{"id":8100,"date":"2006-01-10T18:58:10","date_gmt":"2006-01-10T23:58:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/?p=8100"},"modified":"2011-07-06T08:29:33","modified_gmt":"2011-07-06T13:29:33","slug":"finding-sacred-spaces-for-spiritual-growth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2006\/01\/10\/finding-sacred-spaces-for-spiritual-growth\/","title":{"rendered":"Finding &#8216;Sacred Spaces&#8217; for Spiritual Growth"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>REDWOOD CITY, CA (January 10, 2006)  &#8211; Members of Peninsula Covenant Church  have been finding sacred spaces in their relationship with God.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>The church has laid out a path on its 14-acre campus that members can  walk year-round as they develop and try new spiritual disciplines. &#8220;The  original intent was to help our congregation experience more of the  spiritual disciplines that led people into the contemplative mode of the  faith,&#8221; says Brian Rhen, the associate pastor of spiritual formation.<\/p>\n<p>Reaching deeper into the interior spiritual life is important if members  are going to continue reaching out, Rhen says. &#8220;We&#8217;re a great  word-focused church that wants to do social justice, but do people  really know how to hear from God?&#8221; He adds that like other evangelicals,  &#8220;we are not good at silence and solitude.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The grand opening for the path was during a 10-week prayer series last  fall, Rhen says.  The path also has 10 &#8220;spaces.&#8221; Each focuses on a  different discipline.<\/p>\n<p>As people walk the path and stop at each space, they are encouraged to  take time to journal their experience, Rhen says. The ten spaces are:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Releasing<\/li>\n<li>Centering<\/li>\n<li>Confession<\/li>\n<li>Suffering<\/li>\n<li>Faith<\/li>\n<li>Compassion<\/li>\n<li>Focus<\/li>\n<li>Awe<\/li>\n<li>Expression<\/li>\n<li>Gratitude<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Participants are given a guide with suggestions for each space. At the  &#8220;Awe&#8221; space, for example, members are encouraged to sit on a bench  beneath a huge oak tree. While sitting on the bench, they are asked to  reflect on the large tree. &#8220;Think of how many years it took for it to  grow from a mere seed to this glorious creation of God.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The &#8220;Expression&#8221; space is near the choir room&#8217;s patio area. Participants  are encouraged to use chalk and on the nearby wall &#8220;express your  thoughts to God in picture or word form. In the gravel area, use the  stones to make an altar to God, marking your recommitment to Him as was  done in the Old Testament.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The guidebook also includes a scripture passage for each space in  addition to suggested questions to consider.<\/p>\n<p>Those who have walked the path have given positive feedback, Rhen says.  One member wrote to say, &#8220;The ten-step journey that we take in prayer  was just amazing. I did it on Tuesday and figured that it would take me  an hour. And I ended up spending an hour and 45 minutes in a really  special time and felt such peace from the Spirit . . . in places I  really didn&#8217;t expect at all.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Rhen came up with the idea after many early morning walks around the  campus. While at a playground, he realized, &#8220;It&#8217;s almost as if this  place was here and just waiting to be tapped.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Three church members laid out the path design and the facilities team  did the labor. &#8220;They worked hard,&#8221; Rhen says.<\/p>\n<p>To learn more about this pathway discipline or other ministries at  Peninsula Covenant, email Rhen at brianr@peninsulacovenant.com or call  him at 650-365-8094, extension 238.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Editor&#8217;s note: the importance of prayer in spiritual growth is the  focus of other prayer-centered experiences that have been featured in  previously published stories, from prayer pathways to prayer rooms. To  read these stories, please select from the following:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>El Cajon, California &#8211; <a href=\"http:\/\/old.covchurch.org\/cov\/news\/item4170.html\">Guided Prayer  Walk<\/a><\/li>\n<li> Clifton, New York &#8211; <a href=\"http:\/\/old.covchurch.org\/cov\/news\/item4574.html\">Prayer Paths<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Lee&#8217;s Summit, Missouri &#8211; <a href=\"http:\/\/old.covchurch.org\/cov\/news\/item4037.html\">Unique Prayer  Room<\/a>&nbsp;\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif\"> <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Copyright \u00a9 2011 The Evangelical Covenant Church.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-report-this\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire?moderation_action=report_form&#038;object_type=post&#038;object_id=8100&#038;width=250&#038;height=300\" class=\"thickbox\" title=\"Report This Post\">Report This Post<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>REDWOOD CITY, CA (January 10, 2006) &#8211; Members of Peninsula Covenant Church have been finding sacred spaces in their relationship with God. Report This Post<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8100","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Finding &#039;Sacred Spaces&#039; for Spiritual Growth - Covenant Newswire Archives<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2006\/01\/10\/finding-sacred-spaces-for-spiritual-growth\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Finding &#039;Sacred Spaces&#039; for Spiritual Growth - Covenant Newswire Archives\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"REDWOOD CITY, CA (January 10, 2006) &#8211; Members of Peninsula Covenant Church have been finding sacred spaces in their relationship with God. 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