July Worship Series

In July, we will be experiencing “Quest: the Awakened Traveler,” a four-week worship series that will encourage us to open ourselves more fully to the curiosity and wonder, reflection and transformation that travelers–not merely tourists–experience when they choose to immerse themselves in soul-widening adventures.

Whether you travel far away or see your local surroundings as if for the first time, pilgrimage has long been a spiritual practice, and “journey” a deeply-felt metaphor for our spiritual lives. “Quest” comes from the Latin root meaning “ask, seek.”

This resource is from the Worship Design Studio, created by Dr. Marcia McFee.

If you’d like to go deeper with the “Quest” worship series, a companion journal for the four weeks is available to download, with links to video clips with travel guide Rick Steves, a well-known European travel expert, guidebook author, and host of a popular public broadcasting program.

“Quest” creator, Marcia McFee, writes: “This devotional booklet is an invitation to watch video clips of Rick Steves’ wisdom about travel and to journal or have conversations with others about your own memories of travel as well as your own perceptions of the world and its people.”

Here’s an example of what you’ll encounter in the journal – from Week One: Leaving Home ….

“In this clip from the “Travel as a Spiritual Act” webinar with Tammy Gieselman and the United Methodist General Board of Higher Education and Ministry, Rick talks about his feeling that ‘the road is church.’”

The accompanying question for your reflection is: “What kind of things have you experienced (or would like to experience) that broaden your perspective about life and spirituality and connection to a larger world?”