Peter Bankson
Peter has been part of Seekers Church since 1976, about a month after it emerged from the New Lands process as a separate faith community in Church of the Saviour. Since then he’s been a Steward of Seekers Church, a member of several mission groups, including Celebration Circle, where he has helped structure and preside at worship for Seekers, and Time & Space, which carries the use of our space by many outside groups .In December 2014, after 25 years of service on the Servant Leadership Team at Seekers Church, he stepped aside, although he continues as an active member of the congregation.
Peter shares:
Truth is, I’m really not much of a reader. I was born very myopic, which made reading one of the few things I could do easily, since books were in focus within arms’ length. Maybe I read less now is because once I got my glasses at age 10 and could focus beyond what I could touch I wanted to see what was out there. It was an interesting perspective for a young guy growing up in a family of journalists and writers. My dad was a journalist, and his father and brothers wrote fiction. I ended up spending a lot of time writing the kind of one-page position papers that keep things moving in large organizations.
In fact, my contribution to both of these books came more out of doing than writing. As Marjory was writing The Soulwork of Clay she needed some pictures to illustrate what she was writing about. As it turned out, I’d been taking pictures of Marjory’s pottery for a long time, and could help her work by providing some images to help fill in the gaps.
Then, after writing prayers for about 30 years, prayers to share while presiding at worship in Seekers, Deborah Sokolove asked me if I might be able to help fill in some blanks in a book she was writing. Deborah had a contract to write a prayer book based on worship at Seekers Church and the Revised Common Lectionary. Her deadline was approaching but she still had a lot of Sundays that needed prayers. It turned out that in my collection I had something to offer for all but about half a dozen of the Sundays she was missing. So once again it turned out that what I’d been doing for other reasons could once again help fill in the gaps.
These two writing experiences have opened my eyes to the possibility that I may, actually, have something worth writing about. Who knows, I may morph into an author after all!
The Soulwork of Clay: A Hands-On Approach to Spirituality (by Marjory Bankson; photography by Peter.) Woodstock, VT: SkyLight Paths, 2008. Ordering Information
Takes the reader through a seven-step process of making clay into a pot, drawing parallels at each stage to the process of spiritual growth. Illustrations by Peter.
Ca
lling on God: Inclusive Christian Prayers for Three Years of Sundays (with Deborah Sokolove.) Woodstock, VT: SkyLight Paths, 2014. Ordering Information
This special prayer book is for today’s Christians who find comfort in the rhythm of the traditional lectionary but long to connect with God in ways that are satisfying to the modern heart and mind. Founded on creativity, inclusivity and sharing, it encourages us to remember the divine elements of the natural world around us as we express our hopes and fears for others and ourselves.
