On the weekend of Nov. 9 and 10, Denman Island United Church will offer a unique opportunity to explore the Celtic path within contemporary Christianity.
Frank Shirbroun and Teresa Di Biase will co-present during a workshop on Saturday, Nov. 9 from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. On Sunday, Nov. 10, they co-preside in a Celtic eucharist or communion service at 10:30 a.m.
Shirbroun, a retired professor of New Testament studies, and Di Biase, a spiritual director, historian and retired university librarian, together lead annual pilgrimages to Christian Celtic sites in Scotland, England, Wales, Ireland and France – places where the distinctive Celtic expression of the Christian movement originated and flourished from 400-800 A.D.
Although suppressed by Roman and later Reformation authorities, the Celtic approach was never fully eradicated and is experiencing a revival in our times that is affecting many different branches within the contemporary Christian Church.
The Saturday workshop will be focused on three themes arising out of a Celtic Christian sensibility: Creation and the Image of God; Dwelling and Abiding – The Significance of Landscape and Place; and Journey – A Metaphor for Venturesome Inner Work as well as Physical Pilgrimage. For workshop registrants, there will also be an optional evening session on Saturday, with a video entitled, Thin Place: Iona and the Celtic Way, set on the Isle of Iona in the Hebrides, the original site of Celtic Christianity in Scotland and one of the main centres of the contemporary Celtic revival.
Pre-registration is required for the Saturday workshop, with an initial non-refundable deposit of $20.
The full registration fee is on a sliding scale from $20-$70, according to means, and includes snacks and lunch. There is no registration required to attend the Sunday eucharist, which coincides with the Denman United Church’s weekly worship service.
For more information or to register, contact Ted Hicks by phone, 250-218-3735, or by email, tedhicks.cv@gmail.com
For more information on the presenters, go to www.celticpilgrim.org.