Spiritual Formation
Our Purpose
We seek to maintain the vision of Southern Hills UMC by providing intentional opportunities for our whole church to be formed into persons of self-giving love through deepening surrender to and union with the Trinity.
How?
We are constantly being formed by the world around us. Our relationships, the media we consume, our upbringing, and our zip code, all have a cumulative effect on who we are and who we are becoming. As Christians, the primary goal of our lives is to become more like Jesus by growing in our love of God, and our love of others (Matt. 22:35-40, Luke 10:27). In order for us to be formed in the way of Jesus we must counteract the ways we have been formed contrary to His way, and commit to practices that help us become more like Him. As a team, we seek to graciously lead our church in providing opportunities to be formed into a community filled with the presence and power of God. Hence the term, “Spiritual Formation.” We envision this occurring in our church at three levels: Teaching, Community, and Practices.
Teaching
Effective Christian teaching helps us to orient our lives in a disorienting world. Here at Southern Hills, we teach through liturgy, Bible Studies, and Classes. We sincerely hope that these opportunities keep us rooted and grounded in the way of Jesus so that we can better follow Him in our daily lives. However, teaching is just one piece of the puzzle.
Community
We cannot follow Jesus alone, nor should we try! That is why we are committed to building intentional opportunities for our church to grow as a community. The rugged individualism of the United States is a cultural norm that has shaped many of us. There is nothing wrong with that, but we must recognize that the Holy Spirit draws us together, and we cannot live out the call to love one another alone. Opportunities such as our circles, United Methodist Men, United Women of Faith, choir, and our developing small group ministries are all opportunities for us to become the multigenerational community that our lead team has envisioned. We all need close spiritual friends, mentors, and guides who can aid us, rejoice with us, mourn with us, and keep us accountable.
Practices
If you decided to run a marathon, the best course of action would be to start practicing. You might hire a coach, or download an online training plan. Either way, you would look for proven methods to develop you into the type of person who could run a marathon. Our faith is much the same, though we often don’t think about it that way. As we seek to become more like Jesus there are a few formative practices that have been proven to work throughout church history. Disciplines such as prayer, fasting, service, solitude, confession, and more are practices that the church throughout all time has found to be essential for spiritual growth. Just to be clear, God is living and active regardless of what we do. The spiritual disciplines are not for God, they are one of His many good gifts to us. Practicing these disciplines is a means by which we participate with God in the work He is doing in our lives, in our communities, and in our world. With this in mind, we seek to provide opportunities for us to grow in our capacity to engage in spiritual disciplines. This will shape the studies we offer, as well as our developing small group ministry. One upcoming opportunity to begin learning more about spiritual disciplines will be our many opportunities to study the book Practicing the Way by John Mark Comer this Fall, and we hope you will join us to learn more.
Looking Forward
We are so excited to share more with you soon. We meet as a team every two weeks to continue to learn together, grow together, and discern with the Holy Spirit what opportunities we should provide to help us grow and achieve the vision of Southern Hills UMC. Look forward to hearing more from us about our upcoming study of the book Practicing the Way by John Mark Comer this Fall as well as small groups, new classes, and more! If you have any thoughts or questions, we would love to hear from you! Feel free to email poutman@southernhillsumc.org or talk to one of our team members.
Team Members
Loretta Barnes – Chair
Mary Jo Nielson
Sarah Haggard
Rachel Cole
Bob Durborow
Mark Nielson
Rick Pope
Ruth Haggard
Bonnie Lynch
Pastor Parker Outman – Staff Liaison