THE CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY 2023 CALENDARS ARE AVAILABLE!!
Our annual Christian Community Calendar will be available soon. The 2023 Calendar will be dedicated to Ukrainian Art.
The prices for both large and pocket calendars are the same as in past years. Although the printing costs are higher this year then last year, we want to keep the same price so more people would be able to enjoy them. Extra donations are always welcome.
Wall Calendars:
$35 for single copy
$25 for 10 Calendars or more.
Pocket Calendars:
$15 for single copy
If you would like to order, please email the number of calendars you would like to order and your mailing address. Please send your order ASAP. The last day to order is October 30.
The calendar includes the Festivals of the year, the Gospel Readings of the week, the list of priests and their congregations and more.
Rev. Mimi Coleman
LOGOS in Dortmund, October 2022
Min and I had the privilege of attending the celebration of 100 years of The Christian Community in Germany. The theme was looking ahead at the next 100 years. Many people from all over the world attended. 2,356 people applied and judging by the crowds they all turned up. There was a big group from Ukraine, mainly women, and children. There were also many young people. The 15-year-olds were the best represented age group. And there were more than 180 priests, among them Liza, who we know well. We also saw Sam Mirkin’s whole family.
The event, which stretched over 4 days, was held in Dortmund in a big Waldorf school and in neighboring anthroposophical institutions. In addition, there were several tents with the biggest having a capacity of 1,900 people. Meals were included and the feeding of the 2,356 resulted in long lines. Luckily the weather was good and we met many new friends while waiting for our meals.
The event started off in the big tent with two lectures. Every day there was an Act of Consecration at 8 different altars. The biggest Hall (600 people) was used for the 4 ordinations, one each day. We could only attend one of them, but it was very impressive. Between Min and I we attended an Act of Consecration in French, German, Dutch, English, Spanish and Japanese.
There was plenty of music. Before every Act of Consecration, we practiced the songs for the service. For the ordinationtions a 7-person orchestra accompanied the singing and during the ACM in Spanish, we sang 6 times during the service, mostly Spanish songs.
After tea break, there were workshops and lectures followed by lunch. My working group looked at the impulses of the first 4 Erzoberlenkers and how they shaped the development of the church and what the future asks of us. In the afternoons there was time for improvised meetings or presentations. I attended a presentation by Rev. Andreas Loos about the work of the church in Cali, Colombia. One afternoon the Ukrainians presented some Ukrainian songs, but this had a sad undertone because that very day the Russians were bombing Kyiv. In the evening there were cultural events, including a number of concerts and a Michaelmas celebration followed by an end of day service. We met many people, including old friends and we made a lot of new friends. It was a very special and inspiring event!
Min and Kerst
Resurrection in Autumn
Sermon from Rev. Carol Kelly
“Autumn is the season of ambivalence and reconciliation, a soft-carpeted training ground for the dissolution that awaits us all, a low-lit chamber for hearing more intimately the syncopation of grief and gladness that scores our improbable and finite lives….Each yellow burst in the canopy a reminder that everything beautiful is perishable, each falling leaf at once a requiem for our own mortality and a rhapsody for the unbidden gift of having lived at all.“
~ Maria Popova
We are at once in tune with and yet overcoming the dying-away in Autumn. Our transformation, our willingness to “become” begins with letting go, falling, acknowledging our “fallen-ness.” And yet, while nature is shutting down for the winter, we are waking up. We are stimulated by the cold wind, enlivened by the crisp leaves and clear air, the beautiful colors, enchanted by the possibility of lanterns and candlelight again.
We are awakened because it is time to put our strength and our courage to the test. In the Book of Revelation as well as Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, (chapter 6) we hear of mighty evil beings who seek to devour what is good, true, creative, and beautiful within us. St. Paul gives us a clear preventative action: “Continually hold to your heart’s vision of Christ’s presence with which you can quench all the flaming darts of the Adversary.”
Our heart’s vision is our shield! Our heart is the center of everything. There is nothing light or romantic about the heart. It is a powerful organ and a powerful force in the Universe. It can be our compass and our source of strength. We are to summon heart forces at this time! We are receiving what we are not yet prepared for: The pronouncement of the future in the Book of Revelation. It reveals to us the “higher divining” of the deed of life and death on Golgotha, so that we may experience the Resurrection of Christ, inwardly, while we are still alive on earth.
Do we have the heart for this mighty revelation?
We are to receive the Resurrection before our death; a reversal of the death and Resurrection of Christ. The colors at the altar, light pink and pale green serve as a reflection of this truth, echoing the strong Easter colors of red and green.
Our risen human soul awakens into the world of spirit as nature falls away. We are in close touch with the souls of the dead at “All Souls” time. We can rise above the calamities, offenses, and sufferings that cause us so much grief in earthly life, as we gain the perspective of the world -aims, and the Divine plan unfolding.
This is dependent upon our own inner activity: To continually hold to our heart’s vision of Christ’s presence. This is where we begin to come alive.
Our 100th Year Celebration
Reports from the Dornach Synod and from the Dortmund conference were shared as well as a look into the next 100 years!
We would all agree that we have a wonderful community! During our 100 Year Celebration, we came to the thought that we could work toward being a "full participation" congregation! What would that look like? Well, it would be beyond healthy; it would be "robust!" Here is a list of ways in which you could participate in our community, beyond attending church. Many of you already do one or more of these, but here is a list of our
ON-GOING NEEDS:
Someone to make the coffee every Sunday morning
Child care
Music
Outreach—Find ways to meet other people—Set up a talk by one of the priests at a local library or community center.
How will what we have and who we are reach out into the wider community?
