Image courtesy of National Gallery ©
GOSPEL OF MARY FRIENDLY STUDY GROUPS
with David Curtis
NEW DATES ANNOUNCED!
New course of five weekly sessions,
Saturdays, April 15 - May 13
11:30 am-1pm San Francisco
7:30pm- 9pm London
or
6:30pm - 8pm Sydney
8:30pm - 10pm Auckland
9:30am - 11am London
This new revised course will include weekly interactive zoom sessions, online material, and a forum for ongoing conversations
to continue our discussions throughout the week.
Course fee £100
To find out more, contact
To register follow this link
We run regular online study groups looking at The Gospel of Mary together, in a friendly and supportive structure. No prior study or knowledge of the text is needed by anyone. We welcome members of any or no faith; through sharing our different viewpoints and experience in an atmosphere without judgement or criticism, we build a richer understanding of the text which benefits us all.
David will be leading a one-off 'taster' session of the Gospel of Mary Friendly Study Groups, as part of the Mythica Annual Mary Magdalene conference on Sunday February 19th , see here for details.
Some feedback from the study groups.......
“Meeting with such a lovely group of individuals with different views on the text has been a great help in expanding my limited vision of what the text is portraying.”
“It was heartwarming to meet and relate to diverse people from far and wide, all in a very accepting atmosphere.”
“One of the highlights of my week is Monday night, an injection of spiritual food, I always feel well blessed after each meeting.”
We use the friendly Bible study method developed by American Quakers Joanne and Larry Spears. This approach is like the story of the blind men describing an elephant. One is touching an ear, one the trunk, one a tusk, one a leg and another the tail. Each has their own equally valid perspective, and together their combined impressions build up to give a greater picture of the whole elephant.
The method has been developed to -
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Recognize personal experience as a central part of our spiritual lives.
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Recognize the equality of all participants in the study process. Remove the centrality of an authority figure as leader, thereby affirming that a spiritual dimension works through everyone.
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Recognize the availability of continuing revelation in our spiritual lives.
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Affirm the connection of the text to our lives.
Every session, we each reflect on a section of the Gospel in response to five set questions, and then we share our insights together. The set questions become like familiar garden tools which we use to dig into the text and unearth new meaning and insight. Our various different viewpoints come together to form a collective understanding.
The five questions addressed in each study session are:
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What is the author’s main point in this passage?
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What new light do I find in this particular reading of this passage today?
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Is this passage true to my experience?
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What are the implications of this passage for my life?
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What challenges, difficulties or problems do I have with this passage?
For more information about Friendly Study Method click here
To find out more about upcoming study groups, email us at david@thegospelofmary.org