Five Traditions & Practices of Prayer

Speaker(s): Bruce Hindmarsh, Steve Bell
Date: Spring 2019
Length: 10h57m
Product ID: RGDL4909S

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Description

This course explores five traditions and practices of prayer from the history of the church: the short, frequent prayers of the Desert Fathers; the liturgical collect of the Gregorian Sacramentary and the Book of Common Prayer; the examen of conscience among the Jesuits and the Puritans; the use of imagination in disciplined meditation (composition of place) in the 17th-century meditative devotion of the Jesuits, Frances de Sales and the Puritans; and the Lord's Prayer as a pattern for personal prayer in Martin Luther and C.S. Lewis.

Each day we will examine one of these practices, place it in historical context, and discuss a short classic text from the persons or period concerned. But just like one wants not just to study sheet music, but to play the music for oneself, we will take time together to practice these patterns of prayer during the week and on a guided, quiet retreat over the weekend at the conclusion of the week of classes.

This reference to music is not just a metaphor. Music has always been central to the church's language of prayer through the centuries. We will be joined throughout the course by the award-winning musician Steve Bell, who will introduce and reflect upon our discussions of prayer in music, lead us in sung prayer, and participate as a thoughtful interlocutor in the course.

See All Audio by Bruce Hindmarsh Steve Bell

Bruce Hindmarsh is the James M. Houston Professor of Spiritual Theology at Regent College. He also serves as the President of the American Society of Church History. He is author of John Newton and the English Evangelical Tradition: Between the Conversion of Wesley and Wilberforce and The Evangelical Conversion Narrative, and his articles have appeared in Church History and the Journal of Ecclesiastical History.

Steve Bell is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and storyteller with two Juno Awards (Canada's 'Grammys') for his music and a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for his vocational commitment and advocacy work. In December 2012, he released his 17th career CD, Keening for the Dawn.