I recently posted about an unpleasant experience I’d had at a retreat hosted by a charismatic community. It was unpleasant because they took a very condescending, holier-than-thou type of attitude towards people like me who are accustomed to (and prefer) silent, more contemplative worship. They believed (or at least seemed to) that not praying “in the Spirit” wasn’t praying […]
Charismatic Gifts and Spiritual Maturity
Patrick shared an encounter that he had with a retreat group purporting to be a charismatic group, and the leader of which insinuated that to not pray “in the spirit” is to not pray at all. Naturally, Pat was offended. We went back and fourth discussing his piece, and I encouraged him to do his […]
Many Parts, One Body: In Defense of Silent Worship
I hate to say it, but recently, for the first time ever, I left a retreat genuinely disappointed. I had some things on my heart, chief among them being unhappiness with my job. These are things for which I usually feel uplift and consolation during retreats. This time, it was different, but not because of the […]