December 15 Meeting

December 15, 2017 Gathering and Celebration

Greetings WPA Chestertonains,

We will meet this Friday, Decemgber 15. As has been our December tradition, the meeting will have an added celebratory theme as we are heading toward the celebration of Our Savior's Incarnation.

We will meet at our usual meeting location in the Community Center in Middle Lancaster. 

For those who RSVP, there will be a catered buffet dinner of Chinese food from Jimmy Wan, at 6:30 PM. The cost will be $25 per person (pay at the meeting), and I must have confirmation of your RSVP by the end of the day Tuesday, December 12, so as to give Jimmy the final number of diners.

After dining, we will transition into reading Chestertonian selections and poetry. Anyone wishing to attend the meeting, but not participate in the buffet, is welcome to come at 7:30.

I ask everyone, whether coming for dinner or just the meeting portion of the evening, to please bring a bottle of your favorite beverage to share, and a dessert or fruit/cheese platter.  Coffee, teas, and tableware will be provided.

Please email me if you are planning to come, or if you have any questions.

November 10 Meeting of the WPA Chesterton Society

Greetings WPA Chestertonians,

We will be holding our November meeting TOMORROW...November 10 for Chapters 6 and 7 of G.K. Chesterton's biography of St. Francis of Assisi. We will be reading and discussing these two chapters at the meeting.

At the meeting we will also decide what we will do for our December 15 meeting. (Please note that our Dec meeting will be on the third Friday of the month instead of on the 8th of Dec.)

As usual our meeting will be held in the Village of Middle Lancaster, at the Lancaster Township Community Center located on Kings Alley and Community Center Drive, in Butler County PA. Kings Ally is a right turn off of Rt. 19N, approx. 4.5 miles north of Zelienople, just past the Zion Lutheran Church. (The Community Center is a former one room school house, adjacent to the ball fields at Bauder Park.)  
The doors will open at 7:00 pm for potluck refreshments, with the discussion beginning at 7:30. The meeting will wrap up sometime around 9:30 pm.
 
Any questions or comments, please feel free to email me at wpachesterton@gmail.com

October 13th meeting of the WPA Chesterton Society

Greetings Fellow WPA Chestertonians,

Today in the liturgical calendar it is the feast day of Saint Francis of Assisi. On Friday October 13, our local society will gather for another discussion of G.K. Chesterton's insights into this most  enigmatic yet beloved saint.

We will discuss Chapters 3, 4 and 5 of Chesterton's book St. Francis of Assisi. Please read as much as you can before next Friday.

Also at our October meeting, anyone who wishes to contribute a memorial donation in honor of Munah Pavlik can bring their contribution (checks can be made out to the American Chesterton Society) which we will bundle into a gift from our group to the ACS. I will be sending the donation before the end of October. If you wish to participate but can't make the meeting, send me an email for information about how to contribute.

As usual our meeting will be held in the Village of Middle Lancaster, at the Lancaster Township Community Center located on Kings Alley and Community Center Drive, in Butler County PA. Kings Ally is a right turn off of Rt. 19N, approx. 4.5 miles north of Zelienople, just past the Zion Lutheran Church. (The Community Center is a former one room school house, adjacent to the ball fields at Bauder Park.)  
The doors will open at 7:00 pm for potluck refreshments, with the discussion beginning at 7:30. The meeting will wrap up sometime around 9:30 pm.
Any questions or comments, please feel free to email me at wpachesterton@gmail.com

September 15 Meeting of the WPA Chesterton Society

Greetings Fellow WPA Chestertonians,

Due to a minor but necessary schedule adjustment, our next meeting will be held on September 15, which is the third Friday of September instead of our usual second Friday.

The good thing about the schedule adjustment is that you will have an extra week in which to read chapters I-III of G.K.Chesterton's Saint Francis of Assisi.

We will be discussing this book at the meetings over the next three months. 

