Learning to Walk on Water...
By Robert Bower
The final Spring 2020 in-person classes of the Seminary of the Christian Community in North America, located in Toronto, Canada, ended as planned in late March of 2020, just as the world-wide events connected with the novel coronavirus started to take hold. The echoes of uncertainty around this global pandemic reverberated in most of our lives for months on end. This unpredictability also impacted the plans of the seminary directors, the next group of potential priests, and continuing & new seminarians. A June 2020 Whitsun trip to the Seminary in Stuttgart, Germany and to the Goetheanum in Dornach, Switzerland had to be scrapped. In-person priest candidate meetings with the Circle of Seven (the leadership of the Christian Community located in Berlin) were canceled, and alternative plans were developed, redeveloped, changed, abandoned, and finally reborn.
At one time, it was hoped that ordination training would begin in Toronto in August with continuing and new seminary students joining in October, and with ordinations occurring in December 2020. However, with a closed border between Canada and the United States (where most of the candidates live), this intention was not possible. Technology helped maintain connections and allowed some training to continue, but could not replace the fullness of the in-person gatherings. And so new ideas were evaluated. As the fog continued to not settle, and in many ways is still not settled, “tentative” became the rule. Gail Ritscher, a seminary support volunteer, was pulled in by the seminary directors, Rev Patrick Kennedy and Rev. Jonah Evans, to scout out possibilities for moving forward. Finally, with the additional help of Rev. Paul Newton and his wife, Donna Simmons, a plan firmed up for where the training for the ordination of 8 students could at least be begun.
And so, in December 2020, Patrick Kennedy and his family moved temporarily back to Spring Valley, NY, USA to prepare for the arrival and preparation of the 8 in January of 2021 in The Spring Valley Christian Community church and its environs. Even at the time that this ordination term was started, it was still hoped that the actual ordinations could take place at the Seminary’s new home in Toronto. This no longer looks possible. The ordinations are scheduled to occur on the weekend following Ascension, May 13, 2021, with their location still to be confirmed. It will be very special to see the influx into the Movement for Religious Renewal of such a large group of English-speaking priests in these momentous times.
The 8 priest candidates are (from left to right): Lesley Waite (New Zealand), Jong-Won Choi (USA & South Korea), Kate Kennedy (USA), Anna Silber (USA), Victoria Capon (USA), Jeane Lee (USA), Lisa Majoros (USA), Mimi Coleman (USA).
Our beloved former director, Rev. Bastiaan Baan, was originally scheduled to come back to North America to support the ordination process, but, alas, this plan also had to be cancelled. Patrick is now being helped in Spring Valley by their resident priest, Rev. Paul Newton.
What takes place in such a time of preparation? Ordination preparation student, Jeana Lee, shares the following about her current experience in Spring Valley: “It does not feel like we are in school anymore; we are walking towards a threshold. One aspect that is particularly meaningful to me is connecting with the events of the Founding and getting to know some of the founders through their letters and stories. There is a deepening and widening of prayer life as well.”
Once the preparation group plan had been settled, questions of how to work towards continuing with the Walking with Christ students (of which there are 5–some of whom are Canadian) and beginning with the new Knowing Christ students (of which there are, also, 5) were addressed. Thoughts of adding these groups to the Spring Valley activities were carefully considered, but finally the logistics of managing such a large group of guests in a community that was no longer the seminary’s home (the Seminary left Spring Valley in the summer of 2019 for Toronto) ran into too many road-blocks.
In early December, the seminary directors, Patrick and Jonah, therefore decided to delay in-person learning for these Walking with Christ and Knowing Christ students. After being faced with another cancellation/delay for in-person study, it was the students who took the initiative! New ideas were born among these students and 2 locations for continuing forward came together organically. They shared these ideas with the directors, and these two locations began classes in late January. They are as follows:
2 Walking with Christ and 5 Knowing Christ students studying in Hillsdale, NY, USA (2 hours north of Spring Valley and 7 hours south-east of Toronto, Canada).
