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Dreaming in Church: Dream Work as a Spiritual Practice for Christians
Humans are created as dreaming creatures and have been interested in the meaning of their dreams for thousands of years. This book offers tools and guidelines to help you work with your dreams as a practice of your Christian faith. Drawing on biblical and historical references as well as modern research, the book outlines ways to better understand your own dreams and gives practical advice for beginning and leading a dream group. The book also discusses how other contemporary spiritual practices, such as lectio divina, journaling, and meditation, can inform your dream work and vice versa. Dreams are not a secret code and will not necessarily improve your life forever, but they can serve as a valuable source of insights and inspiration in your life. This book will help you reach a deeper understanding of yourself and your faith through working with your dreams. ""This is a delightful book that provides a unique insight into the relationship between the church and dreaming, both being places where a person can find a personal experience with God and obtain guidance and nourishment that they can apply to their professional, social, and spiritual lives."" --Bob Hoss, Director, DreamScience Foundation; Former President, International Association for the Study of Dreams ""This book is an outstanding introduction to religious and spiritual ways of working with dreams. Reverend Nelson distills a wealth of personal experience in teaching people about the deeper potentials of their dreams. Filled with practical guidance and wise insights, Dreaming in Church should be required reading for anyone interested in an applied pastoral approach to dreams."" --Kelly Bulkeley, author of Dreaming in the World's Religions Geoff Nelson is a spiritual director and retired Presbyterian pastor living in Whittier, California. He has forty years of experience working with his own dreams and twelve years of experience leading dream groups in churches and other settings. His DMin dissertation addressed the benefits and challenges of conducting dream groups in local churches, and he completed his training as a spiritual director at San Francisco Theological Seminary.
192 pages, Hardcover
Published February 10, 2016
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February 20, 2017
I find Nelson’s perspective inviting: “I’m a retired pastor, and this book reflects a pastoral approach to using dreams. It includes elements of psychology, myth and legend, biblical studies, etc., but the basic perspective is that of a pastor of a Protestant Christian church who seeks to lead people into a deeper understanding of themselves and of the workings of God’s Holy Spirit.”
Nelson writes with three audiences in mind: spiritual seekers from any tradition, Christian laypeople interested in their dreams, and Christian leaders, pastors and teachers who are interested in leading people into the world of spirit as accessed through dreams.
Nelson is drawn to dream work because dreams are universal. He tells us the story of how dream work became his calling and how his dreams become prayers for the day. Included are many dream excerpts in the book (Nelson’s own dreams and some from his groups with permission and with names changed for confidentiality).
There is a whole chapter entitled “Dream Work in the Church,” in which Nelson explores the thirsts behind religion and how dream work fits in. He also explores the history of resistance to working with dreams. In a discussion of the concept of the soul and how it relates to dreams and the church Nelson tells why dream work needs to have a structure around it and how the church can provide a container.
Nelson says, “Dream work is not the salvation of the church, but dreams are easily accessible to all, and dream work should be one of the tools we use to help revitalize the church, to re-introduce the modern church to the realm of the spirit, the work of the soul. …Dreams can provide the energy, the imagination, and the creativity that is much needed in contemporary mainline Christian churches in the United States.”
Through Nelson we get insights into dreams, dream work and spirituality through a wide variety of voices. One of my favorite quotes is from Dietrich Bonhoeffer, one who experienced great evil arise among so many educated, rational people: “Deeply disturbing is the failure of rational people, who can see neither the chasm of evil nor the chasm of the holy, who with the best of intentions believe that with a little reason they can reunify a structure that is falling apart. In their lack of vision they want to do justice to both sides and are thus caught in the crossfire between clashing powers, without having accomplished the least bit.” Dream work can give us another kind of information as we face the challenges of life.
What a wonderful way to travel into the world of the Spirit in company with a group of seekers doing dream work together.
Nelson writes with three audiences in mind: spiritual seekers from any tradition, Christian laypeople interested in their dreams, and Christian leaders, pastors and teachers who are interested in leading people into the world of spirit as accessed through dreams.
Nelson is drawn to dream work because dreams are universal. He tells us the story of how dream work became his calling and how his dreams become prayers for the day. Included are many dream excerpts in the book (Nelson’s own dreams and some from his groups with permission and with names changed for confidentiality).
There is a whole chapter entitled “Dream Work in the Church,” in which Nelson explores the thirsts behind religion and how dream work fits in. He also explores the history of resistance to working with dreams. In a discussion of the concept of the soul and how it relates to dreams and the church Nelson tells why dream work needs to have a structure around it and how the church can provide a container.
Nelson says, “Dream work is not the salvation of the church, but dreams are easily accessible to all, and dream work should be one of the tools we use to help revitalize the church, to re-introduce the modern church to the realm of the spirit, the work of the soul. …Dreams can provide the energy, the imagination, and the creativity that is much needed in contemporary mainline Christian churches in the United States.”
Through Nelson we get insights into dreams, dream work and spirituality through a wide variety of voices. One of my favorite quotes is from Dietrich Bonhoeffer, one who experienced great evil arise among so many educated, rational people: “Deeply disturbing is the failure of rational people, who can see neither the chasm of evil nor the chasm of the holy, who with the best of intentions believe that with a little reason they can reunify a structure that is falling apart. In their lack of vision they want to do justice to both sides and are thus caught in the crossfire between clashing powers, without having accomplished the least bit.” Dream work can give us another kind of information as we face the challenges of life.
What a wonderful way to travel into the world of the Spirit in company with a group of seekers doing dream work together.
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