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Our community life includes worship on Sunday morning, Sunday School with the children and youth, School of Christian Living on Tuesday nights, mission groups sponsored by Stewards of Seekers Church, special celebrations for traditional holy days, two silent retreats at Dayspring Silent Retreat Center and two community overnight gatherings at Wellspring each year, and informal evening gatherings for the community, among other activities
Seekers Church worships on Sunday morning. We first gather for "Circle," an informal time to share announcements, greet visitors and practice the hymns we will offer during the worship service. Later, we enter the sanctuary. Hallmarks of our worship include silence and community prayer, scripture read from the congregation, a different preacher each week, and time for comment and shared reflection. When worship is finished, we gather for coffee and conversation. All children participate in the early part of worship, then leave for separate classes. The older children stay with the adults for the entire service when we celebrate Communion on the first Sunday of every month. A separate pamphlet, "Worship with Seekers Church: A Visitor's Guide," provides a more detailed introduction to our community worship.
Our School of Christian Living meets on Tuesday evenings. Participants gather for a simple meal together at 7:00, followed by a short meditation and classes from 8:00 until 9:30 pm. This is frequently a place where newcomers are introduced to -- and the congregation deepens its understandings of -- a life of spiritual commitment. We also offer visitors the opportunity to explore Seekers Church by inviting them to participate in classes with us. More details on the school are available in a separate pamphlet.
We observe three holy days in the church calendar with special celebrations. We celebrate on Christmas Eve with a shared meal at the Church headquarters, followed by worship with special emphasis on Scripture lessons and carols of the coming of Jesus. On Maundy Thursday, the night we remember Jesus' last supper with his disciples, our celebration includes a foot washing ritual to remember the importance of servant leadership in the community. On Easter
Sunday morning we gather early, to celebrate with a shared breakfast before worship.
Silent retreat is a central part of the tradition of Seekers Church. The Stewards are committed to annual silent retreat as a part of their spiritual discipline, and encourage all Seekers to make it a part of their spiritual practice as well. Seekers' silent retreats are regularly scheduled events in the Dayspring Silent Retreat program, usually led by someone from Seekers Church. For these retreats, priority for attendance is given to those from Seekers Church who want to spend the weekend in silence together. These retreats are usually scheduled in April and September.
Our silent retreats begin with dinner on Friday, followed by a worship service bringing participants into the "great silence," which lasts until worship on Sunday morning. This time together in silence gives Seekers the opportunity to deepen the non-verbal sense of community while tending to our own inner journeys. Retreats are a valuable opportunity to reconnect with God, the natural world, and each other, as we live for a weekend in an atmosphere of simplicity and tranquility. A brochure is available with more information on Seekers silent retreats.
Seekers Church overnights are held twice each year at the Wellspring Center at Dayspring Farm on a Friday evening and Saturday. Usually we reserve Wellspring in late October and mid-February. Schedules at the overnights are very flexible. There is usually some mixer or sharing activity on Friday night that involves everyone, with time afterward for singing, dancing or conversation. Saturday morning after breakfast is often a time for informal discussions of issues in the life of the community, walks in the woods and outdoor games.
Informal gatherings of Seekers include opportunities to celebrate important occasions in the lives of individual Seekers, monthly sing-alongs in the homes of various members of the community, occasional times of dancing, hiking or cycling together, and other occasions organized by someone in the community for all of us.
Rolling Ridge retreat center provides a place for informal gatherings in a quiet mountain setting. Seekers Church owns two shares of this center, allowing us to use the facility for four weeks and four weekends each year. Rolling Ridge is located near the point where the Appalachian Trail crosses the Potomac River, a few miles from Harper's Ferry, West Virginia. The center has overnight accommodations for up to 15 people, and is available for families or groups for retreat or vacation. For more information on the use of Rolling Ridge, speak with a member of the staff team.
Publications include Soundings, our monthly newsletter, which provides a calendar of community events, a summary of sermons for the previous month and news about the community, its members and its missions. Soundings is normally available when Seekers gather for worship on the first Sunday of the month.
In addition, there are three booklets, including this guide, that help explain our community life, the mission groups of Seekers Church and our guidelines for preaching and music in worship and smaller brochures that introduce Seekers Church and explain silent retreats. In addition, there is a very active site on the World Wide Web, with all of our publications and recent sermons at http://www.seekerschurch.org.
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