When we are children, we learn the stories of the Bible and get out of them what we can. But the biblical narratives are highly literary, theological works — they are sophisticated and complex!
The biblical writers used stories to teach, to edify, and to make a theological point. The deeper we dig, the more richness we discover.
St. Augustine wrote that the Bible is “shallow enough for a child not to drown, yet deep enough for an elephant to swim.”
An in-depth look at well-known Old Testament stories enhances our understanding of their meaning and message, for ancient Israel and for us today.
Christians have long wrestled with the question, “What must I do to be saved?” In 2020, concern for personal salvation also includes more concrete concerns about saving our planet.
We may be alarmed by cries that a global movement could have saved the earth if we had acted yesterday. We may be soothed by promises that the markets and technology will save us if prioritized. What do the resources of Christianity have to offer this contemporary crisis? Where is our hope?
Science is a discipline of observation. As a farmer I ask, “What is science teaching us about the resilience of nature?”
Theology is the discipline of the study of God. We approach theology with the humility of mere humanity. We will explore Bible stories, seeking wisdom to answer these questions:
We began by considering how our lives can be seen as threads of a story and what makes them sacred. Then we explored the first avenue into sacred story through the biblical theme of call and blessing. Two more threads of the sacred tapestry were drawn from our spiritual encounters and our many and diverse relationships: this is the warp and woof of divine and human experiences interwoven.
In the last session, we asked how the darker threads of the unbidden and unasked-for challenges also add texture and meaning to our sacred stories. What, then, is the unique fabric of each of our lives, still unfinished, still becoming?
Rev. Dr. Anna Madsen
OMG Centre for Theological Conversation
2018
September 14–16, 2018
Kuriakos, Sylvan Lake, AB
Justice, Grace, Hope:
Making Sense in a Mixed-Up World
Sessions:
Summary:
These loosely connected sessions centered around practical issues of how we can live, as Christians, in a world that continually challenges us.
We considered the factors that have led to a tendency toward quietude in the church. We also learned of theological traditions and resources that help anchor and expand our grasp of the implications of the Gospel.
We considered grace in terms of our interpersonal relations, our approach to public
policies, and our ultimate salvation.
Elements of the Christian tradition, partnered with research and expertise from the disciplines of neurology and psychology, offered tremendous possibilities for framing and attending to the experience of grief, mental illness, and despair. We came away with resources and reasons for hope.
Photo highlights from this retreat
Rev. Dr. Thom Johnson
Adjunct Professor at Claremont School of Theology
2017
September 15–17, 2017
St. Michael's Anglican Church, Canmore, AB
Reformation and Resistance for Today:
Inspiration from the Reformers, Bonhoeffer, and the Interfaith Movement
Sessions:
Summary:
At the heart of the Reformation movement was the call to challenge that which needs to be changed for the sake of the gospel of grace and to resist theology, practices and institutions that promote injustice. We were inspired as we explored the question: what does the Reformation mean for us today?
The format for these sessions was fairly interactive. In addition to lecture, participants enjoyed small discussion groups, tested their skill at a Reformation trivia game (prizes from Old Lutheran!), watch videos, and acted in a Luther-Bonhoeffer dialogue skit.
Photo highlights from this retreat
Rev. Dr. Matthew Anderson
Associate Professor, Theological Studies
Concordia University, Montréal
and ELCIC pastor
2016
September 23–25, 2016
Kuriakos, Sylvan Lake, AB
Pilgrimage
A Western Canadian User's Guide
Sessions:
Summary:
In a world in which so many pilgrims call themselves non-religious, and so many
voyages are called ‘pilgrimages’, we attempted to define Christian pilgrimage and
discover what makes a journey spiritual.
Through biblical and historical material and Matt’s own documentary films and experiences, we examined factors that make up spiritual mobility and how Luther changed the nature of pilgrimage.
Matt’s NW Mounted Police Patrol Trail walk through southern Saskatchewan last summer guided discussion of contemporary practices of journey, and especially ‘settler’ pilgrimage in Western Canada, as a meaningful, restorative and sacred voyage.
Photo highlights from this retreat
2015
September 24–27, 2015
St. Michael's Anglican Church, Canmore, AB
Faith in the 21st Century:
Politics, Science & the Workplace
Sessions:
Summary:
The sessions looked at the way in which faith reframes three contested areas of modern life.
Politics: Using Bonhoeffer’s struggle with the corruption of faith under the Nazis and his decision to participate in the plot to assassinate Hitler, we looked at some ways in which faith may inform and challenge political action.
Science: Science texts have been treated as antagonistic to sacred texts by many religious groups. We looked instead at some of the ways in which the Bible and science help each other to develop their full potential for human life.
The Workplace: Drawing on interviews with Christians working at various jobs in Alberta’s oilpatch, we reflected on the ways in which faith does and does not affect the culture of, and decisions made in, the workplace.