Knowing Christ student in Hillsdale, Faith DiVecchio, shares her thoughts about how the Hillsdale activity came into being:
“After the decision to delay the first and second years until April or maybe even September of 2021, an upsurge of forces within the student body arose to keep trying to find something that could work. Together with Patrick and Jonah, a plan was hatched for the students in the US to come together in person in Hillsdale to study Sunday evening through Wednesday followed by our group traveling to Spring Valley to attend classes there on Thursdays and Fridays (most of the students sleep on the floor of the church on Thursday nights).
For our opening circle in Hillsdale, Patrick came up from Spring Valley on a Sunday afternoon in late January. How amazing it was to meet him in person for the first time! The circle felt full of energy, as if something surprisingly substantial had landed in our midst in the Hillsdale ‘sunroom’, the winter light fading behind the tall pines as we talked about the seven activities of the priestly self (perhaps, more on that in another post!) and shared thoughts and questions towards the unusual semester journey we were beginning.”
An amazing aspect about this effort are the offerings of The Christian Community Church in Hillsdale, NY (which serves the Taconic-Berkshire Region), its priests, Rev. Carol Kelly and Rev. Franziska Hesse, and the local community, including several learned faculty members: Laura Summer (Painting), Laurie Portocarrero (Speech), Stella Elliston (Eurythmy), and Hans Schumm (Painting). Jonah also teaches a class to the Hillsdale group via zoom. And, Daniil Kalinov, a member of the Boston Christian Community, teaches an on-line Greek Class, as well.
When in Spring Valley on Thursdays, besides Patrick leading a couple of classes, Rev. Norah Minassian (Devon, PA), Rev. Paul Newton (Spring Valley), and Barbara Renold (Speech) also help teach the Hillsdale 7.
Those studying based out of Hillsdale include (from left to right, back row) Tish Pierce (Walking with Christ), Faith DiVecchio (Knowing Christ), Teresa Bogdanovich (Knowing Christ), Dhruva Corrigan (Walking with Christ), (from left to right, front row, Knowing Christ students) Caitlin Wallace, Shannon Young, Claire Jerram.
3 Walking with Christ students studying in Toronto at the Seminary with Jonah, with additional classes led by Rev. Susan Locey, Rev. Inken Contreras, Reg Down (Eurythmy & Speech), Regine Kurek (Art), and Sylvie Roberge (Speech); Thus far, I have been amazed at how much our understanding of the Christ Mysteries and our experience of the Sacraments including the Act of Consecration of Man have been deepened through our course work.
Student Erica Maclennan describes her experience in Toronto as follows:
“Being at the Seminary for a second year of studies is amazing! Not only because it looked as though it might be delayed a year, but because the richness and depth of material and learning has been way beyond my expectations.”
The 3 students at the Toronto Seminary with director Rev. Jonah Evans:
Erica Maclennan, Marc Fortin, and Robert Bower (from left to right).
As we continue into our studies, the Walking with Christ and Knowing Christ students, with some help from those who are in the Distance Learning Program, will be posting here weekly, sharing some of our experiences, artistic work and thoughts as we-somewhat precariously, but full of heart--wind our way through a pandemic version of the seminary spread out over our three locations.
So, now we’ve begun, and we are on our way. We are all connected, all three “campuses”, by the central sacrament of The Christian Community: The Act of Consecration of Man. This sacrament is almost a daily part of priest training at all three locations. And when looked at together, this sacrament will be celebrated each and every day through Ascension and maybe beyond. This is something done for all of us. This is something done for the world.
To close, each week through June, we will share with the wider seminary community glimpses into our life and learning here at the seminary.
Warm Greetings from Toronto,
Robert
About the author:
Robert is from the Chicago area by way of Ghent, New York. He has been a biodynamic vegetable grower for over 25 years.
This is a blog entry by a student at The Seminary of the Christian Community in North America. These are posted weekly by the student editorial team of Robert Bower, Shannon Young and Faith DiVecchio. For more information about our seminary, see the rest of our website, and for even more weekly podcast and video content check out the seminary patreon page.
The views expressed in this blog entry do not necessarily represent the views of the Seminary, its directors or the Christian Community. They are the sole responsibility of its author.
