‘Psalming Our Disorientation’: Virtual retreat August 29

Saint Philip’s in the Hills has scheduled a Virtual Retreat Day from 10:30am-2:30pm on Saturday, August 29. The retreat is free, and a one-hour lunch break is planned.

The retreat is the first in a series of events and liturgies addressing our individual and collective need for lament.

Titled Psalming Our Disorientation: Writing into the Presence of God, this retreat will offer multiple opportunities for you to write your way into God’s presence by creating your own psalms of disorientation. We will embrace truth-telling in written prayer and open-hearted listening to one another, not technical critique or theological debate.  REGISTER HERE

In The Spirituality of the Psalms, Walter Brueggemann argues that the Bible’s psalms of disorientation (lament, protest, and complaint) “lead us into the dangerous acknowledgement of how life really is. They lead us into the presence of God where everything is not polite and civil.”

Saint Philip’s live, interactive Zoom retreat will include:

1.     A brief presentation on the psalms and laments;

2.     Guided prayerful writing practices (retreatants will need writing materials);

3.     An interactive and improvised liturgy in which retreatants will be invited (but not required) to read aloud the psalms they will have created, while others listen prayerfully;

4.     The opportunity to reflect on the experience and ponder ways to take this experience into other areas of their lives.

Shirin McArthur will lead the retreat. She is a spiritual guide, retreat leader, writer, and editor who ponders the sacred through prayer, poetry, dance, photography, nature, and contemplation. Shirin holds a Master of Divinity from Boston University School of Theology and a Certificate in Spiritual Guidance from the Shalem Institute in Washington, DC. She has been leading retreats for more than 25 years and her award-winning Prayerful Pondering blog is part of the Christian Century network. Raised in New Mexico, Shirin lives in Arizona and is a member at Saint Philip’s in the Hills, where her husband, the Rev. Henry Hoffman, is retired affiliate clergy. You can learn more about her at shirinmcarthur.com.