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This is the newest release from Dr. Jeff Crittenden
Leisure Bound and Free is an exploration of ancient pilgrimage through the experiences of the Greek, Roman, Jewish, and Early Christian communities. Pilgrimage, a leisure activity, began with a focus on sport, entertainment, festival, and worship, but, thanks to a time of Roman peace and an efficient transit system, quickly expanded to include tourist activities, including sightseeing at the Egyptian Pyramids; standing on the site where Plato taught in Athens; and visiting the Roman Colosseum.
Religious pilgrimage, to Mount Olympus or the healing Temples of Asclepius or Jerusalem’s magnificent temple, amongst others, was intriguing in ancient times. In a world soaked in the sacred, people in early Christian communities began making pilgrimages to encounter holy places, holy people (dead or alive), and holy things. In the fourth century, Emperor Constantine began building sanctuaries on Christian pilgrimage sites, like the Church of the Nativity and Holy Sepulchre. Over time, the Roman Empire’s building program replaced, destroyed, or ignored all other formerly sacred sites. Today, most remaining church buildings are too expensive to maintain and largely empty. Perhaps this is the church’s invitation to remember and engage in becoming communities of and for pilgrims.
Toronto Book launch and a regional Pilgrimage Soup Tour are currently being planned. If you are interested in bringing it to your congregation, please contact us.
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As the church emerges from the impact of COVID, how will it reimagine its mission? With all the disruption COVID caused comes an opportunity for congregations. How will the local church organize itself, engage with the neighbourhood and world, and offer pastoral care to a planet dealing with the significant issues heightened during COVID?
Returning to old patterns of behaviour is a wasted chance. A theological opportunity for the church lies in rediscovering the classical aim of leisure. The early church during the first two centuries offers us an understanding of leisure quite unique from the dominant expressions of leisure, such as Greek schole, Roman otium, and the Jewish Sabbath. By exploring early Christian practices, we can find insights about leisure for mission today. These practices include setting aside a single day of the week to worship, sharing in a common meal open to all, and, following the meal, incorporating into non-work time care and engagement in the health and vitality of the community in the name of Jesus Christ.
The followers of Jesus were consistent, if extraordinary, in meeting weekly, on the Lord's Day, to worship, eat together, and go out into the neighborhood to live out their faith.
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Meet the Author
Meet the Author
The Rev. Dr. Jeffrey Crittenden, B.A. (Laurentian); B.Th. (McGill); M.Div. (McGill); M.Th. (St. Stephen’s College, University of Alberta); D.Min. (McCormick Theological Seminary, University of Chicago); Ph.D. (St. Mary’s), is the Minister of St. Andrew's United Church, an Assistant Professor of Homiletics at Huron University, and a Sessional Lecturer at Emmanuel College at the University of Toronto. He is also the Founder and Director of Pilgrimage Studies for the Centre for Practical Theology (Canada).
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