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The second Tuesday evening of each month will be a Discussion Group.  We will explore together a variety of topics related to our spiritual interests and practices.  The facilitator, often from the Star Development team (but not necessarily), will post on the website the topic for the next discussion group, and request people to consider this subject beforehand, and come prepared to share ideas, questions, and experiences together.  

 

No Registration Required

Admission by Donation - As winter draws near our costs to heat our old building become very high.  Your donations are used to offset that cost.  All are welcome regardless of what they can give, please be as genrous as you are able.

 April 14th

 Spring - A Time of Rebirth and Renewal 

This is the season when the miracle of life once more rises from the slumber of winter, bursting into its fullest beauty. What does this rebirth of the life force mean for you? Come together in sacred space and see where the conversation leads us, as we remember the fullness of life below the surface, and celebrate the blessed Earth and our lives here. If you wish, please bring some evidence of spring for the altar.

Facilitators - Suzan Denis and Heather Martin

March 10th

Renunciation, asceticism, restraint. Come and explore together the manifestation of this aspect of spiritual awareness;  how relevant is restraint/renunciation to our ways of living ? Is there a place for this in our modern consumer culture, with our rapidly diminishing resources ?  

Facilitator - Heather Martin

February 11th

Spiritual Transformation in a Time of Climate Crisis Gyllian Davies, Anglican priest and Barry Cooke, retired United Church minister will lead a discussion looking at how the Climate Crisis tests our hope, tempts us to despair, or choosing an alternative path of allowing the Spirit to radically transform us into the people we need to be in the Anthropecene Age.

January 14th

 

Cancelled due to weather

December 10th 

Facilitator - Clark Saunders

 A Guided Conversation   “Spiritual Themes in Classic Movies of the Season”   Some of us look forward to watching the same seasonal movies each year around this time.  Perhaps it is the timeless spiritual themes that attract us.  Clark Saunders will lead us in a conversation in which we will explore these themes in the classic films, “It’s a Wonderful Life”, “A Christmas Carol”, and “Miracle on 34th Street”.  *It is not necessary for you to have seen all or any of these movies in order to discuss the themes we will consider.

November 12th

Facilitator - Walter Stewart

Topic: Creation -  the Incarnation of the Divine as a Focus for Spiritual Life

If nostalgia works strongly upon our modern sensibilities it is because we are yearning, not so much for "home," whatever that may be, as for the time when we were still on speaking terms with our landscapes....Something in our blood remembers...when we were native and kin to the soil, the water, the creatures, and the plants.  Trevor Herriot River in a Dry Land, Page 3

Come to discuss how our spiritual lives can be rooted in our relationships with the rest of creation.  Can we even have a spiritual life if we stand apart from creation?

October 8th 

Topic: What does it mean to live a spiritual life? What is alive in yours now?

Facilitator, Elaina Hyde

 September 10th

Topic: Turning Points - Heavenly Messengers

Facilitators, Barry Cooke and Heather Martin

August 13th

Topic: “Turning Points”—come and share some of the inner experiences, sometimes apparently insignificant, but sometimes earth shaking, that shifted your understanding and/or your values, which then changed the course of your life.  In Buddhism they are called ‘Heavenly Messengers.’ What can we learn as we explore each other’s journeys ?  

Heather Martin, Facilitator

July 9th - Spiritual Practice and Climate Disruption 

How does having a spiritual practice, and, therefore, a spiritual perspective, influence our relationship to and involvement in climate disruption?

Heather Martin, Facilitator

June 11th - Sages, Gurus, Saints 

Come prepared to speak briefly about a spiritual leader, author, elder, community leader that made a difference for your spiritual life.  Why? How? What have you done with the insights gained? Let's tease out common threads among those who have helped us grow; let us contemplate differences. Discussion facilitated by Clark Saunders.  Come with your thoughts; come with your friends.

Cost for Discussion Groups: By Donation

No Registration Required

May 14th - Spirituality and Daily Life

A spiritual leader once said, "The trouble with life is that it is too damn daily." How does my spiritual life inform, illumine, indwell my daily life? How do I live with greed, hatred, and delusion?  How do I live with faith, hope, and love? Come with your thoughts; come with your friends.

April 9th - Spirituality and Aging

None of us are as young as once we were, so people of any age are welcome.  How does aging change our spirituality?  How does our spiritual sense inform our aging?  This topic was identified by the group that gathered on March 12th as a focus for our discussion on April 9th.  Come with your thoughts; come with your friends.