Communities of the Spirit is a youth curriculum that examines the inexplicable hope we find in early post-resurrection Christian communities and how they kept hope alive even in seemingly hopeless times. Inspired by Justo González, Regina Heater names these “Communities of the Spirit” and asks how we can create such communities today by examining common themes found in the post-resurrection stories: bravery, miracles, rituals, time and diversity, the fruit of the Spirit, and adversity and perseverance.
Through the eight one-hour sessions, the participants will consider these themes with a sense of wonder and create a Community of the Spirit of their own. They will be asked to consider what they believe are important components of a Community of the Spirit, with the hope that they will identify for themselves what they need in a community to help them continue to become the people God is calling them to be.
The author, Regina Heater (she/her/they), describes themselves as a “self-avowed and practicing ecumenist, story-collector, and story-sharer.” Heater has spent a decade in pastoral care and now serves as an administrator of a United Methodist church. Heater explains that she is “fiercely committed to intergenerational faith formation and the Wesleyan Quadrilateral.” These qualities are apparent throughout Communities of the Spirit.
