Following Francis Again

Time: 11 Monday Evenings, from October 1 to December 10;
7:30 to 9 p.m.
Place: Rector's Office
Leader: Rick Pearce

Francis of Assisi, who lived in Italy nearly 800 years ago, is one of the great saints of the Christian faith and an exemplary disciple of Jesus Christ. As a community of believers joined him, he created a rule of life to help shape the spiritual journey and reinforce the virtues of a Christ-life.

Our eleven week study is based on the book written by Susan Pitchford, called Following Francis: the Franciscan Way for Everyone. This study group provides an opportunity for adults to reflect on the spiritual life they are living and the life they desire to live. Those who commit to the group will be expected to purchase the book ($16) and have a journal to record responses to the reflection questions following the reading in preparation for the weekly gathering. Each session includes time for prayer, conversation, Bible study and sharing.

Morehouse Publishing writes about the book:
In a little town in Italy, nearly eight hundred years ago, Francis of Assisi renounced everything he owned to follow Christ with passionate and single-minded abandon. Even today, centuries later, this simple saint draws people around the world to Francis' story of living in humility, love, and joy.

Here in Following Francis, Susan Pitchford tells her own story of the Franciscan life, as a member of the Third Order, founded by Francis himself so that people from all walks of life can follow the saint's ideal, without leaving their homes or their occupations. Pitchford learned that the Franciscan tradition isn't the exclusive possession of monks cloistered in a monastery, but a spiritual path for ordinary people living in the twenty-first century.

Organized around the Rule of St. Francis, this book - a wonderful resource for private devotion or group study - shows readers what it means to live out the Christian life with a Franciscan accent.

"Not one more book about Francis!? Yes, but this one with breadth and depth and humor and even practicality. You will not be bored or disappointed!" --Friar Richard Rohr, O.F.M., Center for Action and Contemplation, Albuquerque, New Mexico.


St. Peter's Church is located at 654 N. Easton Road, Glenside, (just north of Jenkintown Road). The church is wheelchair accessible.