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    Journeys with Celtic Christians Leader Guide
    Journeys with Celtic Christians Leader Guide
    Journeys with Celtic Christians Leader Guide
    Ebook95 pages1 hour

    Journeys with Celtic Christians Leader Guide

    By Rodney Newman

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    About this ebook

    “The early Christians of Ireland developed an expression of the faith characterized by deep devotion and fascinating stories,” Newman said. “It offers rich insights for modern issues such as promoting a caring society, relating to the natural world and welcoming strangers.”

    Writers often use the metaphor of journey or pilgrimage to describe the Christian life. What distinguishes this book and its development of that theme is its invitation to readers to experience their personal faith journeys through Celtic lenses. Pilgrimage is part of the DNA of Celtic Christians. The faith spread and flourished in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and Northern England between the 5th and 11th centuries because saints like Patrick, Brigid, and Columba traveled extensively, preaching, teaching, and founding monasteries. Soon small groups of Christians began to go out from these locations and begin new Christian communities.

    By connecting historical information with their current lives and concerns, readers will be encouraged to consider the many ways pilgrimage has shaped their personal faith. They will discover the value and contributions of fellow travelers on the faith journey and how they assist and shape that journey. By recalling how Celtic Christians celebrated and marked significant moments in their lives of faith, readers will discover ways they can develop this practice. They will affirm the importance of both offering and receiving hospitality on the faith journey, a discipline that was critical to the Celts. They will also have opportunities to deal with difficult life journeys such as transitions and opportunities for forgiveness, and the importance of blessing one another in a world that values polarization over cooperation and competition over community. With an introduction that sets the tone and introduces the theme and six chapters related to distinctives of Celtic Christianity, this book is ideal for small groups whose members want to grow together in their spiritual understandings and commitments.

    The Leader Guide is designed to help lead small groups. It includes questions for reflection and additional prompts aimed to guide both personal contemplation and group discussion.



    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAbingdon Press
    Release dateSep 15, 2015
    ISBN9781501800672
    Journeys with Celtic Christians Leader Guide
    Author

    Rodney Newman

    Rodney Newman holds degrees from the University of Tulsa and Princeton Theological Seminary. He has served as associate pastor and senior pastor in United Methodist churches in Oklahoma City, Tulsa, and Purcell, Oklahoma. He joined the staff at Oklahoma City University in June of 2007 where he provides pastoral care and teaches on Celtic Christianity. He has been featured on Huffington Post. A native of Coweta, Oklahoma, he lives in Oklahoma City with his wife and children.

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      Book preview

      Journeys with Celtic Christians Leader Guide - Rodney Newman

      Chapter 1

      Embarking on the Journey

      Planning the Session

      Chapter Highlights

      1. The ancient Celts were a tribal people who migrated from Central Europe to Ireland, Scotland, and Wales over the course of many years.

      2. The first Christians in Ireland were probably slaves and merchants; rapid growth occurred among the Irish beginning in the fifth century.

      3. Ireland was a rural island, while Christianity was originally an urban religion.

      4. Christianity did not come to Celtic lands through Roman occupation, allowing more adaptation of the preexisting local culture.

      5. Christians in Celtic lands practiced pilgrimage as a spiritual discipline in order to spread the gospel and to seek a closer relationship with God.

      6. We can gain insight from the Celtic Christians on how to navigate our own spiritual journeys.

      Essential Question

      What can we learn from the Celtic Christian practice of pilgrimage that will provide guidance for our own spiritual journeys?

      Session Goals

      1. Examine the identity of the Celtic people and the distinctive way they expressed Christianity.

      2. Reflect on pilgrimage as a guiding metaphor in the Bible and among the Celtic Christians.

      3. Identify our own journeys, physical and spiritual; appreciate how they brought us to our current place; and determine how we can move on, especially in difficult times.

      Preparation

      • Provide each person a copy of the participant book. Some of the suggested activities involve interaction with particular sections of Chapter 1.

      • Obtain, if possible, maps of Ireland and Scotland. Many are available on the Internet.

      • Several exercises call for participants to discuss specific questions. Prepare these ahead of time by making handouts, posting them on large sheets of paper, or arranging to project them on a screen.

      • You will find here more activities than most groups can complete in the allotted time. If you have only one gathering for this session, be sure to allow time to include some activity from the Our Spiritual Journeys section. This segment calls for reflection on how the information relates to our experiences and calls for a personal response.

      Beginning the Session

      Opening Activity

      Display maps of Ireland and Scotland if available.

      Ask who has been to Ireland, Scotland, or Wales. Which places did they particularly enjoy visiting? What did they learn about the history of these places? What were their impressions of the people?

      Ask who traces their ancestry back to Ireland, Scotland, or Wales. Invite them to share what they know of the specific area of their ancestral home along with when, why, and where their family members first came to this country.

      Invite group members to share why they are interested in Celtic Christianity. If anyone has studied or experienced this topic before reading this book, what did they find helpful? What do they want to learn or experience through this study?

      Divide participants into two small groups. Ask each to review the Introduction in the participant book. Invite one group to discuss how they relate to the author’s experience of childhood travel and the examples of this theme in the biblical story. Invite the other group to discuss the synopsis of The Voyage of Saint Brendan and the Celtic spiritual journey. Come back together as one group and ask participants to share specific insights they discussed.

      Opening Prayer

      Explain that the opening prayers you will use come from a collection of Celtic prayers known as the Carmina Gadelica, first published in 1900. They often reflect a rural setting but can be appropriated to any time or place.

      God be with us in every pass,

      Jesus be with us on every hill,

      Spirit be with us on every stream,

      Headland and ridge and lawn;

      Each sea and land, each moor and meadow,

      Each lying down, each rising up,

      In the trough of the waves, on the crest of the

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