Sacred Ordinary Days

The invitation to create and live into a rule of life is, at its heart, an invitation to join God in the work of redeeming chaos by creating cosmos. To welcome beauty, order, and wholeness. To name the priorities, postures, practices, and rhythms you want to form—and be formed by. Because, whether you're aware of it or not, you are being formed by the forces and expectations around you. In creating a rule of life, you become intentional about the values and dynamics that shape who you are becoming.

This is our most-asked-for resource—the one we've been dreaming and planning from the very beginning and now refining throughout 2021 in our first three cohorts.

Through our time together, you’ll learn how to discern and live into healthy rhythms, postures, and practices that will guide you as you grow in Christ-likeness. You’ll learn more about what a rule of life is—and what it isn’t. (Hint: it isn’t a list of resolutions or ambitions for self-improvement.) You’ll release what isn’t serving you to make more room for God's presence in your life and begin reshaping and renewing your world under God’s guidance. You’ll chart action steps to integrate your domestic, faith, and work households more fully and weave prayer into your everyday rhythms and routines. You’ll create profound and regenerative rhythms of hospitality and identify ways to actively cultivate joy in your daily rhythms. You’ll finish the course with your own, unique rule of life that fits your current season and yet, has the ability to adapt to any circumstance that arises while moving you toward holistic faithfulness.

Specifically, we hope that in working through this course you will:

• Become more attentive to God’s invitation to shape your life according to God's love
• Practice transforming your daily work into “prayer without ceasing”
• Create stability in your life, so that you are able to extend more profound hospitality to others
• Protect joy for yourself and others by minimizing decision fatigue and burnout
• Develop a “rubric for decision” so that you can your rule of life can adapt to new seasons and situations
• Enjoy God’s goodness through rich daily practices and gentle rhythms
• Interact with a vibrant, global, ecumenical community of fellow Christians and gather in a small formation group led by a minister or spiritual director where you'll have time to ask questions, celebrate milestones, and workshop the course material together

Frequently asked questions:

• How much time should I allow for the course? I'm really interested but want to be sure I can fully commit. Thank you for taking such a thoughtful and thorough approach to your commitments! You can plan to spend up to four very flexible hours on each course module, depending on your schedule, priorities, and preferences. You can spend those hours in one chunk if that works for you, or work them in by smaller snippets here and there. You may spend an hour or so on each of the following: 

• watching course videos and reading through course materials (up to 2 hours per module)

• engaging with your small formation group via zoom meetings (1 hour per module)

• reflecting on and responding to the module (up to 1 hour per module)

• I’ve never heard of a rule of life. Can you tell me more about what it is, exactly? A rule of life is a commitment to live in a certain way. Once written, your rule of life serves as a tool to help you make decisions for your life and determine how best to order your days. The idea of a rule of life stretches back thousands of years, to the sixth century, when Benedict of Nursia created his Rule to help the community he led translate their faith into the habits and rhythms of daily life. Benedict’s text was widely adopted and has become a key text for Christian monastic life in the 1500 years since he first wrote it. 

• This course sounds incredible! I am very new to the liturgical year and spiritual practices in general, would this course be appropriate for me? Absolutely! One of our hopes is to come alongside you with both guidance and companionship as you seek to integrate spiritual practices into your everyday life. The liturgical year has been a wonderful guide for us in doing just that, and we explore together in the course ways it might be a guide for you, too, as you look at your rhythms and practices. 

• Is this course specific to a particular denomination or faith tradition? The course was written for and has already been appreciated by an ecumenical body of students. It’s applicable to anyone who desires to embody a faithful wholeness and grow in Christ-likeness. We highly value the distinct contributions and unitive communion of the various denominations and experiences within the Christian tradition, as well as of our brothers and sisters outside the church. We expect the course (as our community) to be full of a variety of theological perspectives on all the things—but sharing our experiences, stories, and faith is part of the point! Our interactions in the course portal, during office hours, and in small formation groups, will be guided by our community values and conversation guide, which are focused on hospitality, curiosity, and humility.

• Is there a payment plan so I can spread the cost out over a few weeks or months? Yep, we've got monthly payment options for each formation group time! Just scroll back up and click the button that says "View Payment Options" to select the meeting time that works best for you.

• Is there a chance this course might be accessible by sliding scale or scholarship? We've been able to offer several, so far, and hope to continue. Email us at hello@sacredordinarydays.com with your specific request. 

Course Material: 12 online modules, including corresponding videos and interactive/printable PDF workbook pages for each module

Community Experience: Journey alongside others tending to their own intentional formation. Simply choose the meeting day and time that works best for your rhythms. Each cohort will be led by a spiritual director or minister. 

