Forest Lake Talks

Spirituality Center, noun: "A place set apart to experience and experiment with ancient spiritual practices and contemporary resources for spiritual exploration and encounter with God."

This is a working definition for the FLPC Spirituality Center that is available in room C204 from today until Palm Sunday, April 5. Krista B. Lovell, fellow Church Educator, shared her Guide to Setting Up a Spirituality Center and uses this description:

A spirituality center is one way ... to be exposed to Christian practices in ancient and contemporary forms, to experience God in long-established and new ways; and to be equipped with tools that can help ... live out ... Christian faith as disciples of Jesus Christ.

Like worship, it is a place for the head and the heart. It is a place for learning about and engaging in an experience of the living God. It is a sacred space, holy ground and a time set apart. ... In the center, participants are invited to be comfortable, to visit and revisit, to rest and renew, to play and pray, to experiment and try things out.

The invitation is to come and experience a new way of spending time with God during this Lenten Journey as we Walk in the Way of Jesus. Activities to experience:

Finger Labyrinth – take time to think and pray as you follow the path of the labyrinth 

Sand Meditation – trace a path in the sand with the rake or your finger and wonder where your journey of faith might be taking you. Consider what your own path of faith looks like. 

Prayer Wall – As an act of communion with God, we invite you to use the wall to express the prayers on your heart. Using the sticky notes, add your prayers to the board.  

PlayDough Wonder Mats – pick a placemat to think and wonder about God. Use the playdough to fill in the spaces or create something that expresses how you feel. 

Walking the Way of Jesus Painting – spend time contemplating what it feels like and looks like to walk in the way of Jesus. Use the paints to add your illustrations to the canvas. 

Listening Center – using the CD player, listen to some Lenten Hymns from Glory to God as played by Sylvia Trimmier. Follow along in the hymnal or just listen. 

Spend time with God by just sitting quietly to read, pray or just be with God! 

Prayer Walk around the church campus - take a self-guided walk around the facility to pray for the people, learning and activities that take place throughout. There are small guides in the Spirituality Center or large-sized guides posted around the church campus.

We pray the Spirituality Center will be a valuable part of your Lenten experience! 

by Andrea Paschal