE PETERSON, THE MESSAGE AND CONTEMPLATIVE PRAYER
http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/themessage.htm
Dallas Willard is a major promoter of the contemplative movement.
http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/dallaswillard.htm
DALLAS WILLARD ENCOURAGES CONTEMPLATIVE/CENTERING PRAYER
http://apprising.org/2008/05/27/dallas-willard-encourages-contemplativecentering-prayer/
The Dangers of Spiritual Formation and Spiritual Disciplines
A Critique of Dallas Willard and The Spirit of the Disciplines
by Bob DeWaay
http://cicministry.org/commentary/issue91.htm
If that is not enough, the CMA in Canada also partners with (see here) the Clergy Care Network, a ministry based out of Focus on the Family Canada.
This month they are promoting Kerith Creek, a retreat center for pastors that uses the contemplative materials of Peter Scazzero. On the Clergy Care main page you can click on an article about this called The pastor’s need to rest and retreat.
The author of this article, Jerry Ritskes, together with his wife, is the director for Focus on the Family Canada’s Kerith Creek renewal and retreat centre. In the article he refers to an invitation to the contemplative practice of silence and solitude from Ruth Haley Barton, former associate director of spiritual formation at Willow Creek:
“I love the word-picture Ruth Haley Barton gives us in Invitation to Silence and Solitude. Our lives are like a jar of river water – agitated and murky. As soon as you stop moving the jar and let it sit, the sediment begins to settle and it becomes clearer. When we take time for quiet, the sediment in our lives begins to settle, and the things God is trying to tell us becomes clearer.”
–focusonthefamily.ca
This is a very telling statement about the direction Focus on the Family’s Kerith Creek will be taking pastors. The contemplative Barton has gleaned her contemplative/Eastern spirituality from Tilden Edwards, being trained through the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation:
What Do They Believe and Teach?
“This mystical stream [contemplative prayer] is the Western bridge to Far Eastern spirituality … It is no accident that the most active frontier between Christian and Eastern religions today is between contemplative Christian monks and their Eastern equivalents.” —Tilden Edwards, Shalem Founder
From: Ruth Haley Barton and Contemplative Prayer
http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/ruthhaleybarton.htm
Note: Also see: WHO IS RUTH HALEY BARTON?
http://apprising.org/2008/09/17/who-is-ruth-haley-barton/
Also on the same Focus on the Family Canada Clergy Care page is the link to a Christianity Today article called Skimming by Peter Scazzero, in which he refers to the Desert Fathers and contemplative practices such as solitude.
As anyone can see, by recommending the above contemplative resources, the Christian and Missionary Alliance in Canada is definitely just one more of many denominations now leading their congregations and pastors across the bridge over the great muddy stream of contemplative spiritual formation.
Also see:
Muddy Spirituality at Circle Drive
*See which other ministries are now promoting spiritual formation here.
UPDATE:
PETER SCAZZERO BRINGING ROME HOME TO HIS CHURCH
http://apprising.org/2010/10/01/peter-scazzero-bringing-rome-home-to-his-church/
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