“Tending the Wild Garden: Growing in the Fruit of the Spirit” is a nine-week study series presented by Bethany Presbyterian Women. All are invited to attend—men, too!
The group will meet in the church library. Arrive around 9:30 a.m. for coffee and goodies; each session starts promptly at 10 a.m. Those joining from home can log onto Zoom starting 10:30 a.m.; the Zoom meeting portion will end around 11:10 a.m.
Each of the lessons is “stand-alone” so participants do not have to attend every session (although you will want to!)
There are a few books available to those wishing to study at home. (Extra copies can be purchased via Amazon or ordered locally at Avid Reader.) On a first-come, first-served basis, two audiobook copies will be available free for Audible subscribers.
Contact PW leader Cathy Sapunor if you are interested in one of the free print or Audible books.
Scheduled Meetings
A short video by the author of “Tending the Wild Garden” is available for each session. You will find links below.
Zoom links will be posted on a weekly basis for those wishing to participate remotely.
About the Book
Here’s what people are saying about “Tending the Wild Garden”
Tending the Wild Garden explores the true meaning behind each of the virtues in Paul’s list, guiding us to discover anew what it means to be a deeply loved child of God indwelt by God’s Spirit. Gamble helps us to move beyond the checklist mentality of traditional understandings of the fruit of the Spirit, to cultivate our relationship with God, and to uproot the "weeds" that could threaten the flourishing of the fruit in our lives. In a world fixated on outward appearances, discover the joy of cultivating an inward relationship with the Spirit, where virtues like love, joy, and self-control blossom naturally.
—Westminster John Knox Press
“When reading about the fruit of the spirit, we often think about how we just don’t measure up to the expectations of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. In this reflective book, Eugenia Gamble invites us to let go of measuring and instead to tend the garden of our souls. When carefully nurtured, this fruit reveals God’s image in us.”
—Elizabeth F. Caldwell
Author of Pause: Spending Lent with the Psalms
“Tending the Wild Garden invites us to deepen our relationship with God, guiding personal and collective reflection and action, tending to our spiritual gardens, and ‘weeding’ that which hinders our growth and the fruit that will be a blessing individually and collectively …. Gamble’s candid and vulnerable sharing of stories, here and throughout the book, was deeply meaningful. I found myself accepting the invitation to '…put on [my] garden gloves and dig deeply' into my own Spirit’s garden."
—Vilmarie Cintrón-Olivieri
Co-Moderator, 223rd General Assembly (2018), Presbyterian Church (USA), & Regional Liaison for the Caribbean
