Recovering Rest

A Series Exploring the Practice of Sabbath in Community

“If you aren’t resting, you are a slave to something.” Adele Calhoun

We all need to learn how to rest better. In a culture that measures our value in terms of productivity and achievement, taking time to rest often induces guilt and anxiety. Many of us unwittingly live by the creed of “workism,” which The Atlantic’s Derek Thompson describes as the belief that work is “the centerpiece of one’s identity and life’s purpose.” When we do stop working, however, we have trouble experiencing true rest. In our down time, we look to our devices, but they often leave us feeling down, restless, and anxious. We take vacations only to need another vacation. We fill our calendars with activities that do not fill our souls. Perhaps the problem isn’t just that we don’t make time for rest but that we don’t understand what true rest is. Much more than a break that replenishes us for work, true rest reminds us of the true source of our value, enables us to enjoy God’s provision, and fuels us to participate in God’s work of creation and redemption. 

Join us for this series of Fellows and Friends gatherings that aim to recover the true rest that God calls us to in his gift–and command–of the Sabbath. In pursuing rest together, we also seek to recover the practice of Sabbath rest in community. The first gathering will explore the Bible’s teaching and Christian reflection on practicing rest, while subsequent gatherings will be led by Fellows alumni who will guide participants through forms of Sabbath rest and leisure that they have found helpful. 

Come and learn new cultural liturgies of Sabbath rest and all that it entails: worship, wonder, play, leisure, community, and a delight in God and in all the good gifts of his creation.