Forgiving

Our Formation programs at St. Paul's begin on October 5th! The first adult forum series will be 4 weeks on forgiveness, guided by The Book on Forgiving by Desmond and Mpho Tutu. From the book jacket:  "Nobel laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu has witnessed some of the worst crimes people can inflict on others. So wherever he goes, he inevitably gets asked this question: How do I forgive? This book is his answer.Writing with his daughter, Mpho, an Anglican priest, they lay out the simple but profound truths about the significance of forgiveness, how it works, why everyone needs to know how to grant it and receive it and why granting forgiveness is the greatest gift we can give ourselves when we have been wronged."

The book outlines a Fourfold Path that will be facilitated by William Sangrey and Jean Berry over the four Sundays in October. It would be helpful for participants to have the book, but it is not required that folks read the book before beginning the workshops. If you would like to order a copy, please do so from the Amazon link on the St. Paul's website! 

These are the 4 steps of forgiveness that we will work through together during the series:

- Telling the Story

-Naming the Hurt

-Granting Forgiveness

-Renewing or releasing the Relationship

Supplies for the Journey (from the introduction):

"All journeys must be provisioned. Your journey requires two objects to support your healing:

Please get a private journal that you will use to complete the writing exercises given in each chapter. This will be your own personal 'book of forgiving'. It can be a plain notebook or a special journal you purchase just for this work. Only you will read this journal, and in it you should feel free and safe to record your thoughts, emotions, ideas, and progress along the Fourfold Path."

"Please go out and find a stone that appeals to you on some level. It can be beautiful or ugly. It shouldn't be a pebble or a boulder. Find a stone with some weight to it. It should be small enough to carry in the palm of your hand and large enough that you won't lose it. Note in your journal exactly where you found the stone and what it was about the stone that appealed to you.

Welcome. You have begun the Fourfold Path."

See you in the parish hall at St. Paul's Episcopal Church on October 5th at 9:30am! We will begin together.