Author Archives: Jeanne Person

News of the World Lectio – Adjunct Professor Lindsay Boyer Creates YouTube Prayer Channel

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Hear, O hear, with the ear of the heart.

These chanted words begin each day’s video on Lindsay Boyer’s YouTube channel News of the World Lectio. The short videos, each no more than two minutes long, represent an innovative way of praying for the world that brings together the centuries-old spiritual practices of chant and lectio divina (sacred reading).

In each video, Boyer meditatively chants words from an article in that day’s edition of The New York Times, then chants a prayer based on a scriptural text, often from the Psalms, that thematically links with the news story.  Read more...

GTS Spiritual Directors: Last Days in Michaelmas 2013

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The three spiritual directors serving GTS in this Michaelmas 2013 term are here this and next week and are available to meet with both ongoing and new directees. Any member of the GTS community—student, professor, staff member, or family member—is welcome to meet occasionally or regularly (usually once a month) with a spiritual director. This ministry is a gift from the seminary to you.

To schedule an appointment with Louise Litke or Westina Matthews, click here.  Read more...

GTS Short Winter Courses: Contemplative Practices & Seeing into Insight

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The General Theological Seminary is now accepting registrations for the January 2014 term and especially welcomes General Learners (students not pursuing a formal program of study) to become part of the Seminary community. To learn about the Winter courses and to register, click here.

The two courses focusing on spiritual practice are designed with class schedules helpful for visitors to New York City and students who have full-time jobs.   Read more...

Kate Cooper Chats with Deirdre Good about Early Christian Women

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Scholars of Early Christianity from nearby universities and seminaries, laity, bishops of The Episcopal Church, advocates for women, and General Seminary neighbors, graduates, professors and students, filled Seabury Auditorium on November 18, 2013, for Two Scholars Imagine The World of Early Christian Women, an evening with Kate Cooper, award-winning Professor of Ancient History in the University of Manchester, and Deirdre Good, GTS Academic Dean.

Their conversation focused on Cooper’s new book Band of Angels: The Forgotten World of Early Christian Women, which follows the lives of women across the first centuries of the church.  Read more...

Join NYIP Young Adults for Compline on Wednesday, 8:45pm

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This Wednesday, October 30, the Guild of Precentors will offer sung Compline, in a candle-lit Chapel of the Good Shepherd, beginning at 8:45pm. Joining the seminary community for Compline will be  young adults in the New York Intern Program. The Officiant will be Ben Hines, an M.Div. student. You are cordially invited to participate in the liturgy, chanting and praying, and offering warm greetings to the young adults.  Read more...

A Light for Revelation: Invite a GTS Scholar to Preach on Theological Education Sunday

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The General Theological Seminary invites parishes to join in a special preaching event with the faculty for Theological Education Sunday, February 2, 2014. That Sunday is the Feast of the Presentation, and members of the GTS faculty are offering to visit parishes as guest preachers, each exploring the meaning of the story of Jesus’ Presentation at the Jerusalem Temple (Luke 2:22-40) through the lens of her or his theological discipline.  Read more...

GTS Digital Formation Webinar on Thursday, October 17 – Digital Giving & Financial Stewardship

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For churches, this is a money time of year. Parishes are beginning annual pledge campaigns and teaching about financial stewardship. Vestries are drafting 2014 budgets. Heating bills are rising with cooler weather and harvest dinners cooked in church kitchens.

Is your faith community effectively using digital technology for pledging and giving?

GTS Digital Formation invites you to learn about online resources for digital giving and financial stewardship by joining the second webinar of the 2013-14 series Equipping Digital Saints.   Read more...

Three Spiritual Directors to Offer Ministry Next Week

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Barbara Crafton, Louise Litke and Westina Matthews, the three spiritual directors who will minister to members of the Seminary community in this Michaelmas 2013 term, will all be on the Close next week and are  available to you for ministry appointments. Any member of the GTS community—student, professor, staff member, or family member—is welcome to meet occasionally or regularly (usually once a month) with a spiritual director.  Read more...

