Coronavirus Response

  • Home
  • A-Z List
  • About
    • About the NCC
    • Connectional Table
    • Staff
  • Calendar
    • Events
    • Google Calendar
    • Past Events
  • Churches
  • Contact
    • Find Us
  • Districts
    • District Office
    • Beacon
    • Capital
    • Corridor
    • Fairway
    • Gateway
    • Harbor
    • Heritage
    • Sound
  • Employment
  • Search

NC Conference

Healthy Congregations and Effective Leaders in Every Place Making Disciples of Jesus Christ for the Transformation of the World

  • Discipleship
    Developing Disciples
    • Christian Formation
      • Children
      • Church & Society
      • College
      • Differently Abled Persons
      • Educational Ministries
      • Older Adults
      • Status & Role of Women
      • Young Adults
      • Youth
    • Church Revitalization
      • Coaching
      • Disciple Making Way
      • Evangelism
      • Grants
      • MissionInsite
      • Real Discipleship Survey
      • Shift
      • Spiritual Life
    • From the Bishop
      • Bishop’s Bookshelf
      • Bishop’s Sermons
      • Church Transformation
      • Conflict Transformation
      • Connections
      • Discipleship & Learning Plan
    • Multicultural
      • Asian
      • Hispanic/Latino
      • Native American
      • Strengthening the Black Church
    • Stewardship
      • Apportionments
      • District Remittances
      • Financial Discipleship
      • Grants
      • Insurance
      • Mission & Service
      • Pension
      • Treasurer Training
  • Leadership
    Strengthening Leaders
    • Bishop’s Office
      • Appointment Book
      • Bishop’s Sermons
      • Church Transformation
      • Conflict Transformation
      • Connections
      • Discipleship & Learning Plan
    • Ministerial Relations
      • Board of Ordained Ministry
      • Called to Ministry?
      • Extension Ministries
    • Board of Laity
      • Certified Lay Minister
      • Lay Servant Ministries
      • Local Church Lay Leaders
      • United Methodist Men
      • United Methodist Women
      • United Methodist Youth
    • New Faith Comm.
      • Called to Plant?
      • New Room Society
      • Our Communities
    • Conference Offices
      • Center for Leadership Excellence
      • Christian Formation
      • Communications
      • Conference Secretary
      • Connectional Ministries
      • Information Technology
      • Multicultural Ministries
      • Outreach Ministry
      • Treasurer’s Office
  • Service
    Ministering To The World
    • Local Outreach
      • Church Construction
      • Church Loans
      • Restorative Justice and Mercy
      • Disciple Bible Outreach
      • NCC UMVIM
      • Seed Funds
      • Mission Projects
        • Health Ministry
    • Global Outreach
      • Imagine No Malaria
      • Love for Liberia
      • Missionaries
      • Project AGAPE
      • Sierra Leone: Mission of Hope
      • ZOE
    • Disaster Ministries
      • Donate to Storm Response
      • Hurricane Florence
      • MERCI
      • Response Plan
      • Response Team
      • UMCOR Kits
    • Giving
      • Advance/Rainbow Covenant
      • Apportionments
      • Give to Storm Response
      • Mission & Service
      • The Gary Wayne Locklear Mission Endowment
      • New Room Society
      • Special Sundays
    • Ministry Partners
      • Camps & Retreats
      • Partners In Ministry
      • Robeson Co. Church & CC
      • UMF
  • Resources
    Supporting Ministry
    • Conferences
      • Annual Conference 2019
      • Annual Conference 2020
      • Charge Conference 2020
      • General Conference
      • Pilgrimage
      • SEJ Conference 2016
    • Media Center
      • Catalog
      • Labyrinth
      • Ministry Tools
      • Online Resources
      • Weekly Newsletter
    • Online Resources
      • Archives & History
      • Church Lookup
      • Online Data Collection
      • Online Learning
      • Pastor Lookup
      • Podcasts (NCCUMC.FM)
      • Ramus: Web Hosting
      • Video (Vimeo)
    • Publications
      • Advent 2020
      • Appointment Book
      • Bible Study
      • Conference Directory
      • Conference Journal
      • Every Day Grace
      • Lenten Reflections
      • Mission & Service
    • From UMC.org
      • Agencies
      • Communications
      • Discipleship
      • Finance & Administration
      • Global Ministries
      • Graphics Library
      • Relief
      • Status & Role of Women
  • New Faith Communities
    • Staff
  • Anchor Church
  • New Room Society
    • Our Communities
    • Church Resources
    • Planter Resources
    • Books to Read
    • Daily Prayer
    • Daily Devotions eBook
  • Events
    • Dates to Remember
    • Common Learning Day, May 2021
  • NRS Newsletter
  • Store

New Room Society: Week 3, Day 1

August 20, 2017 Leave a Comment

CREDIT: Anh Phan
SOURCE: https://unsplash.com/search/desert?photo=MstyH9jWsac

This daily post is designed to help you live into our New Room Society covenant of practicing daily prayer together. Below is this week’s theme and daily practice.

Week 3: Encounter

Discerning the movement of God. Explore some stories of desert mothers and fathers who have experienced the presence of God.

“The road of cleansing goes through that desert. It shall be named the way of holiness.” — Isaiah 35:8, Septuagint (LXX) — from John Chryssavgis, In the Heart of the Desert: The Spirituality of the Desert Fathers and Mothers

There’s a funny and illuminating story told of an early Christian ascetic living in the Egyptian desert around the third century AD.

This desert abba was a scribe, and a brother came to entreat him to copy a book.

The scribe was engaged in deep contemplation, and as he copied, he left out some phrases and completely omitted any punctuation.

When the brother saw what had happened he said, “Abba, there are some phrases missing.”

To which the desert father replied, “Go, and practice first that which is written, then come back and I will write the rest.”

Very often the best work of ministry happens in the margins, on the fringe, or, as one pastor put it, in the “white spaces” — the place between the letters and words, amid the things that are not being said.

When it becomes a challenge to know what God wants you to do, it can be fruitful to look in the places where everything and everyone else isn’t.

The ancient desert mothers and fathers excelled at this art, and can still guide you in it today…

Sunday: What isn’t being said?

It’s easy to count words of instruction, theological textbooks, even scripture as your guide as you seek to be formed more closely into the image of God. Those are wonderful sources of authority.

But what is not being said? Whose voices are not being heard? Where are traditional methods, resources, or texts curiously silent?

Whom might you encounter in those deserts or white spaces, and what might you learn?

Morning Prayer from
The Book of Common Prayer for Ordinary Radicals

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn

Filed Under: New Room Society

Join the New Room Society

Sign up below to join the New Room Society and get email updates.

The NC Conference respects your privacy. See our Privacy Policy.

Make a Difference

Join the New Room Society

Sign up below to join the New Room Society and get email updates.

The NC Conference respects your privacy. See our Privacy Policy.

Recent Posts

  • Holistic Mission
  • NFC September Newsletter
  • NFC September Newsletter
  • The Anchor Church and New Faith Communities
  • Teach Us To Pray

NC Conference of The United Methodist Church · 700 Waterfield Ridge Place · Garner, NC 27529
Phone: 919.779.6115 · Toll-free: 800.849.4433 · Fax: 919.773.2308

Copyright © 2021 · Privacy Policy · Powered by WordPress · Site Admin

  • e
  • k