Create your own special project/ fundraiser
Work on the Christmas FairHelp to create children's festivals
Join the threshold circle
Join the Carrying Group!
Please consider ways in which you can help to carry our very fine community!
World Healing Report
A group of Christian Community priests from around the world gathered at the Goetheanum last week in celebration of the 100 yr. anniversary of the beginning of The Christian Community. There we gathered to pray, to look back on the last 100 years and to work to perceive what is coming toward us out of the future.
Significant in our meetings was the celebration of the Act of Consecration of Man in many different languages, from English to Korean, and the presence of the Leadership of the Anthroposophical Society worldwide (Vorstand) who were invited to our morning celebrations. This was a healing and a gathering of forces on many levels!
A priest from Ukraine spoke about what the experience is like, living day to day in a war zone. They have gained strength and courage from the daily celebration of the Act of Consecration. We also heard from the priest from Moscow. The Russian Christian Community is also praying and crying over the terrible situation in which they find themselves. They do not support this war.
Patrick Kennedy spoke of the Damascus experience of St. Paul, seeing but not seeing the light which is all around us. And Emma Heirman spoke about our very individual and personal relationship to Christ.
The whole gathering felt like a world-healing. We were a "sea of white" all praying together, representing all of the people in every congregation around the world, facing one altar, one direction, eastward, where the spirit continually speaks to an evolving world.
The Courage to Speak
Sermon from Michaelmas Sunday, October 2nd by Rev. Carol Kelly
How did we get so caught up with our land, our business, entertainment, distraction, the "stuff of life" that we rejected the invitation to the marriage feast? (Matt. 22: 1-14.) How could we have turned on those from whom the invitation came?
We can be sure that when someone or something interferes with our comfort, or our "comfort zone", like a call to spiritual activity, (journey to the wedding) there will be a fierce reaction. We could draw back the curtain and suggest that the dragon is up and awake to defend his territory, and his possessions. All of the stories and legends of the dragon report a "hoard" of gold, jewels, and untold treasures beyond measure. What if his riches are human potential? Imagine all of the human potential that is held back by fear, discouragement, disappointment, or worse, by trauma or oppression? How many people have been "dumbed down" by the educational system or reduced by a mechanization of human capacities?
We hear of the man who slipped into the wedding without a robe, who was speechless when the king came to question him. Why did he not say anything? What could he have possibly said? He has been made "dumb" and does not even know that he is supposed to be wearing a wedding garment. How could he not know that? That is a key question for us: "How have we been kept in darkness and how can we awaken?"
Michael is the guardian of "Divine Intelligence." He seeks to enkindle the highest aspect of each one of us. When we recognize the higher being in ourselves and in one another, we strengthen that part in us which lives in the Spiritual World, with him. We join forces with Michael. We thereby strengthen one another as well. We create Christ Community.
New thoughts permeate the very air we breathe. What does it take for these thoughts to ignite in us?
"Michael himself appears to the vision of the heart in a robe woven for him by the universe out of Spiritual Light. And he challenges human beings to awaken to each other's humanity. He is a spirit who says little, leaving to human beings the fullest opportunity to speak with their own voices." — Adam Bittleston
May we have the courage to speak the right words at the right time, with courageous heart forces, filled with love and inspired by Michael. Let us accept the challenge of our time to reclaim our highest potential from the dragon's might.
Offerings from the Karl König Institute
Dear Members and Friends of The Christian Community,
I would like to make you aware of two current offerings from the Karl König Institute.
The first, entitled “An Inner Journey Through the Year”, is an online series on the “Calendar of the Soul”. It features two introductory talks and 52 weekly 20-30 minute talks by Richard Steel, founder and CEO of the Karl König Institute. The talks about each verse of the Calendar are presented through the lens of Karl König’s accompanying meditative, richly colored drawings, and also through the way that each verse is part of a “cross” of 4 related verses (as R. Steiner indicated). Richard has worked with these verses and drawings for over 50 years. I experience his talks as coming from a deep heart-understanding, and think they could be a great help in furthering our understanding of the Christian festivals in relation to the soul’s journey through nature’s yearly cycle. The talks are continually available via password and so one needn’t start with week #1 and can always go back for review. I very strongly recommend them.
The second offering arises from a festival held at Camphill Triform this spring: “Kaspar Hauser and the Apocalypse”. This festival was recorded so that people could experience it later in video format. The importance of coming to understand the being of Kaspar Hauser was emphasized by Rudolf Steiner: “If Kaspar Hauser had not lived and died in the way that he did, the connection between the human being and the spiritual world would have been completely severed.”1 And Karl Koenig wrote: “Kaspar Hauser is the protector of the image of God.”2 Among the many excellent contributions made in this festival, of particular interest for us might be the very detailed lectures by Eckart Böhmer, who has spent years researching both the earthly documented historical information about Kaspar Hauser’s life as well as the statements by both Rudolf Steiner and Karl Koenig about his spiritual significance for humanity.
The contribution for each event is $50; or $40 for students and where support is needed. If you cannot give this much, please give what you can. Pay for the Calendar of the Soul talks and/or for the Kaspar Hauser Festival videos at: https://camphillfoundation.org/donate/ and choose Karl König Institute in the box that says: “My Donation is for.” Then designate either COTS (Calendar of the Soul), or KHF (Kaspar Hauser Festival) – or both, if you are signing up for both events. Then be sure to email Deborah Grace and tell her the event(s) for which you want to receive the link and password: deborahgrace@karlkoeniginstitute.org
All the best,
Peter Skaller (on behalf of Deborah Grace and The Karl Koenig Institute)