Thurber Conversation Archives

Centering Prayer

"Contemplative Prayer is the world in which God can do anything. To move into this realm is the greatest adventure. It is to open to the Infinite and hence infinite possibilities.” T. Keating.

Centering Prayer is a receptive method of silent prayer that prepares us to receive the gift of contemplative prayer, prayer in which we experience God's presence within us, closer than breathing, closer than thinking, closer than consciousness itself. This method of prayer is both a relationship with God and a discipline to foster that relationship.

Dinner served at 18h30; lecture at 19h30.

Thurber Thursdays is an adult community gathering and growth time that is open to all.

The intrigue and simplicity of this method of prayer has drawn members of a church in California into this great adventure. Come and hear what God is up to at San Marcos Lutheran Church through the practice of Centering Prayer. This lecture is both a case study and an opportunity to practice this method of prayer in your own life and community.

Our guest speaker will be Karla Halvorson, a pastor of San Marcos Lutheran Church, San Marcos CA, part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. She is also a Licensed Clinical Social Worker.

San Marcos Lutheran is a vibrant congregation which has recently become active in the contemplative outreach network (ContemplativeOutreach.org). She and members of her congregation are actively pursuing the contemplative approach to prayer through Centering and Sacred Reading (Lectio Divina). These efforts attracted the attention of the ELCA's Presiding Bishop, Elizabeth Eaton, who visited the congregation and will feature them and this method of prayer in the 2015 Synod Assemblies of the ELCA.

Pastor Karla is a board member of Churches Against (Human) Trafficking (CAT) and the North County Anti Human Trafficking Coalition. She is here on sabbatical through a Lilly Foundation Clergy Renewal Grant. The grant proposal includes time for study and reflection on the Christian practices of contemplation and meditation and how these practices lead to more fruitful outreach, awareness, and action in all areas of social justice.

Thurber Thursday lecture — Thursday 21 May 18:30
Guest Preacher — Sunday 24 May

#BlackLivesMatter - The Continual Quest for the Kingdom in America — Thurber Thursday lecture

Why are so many unarmed Black men being gravely injured or dying at the hands of police officers in America? How can we understand the violent community uprisings that often follow each new death? What do these recent events say about the state of Dr. King's "dream" in America?

Dinner served at 18h30; lecture at 19h30. Thurber Thursdays is an adult community gathering and growth time that is open to all.

Rev. Dr. Howard-John Wesley is the Senior Pastor of Alfred Street Baptist Church (ASBC) in Alexandria.

Rev. Wesley represents the fourth generation of Baptist preachers in his family. He is the son of the late Rev. Dr. Alvin J. Wesley and Dr. Helene J. Wesley. A 1994 magna cum laude graduate of Duke University; he doubled majored in Biomedical and Electrical Engineering. After his first year in medical school, he yielded to God’s call once again and walked away from a medical career to attend seminary in preparation for serving God’s people. He attended the Boston University School of Theology where he was a Martin L. King, Jr. Scholar and a 1997 summa cum laude graduate concentrating on Biblical Studies and African-American religious history. His passion for preaching and learning led him to the Associated Chicago Theological School’s Doctor of Ministry in Preaching Program where he graduated from the Northern Baptist Theological Seminary with his Doctor of Ministry degree in 2003.

For his labor, Dr. Wesley has received numerous awards and accolades. He is one of the 2013 recipients of The Root 100: A Who’s Who of Black America award, and one of seven to receive the James Floyd Jenkins Pillar of Faith Award presented by Howard University School of Divinity, in collaboration with the United Church of Christ in April 2014. Moreover, he is associated with several organizations: Alexandria NAACP, the Northern Virginia Urban League, the Community Coalition for Haiti, a member of the Board of Directors for the Hopkins House and the Institute for Responsible Citizenship, a member of the Board for the Lott Carey Convention, and a member of the board of the John Leland Center for Theological Studies. He has also served as honorary chairperson for the African American Adoptions, Inc. just to name a few. A member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., Dr. Wesley is an avid golfer who also enjoys movies, reading, and working out. He celebrated his 20th year anniversary in the ministry on November 29, 2009. He is the proud father of two beautiful sons, Howard-John, II and Cooper Reece.

A Profile of the Church That Will Not Just Survive But Flourish in the 21st Century.