Cohort Options: 

May 2022 | 12 Month Cohort (meets monthly May 2022 - April 2023)

• 2nd Thursday of each month at 9 am central

June 2022 | 12 Month Cohort (meets monthly June 2022 - May 2023)

• 2nd Thursday of each month at 1 pm central
  
• 3rd Tuesday of each month at 8 pm central

The practice of doing a yearly examen on an anniversary or birthday, on some meaningful (or challenging) occasion, or at the beginning of each new year, has been a gift for many. The prayer of examen is a centuries-old practice that invites us to reflect on our days prayerfully in the presence of God. Rather than a formula to memorize, it is a form of prayer based on a series of five movements drawing you through presence, reflection, awareness, faithfulness, and ultimately, hopeful action. This retreat will help you cultivate an awareness of God's work in your daily life over the past year and move forward toward the coming year in a spirit of hope. 

Each half-day retreat includes an introduction and teaching on the Prayer of Examen for any who may be new to the practice (or who would appreciate a refresher or a new perspective). The center portion of the retreat will be spent in prayer, reflection, and practice alone. The last part of our time together will be to re-gather for noticing, questions, workshopping, and further connection. Each retreat date is a stand-alone invitation to join an intimate group of 10.

No experience with the Prayer of Examen is needed to join a guided retreat! Beginners and long-time practitioners alike will benefit from the intentional time spent in retreat. 

Yearly Examen guided retreat dates:

• Friday, May 13  | 10:00 am – 2:00 pm central
  
  Time Zone Translator here

Retreat Length: 4 hours

Half-day Online Retreat: each guided retreat will gather via Zoom for one hour at 10 am central, sending retreat-makers off for two hours, and gathering again for one hour at 1 pm central with info and meeting links delivered ahead of time via email. We will also provide some recommendations for how to choose where you will make retreat, whether at home, at your church, at a retreat center, or anywhere that you can connect to the internet.

In Art for All Seasons: a Coloring Book for Lent + Eastertide, we’ve created coloring pages for the liturgical seasons and holy days of Lent and Easter. We created this series of images to help you engage with the practice of visio divina throughout Lent and Eastertide.  

These beautifully designed, meticulously researched images are inspired by early Christian art and architecture such as mosaics, stained glass, icons, and other sacred works. Rich with symbolism, the images offer a series of invitations through imagery to guide your prayer and practice throughout Lent and Eastertide.

Visio divina is a prayerful practice of sacred, or divine, seeing. It's similar to lectio divina but involves engaging with an image rather than a text. In visio divina we invite our hearts and imaginations to enter into a sacred image, in silence, to see what God might have to say to us. 

What to Expect from Art for All Seasons: a Coloring Book for Lent + Eastertide PDF

• A downloadable 23-page PDF with the option to print at home, print professionally, or use on your favorite device; simply download your PDF to get started
• Two pages for each of the ten seasons and holy days of Lent and Eastertide (Lent, Ash Wednesday, Annunciation of the Lord, Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, Easter, Ascension of the Lord, and Pentecost)
• Each liturgical season or holy day coloring page is accompanied by scripture and a resources page with questions to ponder, practices to consider, and a guided invitation through imagery 

It is our hope that the artwork and invitations will enfold and beckon you deeper into the faithful living of your sacred, ordinary days.

Sacred Ordinary Days retains the rights to all files on this site. Your purchase simply conveys the license agreement that grants permission to use the files. Attribution is preferred and always appreciated, but not required. For example, you might include “Art for All Seasons: a Coloring Book for Lent + Eastertide by Sacred Ordinary Days. For more resources on Christian spiritual formation, prayer practices, and the liturgical year visit www.sacredordinarydays.com.”

These rich, symbolic images representing the liturgical seasons and holy days of Lent and Easter are meant for use by churches and ministries. 

Beautifully designed and meticulously researched, these images are inspired by early Christian art and architecture such as mosaics, stained glass, icons, and other sacred works. We created this series of images to help your congregation , community, or group engage with the practice of visio divina throughout Lent and Eastertide, accepting the invitation to prayer through imagery.

Visio divina is a prayerful practice of sacred, or divine, seeing. It's similar to lectio divina but involves engaging with an image rather than a text. In visio divina we invite our hearts and imaginations to enter into a sacred image, in silence, to see what God might have to say to us. 

• Print and digital files for 10 different seasons/holy days: Lent, Ash Wednesday, Annunciation of the Lord, Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, Easter, Ascension of the Lord, and Pentecost
• Choose all color + black and white image files or black and white image files only.

Your purchase includes 10 artwork files suitable for use in both print (worship guides, bulletins) and digital (emails, social media, projection) applications. Use the files for any non-ticketed live events, such as worship services, liturgies, special events, or installations. Put them in emails and newsletters. Post them on websites or social media.

Please do not use the files for any commercial purpose. For example, please do not redistribute and/or sell the files, or use them to create any product to distribute or sell, printed or digital. Please do not alter the files in any way.

Please do not share the files with other churches or ministries. For multi-site churches or ministries with multiple campuses: your purchase covers a single site license, meaning each purchase is site-specific & covers one single campus. Each additional site/campus will need to purchase content separately.

Sacred Ordinary Days retains the rights to all files on this site. Your purchase simply conveys the license agreement that grants permission to use the files. Attribution is preferred and always appreciated, but not required. For example, you might include “Artwork by Sacred Ordinary Days. For more resources on Christian spiritual formation, prayer practices, and the liturgical year visit www.sacredordinarydays.com.”