Becoming a Self-Aware and
​
​Spiritually Alive Faith Community
​

Using the Spiritual Alphabet of 
Spirituality and Practice in
congregational life


Reflections by Reverend Teri Daily 

The Spiritual Alphabet
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​​​​attention  -  beauty  -  being present  -  compassion   -  connections  -  devotion  -  enthusiasm  -  faith
forgiveness - grace -  gratitude  - hope - hospitality - imagination  - joy -  justice - kindness - listening
love  -  meaning  -  nurturing  -  openness  -  peace - play  -  questing  -  reverence - shadow - silence
​teachers   -  transformation   -  unity  -  vision   -   wonder  -  x, the mystery  -  yearning  -  you  -  zeal

​Dear Reverend Daily,
 
I know that you have much experience in congregational life and that one of your aims is to foster healthy, spiritually sensitive community.  As a minister myself, I also know that this is not easy.  I understand that some among your own congregation – All Saint’s Episcopal Church in Russellville, Arkansas – spent some time exploring the spiritual alphabet offered by Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat.  I am wondering if you think such exploration might help a community of people, a congregation, recognize and perhaps even grow in community spirituality.  I say community spirituality because, at least in my experience, many people do not think of spirituality in communal terms.  They think of it primarily as an individual matter. 

Recently I saw a page in Open Horizons that included a questionnaire on spirituality, using the alphabet as its source.  The questionnaire included questions that small groups could address together, asking about their own life in community.  Given your experience with the alphabet in Russellville, do you think something like this might work?  I appreciate any of your insights on this.  Not as a substitute for service and liturgy, of course, but as an addition: an opportunity for spiritual self-examination.  Click here for the link to the questionnaire.
 
Ponderingly and gratefully,
 
Pat

Dear Pat,

Thanks so much for your question. I have used the spiritual alphabet developed by Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat for small group discussions in two congregations. It has been a helpful tool in both, and I believe it can be in your faith community as well. The questions developed by Dr. Jay McDaniel provide a wonderful starting point.
 
While we usually associate spirituality with an individual, communities themselves can have a distinct spirituality. That’s why we can find ourselves drawn to one faith community over another even when the beliefs, rituals, and demographics of the two communities are similar. We may find that one community better embodies the spiritual qualities that are important to us or that resonate with us. We describe this congregation as being a better “fit,” but we often don’t articulate the specific moods or qualities that draw us in. The spiritual alphabet gives us the framework to become more aware of the qualities embodied by our communities. It also helps us to be intentional about the ways in which we may need to stretch and grow as a community.
 
First, small group discussions based on the spiritual alphabet can in and of themselves help us to develop some of the spiritual qualities listed by the Brussats. As we explore with one another our individual and our community spirituality, we practice listening, being present, compassion, and openness. We pay attention to the spiritual qualities and practices that are important for others in our community, and through the practice of empathy we inevitably find ourselves asking questions about our community as a whole and the directions in which we need to grow. What spiritual qualities are important to others in our community? Are these persons being nurtured by current community practices and priorities? What opportunities might we offer to better meet the needs of those in our community, to enable the community to become more spiritually balanced and whole, or to promote understanding? As we participate in these conversations and ask these questions, we are practicing hospitality to those in our own faith community as well as in the larger community beyond our doors.
 
Second, even when there is agreement in a community about the spiritual qualities that take priority, many possible expressions of those qualities exist – in fact, there are as many concrete expressions as there are people, and more. Psychologist Carl Rogers is known for saying that the most personal is the most universal. Perhaps the reverse is also true: the most universal is the most personal. The qualities themselves are abstractions, and their concrete or embodied forms vary based on culture, age, faith beliefs, and many more variables. For example, let’s look at social justice as a spiritual practice. An eighteen year-old may protest the existence of capital punishment by protesting at prisons; a ninety-five year-old may demonstrate the same commitment through donating funds to legal aid or placing anti-death penalty signs in his or her front yard.  Both of them are living out a desire for social justice. By paying attention to the various embodiments of the spiritual qualities, discussions of the spiritual alphabet within a faith community may be one way to become aware of and to approach the differences that exist within that community, as well as to brainstorm more inclusive expressions of a given quality for the community itself.
 
Third, each spiritual mode or quality has its place and time in the life of a congregation, bringing new possibilities to a given situation. The spiritual alphabet provides a language and lens through which a community can explore its context and the challenges it faces. For example, I was asked to lead a retreat for the lay leadership of a congregation that was preparing for a pastoral transition. Several qualities required for a healthy transition were examined for each stage in the process, and these qualities provided the framework to then develop a concrete plan.
 
Forgiveness, gratitude, faith (in the sense of trust), and compassion allow a congregation to “let go” well – to say goodbye to both a stage in a congregation’s life and the pastor who journeyed with them. When the pastor's leaving is marked by disappointments on one or both sides, how might the congregation receive and give forgiveness in helpful and healthy ways? What about compassion for those for whom transitions are difficult?
 
As the community prepares for a new chapter, openness, imagination, hospitality, and hope are just some of the ways we can welcome the new into our lives. What are concrete ways of expressing these qualities? For example, hospitality can be expressed by painting the pastor’s office, wearing nametags, planning a celebration on the first Sunday the pastor serves, and supplying food and cold drinks to the new pastor's family on move-in day.  
 
Fourth, and perhaps most importantly, faith communities (like individuals) sometimes become trapped in the web of consumerism – their needs and desires dictated by a system for which monetary profit is the motivating factor. Conversations around the spiritual alphabet can be a framework for the articulation of values and experiences that speak to our spiritual, universal needs instead of artificial needs manufactured by our culture. They point us to what truly makes us human.
 
Of course, these are just a few ways to use the Brussats’ spiritual alphabet to promote self-awareness and spiritual growth in a faith community. I’m sure there are many more. May you enjoy rich conversations and even richer expressions of a spiritual health rooted in community.
 
All the best,
Teri

A Workshop Using the Alphabet

St. Mark's Parish Retreat
Camp Mitchell
​April 21, 2018

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