Our guest speaker will be Dr. John A. Huffman, Jr., a leading figure in national and international Evangelical circles.

Dinner served at 19h00; Presentation 19h45-21h15.

Thurber Thursdays is an adult community gathering and growth time that is open to all.

After forty-seven years of active local church ministry, in November of 2009 Dr. John A. Huffman, Jr. was honorably retired by the Los Ranchos Presbytery and elected “Pastor Emeritus” by the congregation of St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church. He has now re-emerged as a “Minister at Large.”

Born in Boston, Dr. Huffman earned his B.A. in history from Wheaton College and holds several advanced or honorary degrees, including a Master of Divinity and a Doctorate of Ministry from Princeton Theological Seminary. As a Princeton student, he served as an assistant to Dr. Norman Vincent Peale at New York’s Marble Collegiate Church.

As a Princeton graduate student he served as an assistant to Dr. Norman Vincent Peale at New York’s Marble Collegiate Church and to Dr. Bryant M. Kirkland at New York’s Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church, where he was ordained. From 1965-1968, he was the associate pastor at the First Presbyterian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma. From 1968-1973, he was pastor of the Key Biscayne Presbyterian Church in Florida. From 1973-1978, he served as pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In 1978 John Huffman became the pastor of the 4000-member St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Newport Beach, California.

Dr. Huffman has written nine books, including “The Family You Want” and “Forgive Us Our Prayers” by Christian Focus Publications, and the “Joshua” volume of The Communicator's Commentary published by Thomas Nelson.

He has extensive radio and television talk show experience on secular stations in Miami, Pittsburgh and Los Angeles. He currently serves as an authoritative resource for various networks, newspapers and magazines on contemporary matters of faith and life.

Dr. Huffman has held many leadership positions in the Presbyterian Church (USA). He attended, as an Elected Accredited Visitor, the World Council of Churches Seventh Assembly in Canberra, Australia in 1991 and served on the General Board of the National Board of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., chairing the Presbyterian delegation for two terms.

He has been involved in professional sports chaplaincies, including the Miami Dolphins (1969-1973), the visiting NFL teams (1973-1978) and served as the backup chaplain on the PGA Senior Golf Tour (1973-1978).

7 April – Do Christians and Muslims Worship the Same God?: Five Biblical Answers

14 April – In the Beginning Were the Words: The Origins of Writing and the Alphabet

Our guest speaker will be Dr. Christopher B. Hays, D. Wilson Moore Associate Professor of Ancient Near Eastern Studies, School of Theology, Fuller Theological Seminary.

Dinner served at 19h00; Presentation 19h45-21h15.

Thurber Thursdays is an adult community gathering and growth time that is open to all.

Christopher Hays joined the Fuller faculty in 2008, as occupant of the D. Wilson Moore Chair of Ancient Near Eastern Studies. In 2013, he was one of ten scholars around the world to receive the Manfred Lautenschlaeger Award for Theological Promise. He has previously held teaching and research positions at Emory University, Princeton Theological Seminary, and the University of Notre Dame Tantur Ecumenical Institute in Jerusalem. He has participated in archaeological research in Israel and conducts study trips there.

Hays is the author of Hidden Riches: A Textbook for the Comparative Study of the Old Testament and the Ancient Near East (Westminster John Knox, 2014) and Death in the Iron Age II and in First Isaiah (Forschungen zum Alten Testament 79; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2011). He is working on the Isaiah commentary for the Old Testament Library series, having translated the book for the Common English Bible and written the entry on Isaiah for the Oxford Encyclopedia of the Books of the Bible.

Hays has published articles on diverse topics in journals such as the Journal of Near Eastern Studies, the Journal of Biblical Literature, Vetus Testamentum, Biblica, Zeitschrift für die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft, Ugarit-Forschungen, Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections, and the Journal of Theological Interpretation. He has also contributed essays to various edited volumes.

Hays teaches courses in Old Testament and directs the master’s program in Ancient Near Eastern Studies in the School of Theology. His languages include Hebrew, Akkadian, Ugaritic, Aramaic, Greek, and Latin. Hays is ordained in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

7 April – Do Christians and Muslims Worship the Same God?: Five Biblical Answers

14 April – In the Beginning Were the Words: The Origins of Writing and the Alphabet