Sacred Roots Thriving In Ministry - Apprenticed by the Early Church

W orkshop 1: “M eans ”: H ow to L ead a S acred R oots C ohort • 53

b. Different from reading a textbook

c. Different from reading a novel

2. Strategies for reading a spiritual classic

a. “Reading” with your ears (audio books)

b. Regular reading (time and place)

c. Reading on the Sabbath

III. The Art of Friendship: How to Build Friendships with Spiritual Classics

Make friendship a fine art.

~ John Wooden

A. Three kinds of spiritual friends

1. Friends in the “cloud” (Hebrews 12:1−2)

a. The authors of the spiritual classics

b. Sisters and brothers from past generations who have read the spiritual classics before us

(1) Augustine was powerfully impacted by a spiritual classic written by Athanasius called The Life of St. Anthony . 3

3 David Wright, “The Life Changing ‘Life of Antony,’” Christian History Institute (blog), 1999, https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/article/life-changing-life-of-antony.