Month: July 2024

ALPHA In A Good Way

My church, St. James Episcopal Church at 204 N. Lee St. in Leesburg, FL, 34748, is offering a free ALPHA course starting on August 6th. An ALPHA course is an opportunity to grapple with the bigger questions of life and faith in a fun, nonthreatening, nonjudgmental environment. ALPHA was originally designed for people who would not necessarily identify as churchgoers, but we find that it is equally valuable to ANYONE who wants to feel closer to God and His Church. ALPHA is an 11-week course, meeting from 6:00-8:00pm on Tuesday evenings in the parish hall. It also includes one Saturday retreat day. Each session includes a shared meal, a video about some aspect of Christian belief, and small group discussions. Our guests find open conversations, during which they are encouraged to share as much or as little as they wish about their perspectives, questions, doubts, and experiences.

I have been helping to coordinate the ALPHA program for several years. When I started with the program, I had no idea what I was getting into, to  be honest. God has stretched me and supported me and shown me a small glimpse of His power. He has used this opportunity to help me learn to trust His plan over my own. This is a lesson that I am sure I will have to keep learning for the rest of my life, but my work with ALPHA has been the most significant factor in this aspect of my spiritual development. I have experienced many other growth spurts related to my work with ALPHA, also.

I’ve also witnessed other people grow in faith and joy during the program. We call our participants “guests” rather than “students” because we are truly all students. One of our guests told me that, even though she had been a faithful, obedient, God-worshipping Christian for as long as she could remember, ALPHA was the first time she ever understood that God loved her. I saw young men, climbing their way out of dark, disastrous living situations, find a foothold with God and a community that is helping them step into the light. I watched people who had let God go because of what people have done in God’s name slowly and cautiously come back home to Him. I’ve met sturdy, faith-filled elderly people whose souls house a treasure of spiritual love and steadfastness. These people, some of whom mourned because they believed they were no longer useful, have been absolute rock stars in sharing faith. In the process, they have been able to grow even closer to God and His people, as well.

Sometimes, we look at religious conversions and spiritual experiences as a lightening strike.  One perfect moment when the electricity and passion of faith hits someone with a certain overwhelming, momentous power. Sometimes it is like that. In my observations of nearly 65 years of spiritual searching, I find religious  conversions and spiritual experiences are more often soft and gentle. They creep over us and cozy us, like a warm blanket on a cold night after a tough day. There are “aha!” moments in ALPHA, but there are so many more “aaaaah” moments. I love “aaaaah” moments. I am privileged to be present when people have them… or even when they simply open themselves up to them.

Our ALPHA courses get fantastic feedback. Our guests enjoy the fellowship and focus of faith formation. In a noisy, busy, secular culture that runs on the energy of  secular values, it is sometimes a relief to step away for a dedicated time to intentionally focus on the Kingdom values. I call ALPHA a “search party”- a “party” because we are all hanging out together and having fun and “search” because we are all seeking something. 

When we start a course, we never know where the guests will be on their spiritual development paths. We never know what people will need. We never know how to do it. We never know how to slant a course- towards the unchurched or towards those who have strong faith. The most important thing we don’t know is that we never know what is going to happen. I always say that my job is simply to turn on the lights and open the door. The rest is up to the Holy Spirit. She has not let me down yet. Something wonderful ALWAYS happens. I tell people, “Come and see.” (John 1:46)

In our last ALPHA course, we did have one interesting bit of constructive criticism. One guest questioned the name of the class. He came to the course with a societal  understanding of the word “Alpha.”   He understood it as meaning dominant, perhaps bullying, and toxic… like the terms “alpha dog” or “alpha male.”  This, of course, is not the Kingdom understanding of “ALPHA.”  ALPHA does not mean best or dominating in our lexicon. ALPHA means “the first.”  The ALPHA course is a first step for many people in developing their relationship with God. Even if it is not the first step a person ever took towards a relationship with God, an ALPHA course can usher in a new season of “firsts” of spiritual development for a guest…. And for ALPHA team members.

If you are anywhere in the Leesburg area, please do consider joining us for ALPHA. It is a lot of fun, in addition to being an opportunity to explore the big issues of life and faith. Please contact me at terriretirement@gmail.com if you would like more information. I also have a brochure that includes snippets of perspectives from some of our past guests.

Have a blessed day!

