Joan Mason, Victoria

Does the Feast of Epiphany challenge you to gain new insight into your faith? Excite your spirit?
   It turns out that you’re in good company, and First Metropolitan United’s Epiphany Explorations initiative is marvellously mind expanding, offering a wide variety of formats of engagement with spiritual topics. It offers a great chance to join the global conversation with those at the leading edge of theological debate.
   Its exponential growth since 2003 provides ample evidence, seemingly only threatened by success, and the danger of over-subscription! Past participants eagerly renew, and offer up suggestions of topics and speakers. Here are a couple of heart-felt comments from last year’s conference:

Does the Feast of Epiphany challenge you to gain new insight into your faith? Excite your spirit?
   It turns out that you’re in good company, and First Metropolitan United’s Epiphany Explorations initiative is marvellously mind expanding, offering a wide variety of formats of engagement with spiritual topics. It offers a great chance to join the global conversation with those at the leading edge of theological debate.
   Its exponential growth since 2003 provides ample evidence, seemingly only threatened by success, and the danger of over-subscription! Past participants eagerly renew, and offer up suggestions of topics and speakers. Here are a couple of heart-felt comments from last year’s conference:
   I came away with insights for my personal life, my church life and work life. It was good food for my spiritual journey. Thank you for the gift of learning your congregation offers to so many from across the country.
   A feast for mind heart and soul. Water in a dry land!
   Four January days have been filled to the brim with opportunity for spiritual renewal and continuing education through word, music and movement.
   Some of this century’s most sought-after thinkers on spiritual thought have been enticed to make presentations from January 17th  to 20th, 2013. The forum offers over two dozen events with speakers on Christian topics joined by others from of a wide variety of faiths including Judaism and Islam. What they have in common is their approach to religion as a lively, ever-evolving discipline and way of life.
   John Dominic Crossan, the Irish-American New Testament scholar and former Catholic priest known for co-chairing the Jesus Seminar is a return speaker, and will present the centrepiece of the series. Now in his late 70’s, the liveliness of his presentations belies his age. His four sessions deal with his theme that there is a Matrix, consisting of everything you have to know to understand Jesus, and that it is all interconnected. The World of Jesus, the Life of Jesus, the Death of Jesus and the Resurrection of Jesus are titles for his provocative January 2013 sessions. Crossan delightedly challenges his audience to probe the Jesus Matrix with questions.
   Ilia Delio comes to modern spirituality bringing her wealth of scientific and religious study. A Franciscan Sister of Washington D.C.; she is a former Professor and Chair of Spirituality Studies at Washington Theological Union in Washington, DC and a research fellow of Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University. Her most recent books include Christ in Evolution, and The Emergent Christ. She brings her exploration of how our understanding of cosmic life and God has been changed by those pillars of modern science, evolution and quantum physics.
   Exploration of new musical directions has become a popular and highly anticipated element of the forum. “Will the Circle Be Unbroken? Singing the Gospel of Justice and Peace” will be led by Antonio Alonso, a specialist in multicultural needs of the contemporary church. He’ll travel from Los Angeles, where he belongs to the Campus Ministry team of the Catholic Loyola Marymount University. Prophetic hymns and songs rooted in the gospel message propel his challenge to those who prepare worship to take seriously the radical call to discipleship of the Word.
   The Epiphany Explorations menu of 24 sessions is about as diverse as possible, ranging from the 13th century Sufi mysticism of Rumi, storytelling of the Jewish tradition, “Islam and Interfaith”, Aboriginal and non-aboriginal reconciliation, “First Third Ministry”, i.e. ministering to the first third of life, and even Yoga Chapel.
   All of the sessions take place at First Metropolitan United Church from January 17 through 20, 932 Balmoral Road, Victoria BC, V8T 1A8
For registration information, visit http://www.firstmetvictoria.com/epiphany  Or call 250-388-5189. 
   Early Bird registration closes November 30, 2012.