SOS participants Ed Miller, Joan Easterly and BJ Chandler presented a program on “Advent and Christmas in Songs and Stories. The presentation included discussion of various stories and songs as well as the annual carol sing along with Ed and Joan doing the vocals and BJ playing the piano.
Edward Trent, a Knoxville attorney and active parishioner at Sacred Heart Cathedral, presented a program at our November meeting on the importance of prayer in the lives of the saints and the importance of
prayer in living a Christian life today. He is the author of Answering God’s Call: Reflections from the Lives of the Saints, a compilation of his reflections from a program he created that focused on the lives of saints and how they answered God’s call. He has worked with the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults program for four years, helping adults looking to join the Catholic Church come to a better understanding of Church teaching and to grow in their faith in Jesus. He is also active in his men’s Bible study group. Before moving to Knoxville in 2011, Ed worked in youth and young adult ministry in Jacksonville, Florida for about 15 years.
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The Rev. Caroline Vogel, associate rector, Church of the Ascencion and director of Spiritus Knox, presented our October program. She holds a master’s degree in Divinity from Harvard Divinity School and a master’s in Counseling from The University of Tennessee. She has been trained in mindfulness meditation through the Mindfulness Center at Brown University. She also is a certified Daring Way™ Facilitator (the work of Brené Brown) and nationally Board Certified Coach.
She has worked in mental health and parish ministry, as well as serving for three years as the Palliative Care chaplain at The University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville. Prior to opening Spiritus Knox, Caroline had a private practice where she offered individual spiritual direction, retreats and classes in addition to working in parish ministry part-time. She now offers retreats and monthly offerings through Spiritus Knox. Soon the center will offer individual spiritual direction to anyone in the public as well.
At our September meeting, we watched a video, “The Method of Centering Prayer with Father Thomas Keating” followed by a discussion moderated by SOS participant Mary Jane Keim. The video recorded by the late Father Keating, founder of the Center for Contemplative Prayer, provided an in-depth look at the method of centering prayer with Father Keating elaborating on the reasons for the method and the underlying concept of centering prayer as a relationship with God.
The Rev. Don Ferguson gave an in-depth look at the life and times of John Wesley and the spirituality of the Methodist Church at our August meeting at the Church of the Savior.
He has been an ordained United Methodist Church minister for 50 years serving primarily in the East Tennessee area. Following his retirement, he has served for the last 10 years as an Intentional Interim minister for the Holston Conference serving churches with special needs. An important part of his career was training and practicing as a psychotherapist specializing in couples and individuals. He is married to Debby Hall and they have three children and four grandchildren. Don and Debby live in Fountain City with a Golden Retriever and two cats and a very popular bird feeder.
We were back at the Church of the Savior for our Bookshare meeting on June 2. Our group was small but we had a lively discussion about several books.
Our April meeting was postponed until May 7. At the May meeting we held a roundtable discussion on the future of Seekers of Silence as the nation and world emerge from the disruptions of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Those present, including several members of our Coordinating Committee, agreed that Seekers of Silence should continue, placing more emphasis on silent meditation and revising our format somewhat. The group also agreed on new leadership for SOS.
For our March meeting on March 5, we joined a Zoom presentation provided by Contemplative Outreach Atlanta as part of a worldwide United In Prayer Day.
Father Terry Ryan, whose workshops on silent prayer and the saints were the inspiration for the beginning of Seekers of Silence, presented our January and February meetings via Zoom with a discussion on “From Epiphany to Baptism: A Jesus Journey.