Join Two Scholars as They Imagine the World of Early Christian Women

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The General Theological Seminary invites you to Two Scholars Imagine The World of Early Christian Women, an evening with Kate Cooper, award-winning Professor of Ancient History in the University of Manchester, and Deirdre Good, GTS Academic Dean, on Monday, November 18, 2013. Together, they will offer a revisioning of Christian history to include the full weight of women’s contributions. Their scholarly conversation begins at 6:30 p.m.  Read more...

Compline: Three Wednesdays in Michaelmas 2013 to Welcome Young Adults

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On three Wednesday evenings in the Michaelmas 2013 term, young adults in the New York Intern Program will join the seminary community for Compline sung by the Guild of Precentors. The first sung Compline will be next Wednesday, September 25, 2013, beginning at 8:45 p.m. in the Chapel of the Good Shepherd. William Ogburn, Chief Precentor, will officiate. You are cordially invited to join in the liturgy, singing and praying, and offering warm greetings to the young adults.  Read more...

Westina Matthews Adds Thursday Evenings to Spiritual Direction Appointments

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At the request of members of the seminary community, Westina Matthews has added Thursday evening appointments, once a month, to her availability for spiritual direction appointments.

Any member of the GTS community—student, professor, staff member, or family member—is welcome to meet occasionally or regularly (usually once a month) with any of the three spiritual directors who are ministering to the seminary community in this Michaelmas 2013 term: Barbara Crafton, Louise Litke, and Westina Matthews.  Read more...

Beginning Monday, Contemplative Prayer Both Mornings & Afternoons

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Do you seek companionship in a practice of silence?

Beginning Monday, September 23, 2013, the seminary’s Contemplative Prayer group will gather both mornings and afternoons before the Daily Office liturgies. In the quiet beauty of the morning, and as the evening falls before the Vesper light, you are welcome to come for twenty minutes of silent, contemplative prayer, whenever your schedule allows and your heart desires.   Read more...

Women of General Hold Raffle in Support of “Our Little Roses” Girls

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Women of General is holding a raffle of a pair of theatre tickets to the American premier of an all-woman performance of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar to raise funds for Our Little Roses Ministries in Honduras, a home and school for abused, homeless, and orphaned girls, infants to age 18.

Our Little Roses Ministries, or Ministerios Nuestras Pequeñas Rosas as it is called in Spanish, began in 1988 with a vision of hope given to Dr.  Read more...

GTS Digital Formation on the “Cloud” – Next Webinar on September 19

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GTS Digital Formation invites you to learn more about the “Cloud” by joining the first webinar of the 2013-14 series Equipping Digital Saints. To be held on Thursday, September 19, from 2:00-3:00pm Eastern Time, the free webinar, Getting Past Unknowing: What is the “Cloud”?, will explore the basics of the “Cloud,” teach people how to access it better, and consider its theological implications.

Click here to register for the webinar.  Read more...

Three Spiritual Directors to Offer Ministry Next Week: Here’s How to Make an Appointment

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Barbara Crafton, Louise Litke and Westina Matthews, the three spiritual directors who will minister to members of the Seminary community in this Michaelmas 2013 term, will all be on the Close next week and are  available to you for ministry appointments. Any member of the GTS community—student, professor, staff member, or family member—is welcome to meet occasionally or regularly (usually once a month) with a spiritual director.  Read more...

Dean Dunkle Tends a Seminary Garden

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Photo: Joanne Izzo

On Labor Day, Dean Kurt Dunkle surprised the General Seminary community by doing some gardening on the Close to spruce things up for the first day of Michaelmas 2013 classes. The labor of love included planting a newly acquired fig tree for the beginnings of a Biblical garden.

“I was quietly reading when I heard the sound of scraping outside my window,” said Joanne Izzo, M.Div.’13 and S.T.M.’14.  Read more...

Spiritual Direction Ministry in 2013-14

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In 2013-14, GTS will be blessed by the ministries of four spiritual directors who will regularly visit the Close and be available to you for appointments. Any member of the GTS community—student, professor, staff member, or family member—is welcome to meet occasionally or regularly (usually once a month) with a spiritual director. This ministry is a gift from the seminary to you.

Spiritual direction is about holy companionship as you grow in relationship with God.  Read more...