Spiritual Life Committee
A Resource Page for Your Spiritual Journey
Welcome to the Home Page for the Spiritual Life Group of Harcourt Memorial United Church in Guelph, ON. We assume you are visiting these pages because you have an interest in - or at least a curiosity about - spiritual life. We hope you will find enough material in these pages to get you started on your way, to confirm you on the way if you have already started, or even to interest you to consider starting! Being a Christian can be a wonderful journey of discovery - of God, of the Christ within, of yourself. We wish you all manner of blessings on your journey!
Who are we? We are a standing committee of Harcourt Memorial United Church. We consist of members who both have a regular spiritual practice and are committed to helping others develop spiritual practices of their own. Our mission is “To provide a range of opportunities for members of Harcourt to nurture their spiritual growth, including overseeing the ministry of trained spiritual companions. To ensure the integrity of the ministry of spiritual companionship working within and beyond the Harcourt faith community.”
The Committee provides a home, a forum, and an accountability mechanism for Harcourt’s Covenanted Spiritual Companions, who provide one-on-one spiritual direction as well as offer group experiences in meditation practices. At present the Covenanted Spiritual Companions are: Marion Auger, Andre Auger, Diane Clark, Lorraine Dykman, Ellice Oliver, and Kerry Wilson
The committee also determines what kinds of opportunities work best for our particular congregation - retreats, workshops, experiments in meditation, resource materials, occasions for prayer, special opportunities for meditation, etc. - and organizes events that encourage Harcourt members, and others, to learn about, develop, and acquire sound practices for deepening their spiritual lives.
What have we been doing? We currently arrange for someone from the congregation to share with the congregation, on the third Sunday of each month, a moment of “spiritual awakening” in their lives when they felt God’s presence in a particularly significant manner. We also write articles in the Harcourt Herald on spirituality matters. We are sponsoring the Ignatian Exercises in Daily Life, a 40-week series of structured spiritual exercises, led by trained spiritual directors. We have typically offered two six-week series introducing intentional spiritual disciplines to men. We are available to consult with other bodies within the congregation on ways to deepen the spiritual life of its members.
What is a spiritual practice? Here’s a definition you can reflect on: “A spiritual practice is any regular and intentional activity that establishes, develops, and nourishes a personal relationship with the Divine that allows ourselves to be transformed.” Being a Christian is more about practice than belief anyway! If you really want to grow spiritually, then spiritual practices are essential.