From the back of the Dover edition of the book,

...The patron saint of animals, birds, and the environment, Francis of Assisi led the rediscovery of nature in the Christian West. This magnificent spiritual biography by the phenomenally popular G. K. Chesterton — a convert to Catholicism — chronicles the beloved saint's calling, his extraordinary life, and his influence in the Church. Its charm and wit will appeal to even the most secular-minded readers. 
How fitting that Francesco Bernardone was born just after the Dark Ages when the world was awakening... With great affection, Chesterton explores the life and times of St. Francis — his joyous devotion, his sense of compassion and love for all creation, his visions and miracles, his stigmata, and his band of followers that became the Franciscan Order. Praising this great and original man who became one of the most popular figures in Christendom, the author calls him "a poet whose whole life was a poem." Here is a stimulating read for Chesterton fans, Christian readers, and anyone looking for a burst of pure inspiration.

This book is widely available on the internet inexpensively for sale, as well as for free. There is also an audio recording available with an "Audible" subscription. 
Please bring access to a copy to the meeting. (Remember that the meeting location DOES NOT have Wi-Fi).

At our September meeting, anyone who wishes to contribute a donation in honor of Munah Pavlik can bring their contribution (checks can be made out to the American Chesterton Society) which we will bundle into a gift from our group to the ACS. We will collect these donations at both the September and the October meetings. If you wish to participate but can't make the meetings, send me an email for information about how to contribute.

As usual our meeting will be held in the Village of Middle Lancaster, at the Lancaster Township Community Center located on Kings Alley and Community Center Drive, in Butler County PA. Kings Ally is a right turn off of Rt. 19N, approx. 4.5 miles north of Zelienople, just past the Zion Lutheran Church. (The Community Center is a former one room school house, adjacent to the ball fields at Bauder Park.)  
The doors will open at 7:00pm for potluck refreshments, with the discussion beginning at 7:30. The meeting will wrap up sometime around 9:30pm.
Any questions or comments, please feel free to email me at wpachesterton@gmail.com

August 11 Meeting of the WPA Chesterton Society

Greetings Fellow WPA Chestertonians,

At our August meeting this coming Friday, we will wrap up our summer reading with selections from G.K. Chesterton's essay compilation A Miscellany of Men. We will read and discuss the essays "The Man Who Thinks Backwards", "The Voter and the Two Voices", and "The Devine Detective". Please bring copies or access to online sources of these essays to the meeting.  

At the meeting we will hear about the recent American Chesterton Society conference, and discuss the opportunity for a memorial donation to the ACS in honor of our friend Muna Pavlik, who recently passed away.

Next month at our September meeting we will begin our reading of Chesterton's great biography of St. Francis of Assisi.

As usual our meeting will be held in the Village of Middle Lancaster, at the Lancaster Township Community Center located on Kings Alley and Community Center Drive, in Butler County PA. Kings Ally is a right turn off of Rt. 19N, approx. 4.5 miles north of Zelienople, just past the Zion Lutheran Church. (The Community Center is a former one room school house, adjacent to the ball fields at Bauder Park.)  
The doors will open at 7:00pm for potluck refreshments , with the discussion beginning at 7:30. The meeting will wrap up sometime around 9:30pm.
Any questions or comments, please feel free to email me at wpachesterton@gmail.com

July 14, 2017 Meeting of the WPA Chesterton Society

Greetings Fellow Chestertonians!

This coming Friday, July 14, we will meet for our much anticipated discussion of The Man Who Was Thursday. We will be discussing the entire book. The Man Who was Thursday is widely available in various formats, including a very nice Librivox recording which is free to download. The entire book can be listened to in about 6 hours. If you haven't read the book yet, buckle your seat belts and get listening!

On another note, there are still few days to pre-register for the annual American Chesterton Society conference in Colorado Springs. The theme will be "The Tyranny of the Learned". If you would like to travel to the great Rocky Mountain State to spend time with some great Chestertonians and listen to some provocative talks, check out the complete conference registration information at www.chesterton.org  Here is a link to a video about the conference. Please view it, and share it anywhere that you can.

