Radically Altered Retreat - Day 2 Session 3

For this session we completely changed the ambiance of the room by using only candle light (and the light off of the projector). The crosses on the floor were created with candles surrounding the poster boards that had been made earlier that day (with the who I am now after an encounter with the grace of God sides up). We explained that these were done this way to remind us that what has been overcome by God stays that way...it is history...it is forgiven.

On a side note, one of the unexpected things that happened at the end of the session was that people began walking around these candle lit crosses as if they were walking a labyrinth. It was a long lingering time of continued worship that happened in silence and was powerful in its own right.

We discussed Mark 7:14-23 and Psalm 139:23-24. We focused on those things in us that separate us from God's ongoing grace and our relationship with others. We examined sins, attitudes, perspectives, etc. that cause us trouble. Recognizing that God's grace was big enough for our initial struggles, we reminded them that God's grace is also big enough for what we are holding on to or experiencing today.

As a response to our conversation, Bobby played a song called "The Alter" while participants took red felt tip pens and wrote a sin, attitude, or perspective that they wanted to turn over to God onto rice paper. Once Bobby was done singing, the participants came up one by one and stirred their papers into a crystal bowl of water. The water became thick and pinkish red. We poured the water out and refilled the bowl with clean water (pouring it from a distance to where it could be seen and heard) and reminded everyone that we are connected to living water and that these things could also be covered by the grace of God.

We then placed the clean bowl of water in the center of one of the crosses and invited everyone to participate in communion. After the communion liturgy, we laid out 12 plates and invited folks to come stand by a plate at the table. I served the first person, and they served the next, and so on. Friends were serving friends, significant others were serving each other, and new friends (former strangers) were serving one another...it was another powerful moment for me.

Here are some pictures of our time together that evening:

From Radically Altered Retreat - additional pics

From Radically Altered Retreat - additional pics

From Radically Altered Retreat - additional pics