I invite you to look through the resources below. Some link to posts on this website, others go to my church’s page, and others start a PDF download. This resource page subsumes the “Bible Study” page that I’ve had since the inception of wherethewind.com. I hope you enjoy these resources and find something in them that deepens your faith, as creating them has deepened mine.
Rule of Life • Classes • Prayers • Bible Study • Digital Disciple
Rule of Life
Version 1.0
The example of the Society of St. John the Evangelist spurred me to write a Rule of Life for myself. I wrote it during Lent 2012, and it’s implementation is ongoing. I call it “Version 1.0” because I’m sure there will be revisions and future Rules as I grow ever deeper in my relationship with God.
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Classes
Following Christ
“Following Christ” is the Confirmation class I developed in 2009. I have taught the class every year since, with a mix of teens and adults. There are a few Powerpoint slideshows that accompany the curriculum, which I can make available. The workbook is the jumping off point for the class, but we range into other topics frequently. When this happens (or when a participant has to miss a class) the workbook is there as a backup.
12 Moments
“12 Moments” is a series of reflections that I wrote to accompany an instructed Eucharist at church. Members were encouraged to take home the pamphlet and reflect on how their worship of God is a source of structure in their lives. (Written in spring 2012, revised spring 2015)
We are the Clay
Written in partnership with the Rev. Margot Critchfield and the St. Stephen’s formation committee, “We are the Clay” is a six-week introductory class on the Baptismal Covenant. In the class, we use an “action-reflection” model: participants are encouraged to try on different spiritual practices and then discuss their efforts during the sessions.
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Prayers
Eucharistic Prayer for All Ages
I wrote this Eucharistic prayer for the inter-generational service at St. Stephen’s, which happens once a month. My goals were to write a shorter prayer than is in the BCP, but which still contains all the necessary elements, to make it more participatory, and to use language that doesn’t need another layer of translation.
A Litany for Healing
I wrote this litany for the Wednesday morning healing service at St. Stephen’s. Some of the ladies who attend expressed a desire for prayers that touched on the concepts of hope, joy, blessing, and thanksgiving, none of which was prevalent in the litany we had been using before. I attempted to follow their wish when I wrote these prayers.
A Blessing for the Christmas Season
I wrote this blessing for use at the end of services during the Christmas season. At St. Stephen’s, we often use alternate blessings to differentiate liturgical seasons.
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Bible Study
Ten Lenses
In the summer of 2012, as an experiment in online study for my church, I shot a series of ten simple videos to introduce people to the practice of studying the Bible. You can read the introduction to 10 Lenses here. (Note that the following ten links will redirect to the St. Stephen’s website.)
Lens #1: Translations || June 26, 2012
Lens #2: Layout || July 3, 2012
Lens #3: Passages || July 10, 2012
Lens #4: Genres || July 17, 2012
Lens #5: Parallels || July 24, 2012
Lens #6: Allusions || July 31, 2012
Lens #7: Context || August 7, 2012
Lens #8: Blank Slate || August 14, 2012
Lens #9: Performance || August 21, 2012
Lens #10: Relevance || August 28, 2012
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The Moving Picture Bible Study
Here is a series of video Bible studies I did in the second year of the blog, which led (Thanks be to God!) to my relationship with the United Methodist Publishing House. I moved to Massachusetts a few weeks after Episode 4 and never rebuilt the set, hence just these four videos in the series.
Books on the Book (Bible study #14) || February 11, 2010
The Best Christmas Pageant Never (Bible study #13) || December 17, 2009
Humor in the Bible (Bible study #12) || October 22, 2009
Getting on the same page (Bible study #11) || August 17, 2009
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Written Bible Studies
I wrote this series of Bible studies in the first year of the blog. I have since used several of them many times over in various classes at church.
Viral papyri (Bible study #10) || March 13, 2009
Unmuddying the waters (Bible study #9) || December 31, 2008
Twenty questions (Bible study #8 ) || December 11, 2008
Don’t just read it (Bible study #7) || November 20, 2008
Tabula rooster (Bible study #6) || September 23, 2008
Getting lost in the stacks (Bible study #5) || September 10, 2008
Expect to be surprised (Bible study #4) || August 21, 2008
Alphabet soup (Bible study #3) || July 11, 2008
Pick your periscope (Bible study #2) || July 3, 2008
Weapons-grade interpretation (Bible study #1) || June 20, 2008
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Digital Disciple
Introductory Videos
I wrote, recorded, and edited a series of six short videos to accompany my book Digital Disciple: Real Christianity in a Virtual World. Here are the links to the blog posts about them. Note that the promotional give-a-ways in the posts are no longer current.
Chapter 2: From Connection to Communion
Chapter 4: Empty Minds and Disposable Bodies
Chapter 6: Tech Sabbath
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First Chapter Preview
Episcopal Cafe was gracious enough to post the first two sections of Chapter One of Digital Disciple as my final three articles as a contributor for that website. I also posted it here in the same three parts.
Where the Wind... 