Terri/Dorry 😊

Where Exactly Is “The Sticks”?

The town where I live could not be called a thriving metropolis by any standard. In fact, I tend to think of it as a “small town.”  I am not sure that is entirely accurate. Approximately 29,000 people live in MyTown, which spans forty-two square miles. We have multiple grocery stores, banks, chain restaurants, and many traffic lights. We have a Walmart, although the locals often refer to it as “the bad Walmart,” to distinguish it from the four or five other Walmarts within easy driving distance. We even have a “mall.” It is pretty lame, dilapidated, and unpopulated, but it is there. If the Belk department store ever leaves, I think it is fair to say, “there goes the neighborhood.”

While most citizens of the world would not say that MyTown is “small,” my perspective comes from living in Southern California. The relatively small town in which I resided in California housed over 86,000 people- in only about seventeen square miles. My California town was in the midst of an urban sprawl area from the northernmost tip of Los Angeles County to the San Diego County border. It was difficult to tell where one official town stopped and another started. In my current locale, there are certainly towns that abut each other. However, the significantly lower overall number of people rule out the idea of “urban sprawl.” When I lived in Southern California, there was an average of 5060 people living on every square mile. In MyTown, Florida- only 690 people live on each square mile. The feeling is quite different.

Many of the longtime residents in my area see the population growth much more clearly than I do. They grew up when there were more orange trees than people thriving in our 41.94 square miles. To them, MyTown now seems like a city. They see traffic and crime and modernity encroaching. I get it. We left Southern California for many of the same reasons. On the other hand, perspective is everything.

Green was pretty much just a color in a crayon box to me until I moved to Florida. Now, I look out of my window at a beautiful greenspace, complete with wildlife. The developers of the subdivision purposely left it as a conservation zone so I should be able to go my entire remaining life without seeing construction behind me. In the nearly 10 years I have lived here, I have seen sandhill cranes, woodpeckers, cardinals, other unidentifiable (at least by me) birds, squirrels, raccoons, rabbits, bobcats, a jaguarundi, alligators, a couple of different types of snakes, a blanket of baby frogs, and lizards as ubiquitous as paper towels… all on my own property.  As I drive around town, especially in the summer after the snowbirds have left for cooler climes, I see lakes and canals everywhere. I remember my mother used to want to go to the “little bakery in the woods.” This bakery is situated on a major highway. Its neighbors were largely subdivisions. However, all the structures in the area are still somehow part of the “woods.”

It is not just the flora and fauna that I find so “small town” enchanting. The pace is slower, and the people are largely kinder than in my California town. Most people seem to hunker down in their homes, with their families, and enjoy simpler, purer kinds of recreational pursuits. My experience of life is more “out of the house.” My adventures, while certainly not wild and crazy, are a source of amusement and amazement for my Florida friends. I love my little house and I love my downtime in it, but my growing up paradigm was that “life happens outside the house.” Home was pretty much a place for sleeping. I still tend to “out and about” way more than I stay home and “cozy in.” We spend a lot of time Disneyizing, which most people my age without children would find odd. Beyond the Disney parks, I seek out new and different and offbeat ways of enjoying leisure activities. I love my life and my Florida friends seem to love sharing my life from the coziness of their own homes. And I am finding the pleasure of a life lived largely at home, too. Especially when that home has air conditioning.

So, I often wonder whether I really live in a small town or not. Do I live in the sticks or am I just marking time until the pile of sticks is used to build enough subdivisions to qualify us for the kind of urban sprawl I left in California? I hope not. When we moved here, I wanted to live in a town small enough to be easier living but large enough to have services, shopping, and artificial amusements within reasonable commuting distance. I think we did a pretty good job of meeting that goal. I do not think I want too much unfettered growth.

I think it is only realistic to anticipate some level of growth over the years. I think it is a good thing when a community thrives in population and vibrancy, especially if the growth is well-managed. I saw something the other day that made me more secure that we have a ways to go before I have to worry too much about excessive growth. My friends and I went to a small independent restaurant for brunch after church a couple of weeks ago. I took the photo below to demonstrate that it looks like I currently live in a one-horse town… and, in the summer, even that one horse snowbirds north!

Have a great growing day!

Terri/Dorry 🙂

Do you prefer a small town or a larger city? Please share your perspective by leaving a comment. In the alternative, you can email me at terriretirement@gmail.com.