As usual our meeting will be held in the Village of Middle Lancaster, at the Lancaster Township Community Center located on Kings Alley and Community Center Drive, in Butler County PA. Kings Ally is a right turn off of Rt. 19N, approx. 4.5 miles north of Zelienople, just past the Zion Lutheran Church. (The Community Center is a former one room school house, adjacent to the ball fields at Bauder Park.)  

The doors will open at 7:00pm for potluck refreshments , with the discussion beginning at 7:30. The meeting will wrap up sometime around 9:30pm.

Any questions or comments, please feel free to email me at wpachesterton@gmail.com

June 2017 Meeting of the WPA Chesterton Society

Summer Greetings WPA Friends of G.K. Chesterton!

Our next meeting will be on Friday, June 9th. We will read and discuss the essay "Why I Am a Catholic" by G.K. Chesterton. Although Chesterton apparently wrote several essays with this title, the essay we will be looking at is from Twelve Modern Apostles and Their Creeds (1926) , and reprinted in The Collected Works of G.K. Chesterton, Vol. 3 Ignatius Press, 1990.  You can find it at this link on the American Chesterton Society webpage. 

While I ask that you print yourself a copy of the essay, or bring an internet accessible device to the meeting, you need NOT read it before the meeting.  The purpose of this dispensation from the usual pre-reading request, is to free up your Chesterton reading time for Chesterton's great novel, The Man Who Was Thursday (TMWWT).  We will be discussing TMWWT at our July meeting on Friday, July 14th. Because of the nature of the book you should definitely try to read it before hand, and come prepared to discuss the entire thing. The pre-reading is important since our discussion will most definitely "spoil" the plot for any who haven't read it before.

The 36th annual Chesterton Society Conference hosted by the American Chesterton Society will be on July 27-29 in Colorado Springs. The theme will be "The Tyranny of the Learned". If you would like to travel to the great Rocky Mountain State to spend a few days with some great Chestertonians and listen to some provocative talks, check out the complete conference registration information at www.chesterton.org . (Who knows... maybe you'll get to drink from the Cup of Inconvenience Adventure!)

As usual our meeting will be held in the Village of Middle Lancaster, at the Lancaster Township Community Center located on Kings Alley and Community Center Drive, in Butler County PA. Kings Ally is a right turn off of Rt. 19N, approx. 4.5 miles north of Zelienople, just past the Zion Lutheran Church. (The Community Center is a former one room school house, adjacent to the ball fields at Bauder Park.)  

The doors will open at 7:00pm , with the discussion beginning at 7:30. The meeting will wrap up around 9:30pm.


Any questions or comments, please feel free to email me at wpachesterton@gmail.com

May 12,2017 Meeting of the WPA Chesterton Society

May 12, 2017 meeting of the WPA Chesterton Society

Greetings Fellow WPA Chestertonians,

We will gather this Friday, May 12 for the completion of What I Saw in America. We will pick up the discussion with the chapter titled "Wells and the World State", and continue the discussion through the end of the book. The chapters are relatively short, and I encourage you to read over them as much as possible before the meeting. 

The book is available free on @%&zon for Kindle here. It also can be read online here.There is also a  free Librivox recording of the book available here, and various print or digital formats can be found here for as low as 99 cents.

Also, we will resume our regular sharing table of pot-luck refreshments. I'm sure that all contributions will be heartily appreciated!

As usual: Our meeting will be held in the Village of Middle Lancaster, at the Lancaster Township Community Center located on Kings Alley and Community Center Drive, in Butler County PA. Kings Ally is a right turn off of Rt. 19N, approx. 4.5 miles north of Zelienople, just past the Zion Lutheran Church. (The Community Center is a former one room school house, adjacent to the ball fields at Bauder Park.)  The doors will open at 7:00pm for enjoyment of informal conversation and refreshments, with the book discussion beginning at 7:30. The meeting will wrap up sometime after 9:30pm.


Any questions or comments, please feel free to email me at wpachesterton@gmail.com

April 7, 2017 meeting of the WPA Chesterton Society

Greetings Fellow WPA Chestertonians,

Let's try this again!