Photo highlights from this retreat
Dr. Harry O. Maier
Professor of New Testament & Early Christian Studies
Vancouver School of Theology
2014
September 26–28, 2014
St. Michael's Anglican Church, Canmore, AB
photo by Dan Toulgoet for the Vancouver Courier
Houses of Living Stone:
Creating Space for Mission & Identity in a Secular Society
Sessions:
Summary:
Why Space Matters: What does it mean to be a Christian in a modern secular society? How are we used to thinking about our identity? This lecture introduced some important concepts in the study of space and place in contemporary society and ask us to consider what space we inhabit as Christians and as the church. How do we imagine ourselves as the people of God in the midst of a secular world?
Spaces for Mission: The New Testament is filled with images of what space the church occupies. We explored some of the New Testament’s leading conceptualizations
of space and identity: temple, city, bride, fruit. We explored how such language invites us to imagine ourselves and how it can shape our identity of mission and identity in the secular world.
“You are the Body of Christ”: The Body of Christ is Paul’s central image of the church. This session explored this image within the larger social and urban context of Paul’s world. We discovered how Paul takes a commonplace idea and turns it upside-down. What can Paul’s reformulation of a political concept teach us about
the people of God in a pluralistic secular society?
Houses of Living Stone Built on the Rejected Stone: The New Testament calls Jesus the stone that the builders rejected. What does it mean to occupy a place built on a rejected stone? What does this mean for us as the people of God in our secular society? What particular space has God created for us in baptism? What place does the house built on the rejected stone have amidst the houses of steel and glass in modern society?
Photo highlights from this retreat
Earlier Speakers
2013
September 20–22, 2013
St. Michael's Anglican Church, Canmore, AB
Rev. Dr. Kristine Ruffatto,
Lutheran Theological Seminary Saskatoon
Good News from Old Texts
Sessions:
Summary:
The psalms form those who pray them. What can we gain from these ancient prayers of joy, sorrow, frustration, and even rage? What do these poems say about God and God’s people, and how does the speaking of them form faith and shape reality? We will explore the power of biblical poetic prayer for the life of faith and the richness of this evocative (and provocative) language.
The legal traditions of the Bible are living and dynamic. The Old Testament preserves a conversation about the relation between divinely revealed law and human interpretations of those laws. The New Testament proclaims Jesus as the One who both fulfills the law and overturns it, and it witnesses to the revising and even setting aside of older laws. We will explore what is the guiding principle behind biblical legal ethics.
2012
September 28–30, 2012
St. Michael's Anglican Church, Canmore, AB
Rev. Dr. Samuel Torvend
Pacific Lutheran University
Luther and the Hungry Poor
Topic
Martin Luther’s concern for the reform of society, as well as a reform of theology
2011
September 16–18, 2011
Best Western Pocaterra Hotel, Canmore, AB
Rev. Dr. Gordon Jensen
Lutheran Theological Seminary Saskatoon
Luther, Scripture and the Word
Topic
Discussed what Luther meant when he spoke of the Word as both audible and visible, and what that means for Christian ethics and worship.
2010
September 24–26, 2010
St. Michael's Anglican Church, Canmore, AB
Rev. Dr. Barbara Rossing
Lutheran Theological Seminary at Chicago
Ecology, The Bible and Our Future:
Are We Living at the End of the World?
Topic
Rev. Dr. Barbara Rossing discussed scripture and the care of the earth.
2009
September 25–27, 2009
St. Michael's Anglican Church, Canmore, AB
Rev. Dr. Kevin Ogilvie
Lutheran Theological Seminary Saskatoon
Christian Hospitality: Invited to Stay, Invited to Go
Sessions:
2008
October 3–5, 2008
St. Michael's Anglican Church, Canmore, AB
Rev. Dr. Volker Greifenhagen
Assistant Dean and Professor of Religious Studies at Luther College in Regina
The Bible and Qur’an:
Competing or Cooperating Revelations?
Sessions:
2007
September 28–30, 2007
Ramada Hotel, Canmore, AB
Dr. Christian Eberhart
Lutheran Theological Seminary Saskatoon
Atonement:
New Perspectives on a Central Idea
in Christian Faith
Sessions:
2006
September 30–October 1, 2006
Coast Canmore Hotel, Canmore, AB
Dr. Dittmar Mündel
Augustana Campus, University of Alberta
Through the Eyes of the Prophets:
How Amos, Hosea and Isaiah Criticize and Energize Us in Our Lives in Society Today
Sessions:
2005
September 23–25, 2005
Coast Canmore Hotel, Canmore, AB
Rev. Dr. Barbara Rossing
Lutheran Theological Seminary at Chicago
Reading Paul Again for the Very First Time
Sessions:
2004
September 23–25, 2014
Coast Canmore Hotel, Canmore, AB
Rev. Dr. Barbara Rossing
Lutheran Theological Seminary at Chicago
The Rapture Exposed