Our next meeting will be on April 7th, one week earlier than our regular second Friday schedule, so as to not conflict with Good Friday. Since we had to cancel the March meeting, we will resume our discussion with the following chapters of the book What I Saw in America :

Fads and Public Opinion
The Extaordinary American
The Republic in Ruins
Is the Atlantic Narrowing?
Lincoln and Lost Causes

Congratulations to those of you who read these chapters for the March meeting... you now have all your preparation done! I do not expect that we will read all of these five chapters aloud as a group at the meeting. I will ask you to share the excerpts that you found most interesting. Please try to read as much as you can before the meeting. If you find yourself short on time, then skim through, and find at least one chapter that peaks your interest and try to read through it before the meeting.

Our May meeting will be held on May 12. At that meeting we will conclude our discussion of What I Saw in America. 

On a special note: In order to observe the Christian tradition of fasting and alms-giving for the season of Lent, we will not have our customary refreshment table at the April 7th meetings. On the "refreshment table" there will be a collection can. In lieu of our usual contributions of food and beverages, we each will have an opportunity to make charitable contributions of alms designated for the American Chesterton Society. After the April meeting, I will consolidate the money, and send it to the ACS as a donation of alms from our Western Pa Chesterton Society. If you miss the meeting and would like to participate, you can make your donation directly to the American Chesterton Society on their website www.chesterton.org, or mail it to me and I will add it to the collections from the group. In doing this, our Western PA Chesterton Society will support the American Chesterton Society's mission to bring Christ to people around the world by introducing them to Chesterton. Imagine the good that would be accomplished if every local Chesterton society member were to give something, no matter how small a gift.


As usual. our meeting will be held in the Village of Middle Lancaster, at the Lancaster Township Community Center located on Kings Alley and Community Center Drive, in Butler County PA. Kings Ally is a right turn off of Rt. 19N, approx. 4.5 miles north of Zelienople, just past the Zion Lutheran Church. (The Community Center is a former one room school house, adjacent to the ball fields at Bauder Park.)  The doors will open at 7:00pm , with the discussion beginning at 7:30. The meeting will wrap up around 9:30pm.


Any questions or comments, please feel free to email me at wpachesterton@gmail.com

UPDATE for March 10 meeting

Greetings Fellow WPA Chestertonians,

Due to the cold weather, and the majority of regular members unable to attend tonight, I am officially canceling this month’s meeting. We will meet on Friday April 7th (one week earlier than the regularly scheduled meeting, since the second Friday in April is Good Friday). Please plan on having completed the reading of What I Saw in America for the April meeting.

Stay warm and comfy on this blustery re-visit of a winter night…maybe pour a beverage and read some Chesterton!

March 10 meeting of the WPA Chesterton Society

Greetings Fellow WPA Chestertonians,

We will meet this coming Friday evening, March 10th, to continue our discussion with the following chapters of the book What I Saw in America :

Fads and Public Opinion
The Extaordinary American
The Republic in Ruins
Is the Atlantic Narrowing?
Lincoln and Lost Causes

I do not expect that we will read all of these five chapters aloud as a group at the meeting. I will ask you to share the excerpts that you found most interesting. Please try to read as much as you can before the meeting. If you find yourself short on time, then skim through, and find at least one chapter that peaks your interest and try to read through it before the meeting.

Our next meeting will be held on April 7th. At that meeting we will conclude our discussion of What I Saw in America. 

On a special note: In order to observe the Christian tradition of fasting and alms-giving for the season of Lent, we will not have our customary refreshment table at the  March 11 or the April 7th meetings. On the "refreshment table" there will be a collection can. In lieu of our usual contributions of food and beverages, we each will have an opportunity to make charitable contributions of alms designated for the American Chesterton Society. After our Lenten meetings, I will consolidate the money, and send it to the ACS as a donation of alms from our Western Pa Chesterton Society. If you miss the meeting and would like to participate, you can make your donation directly to the American Chesterton Society on their website www.chesterton.org, or mail it to me and I will add it to the collections from the group. In doing this, our Western PA Chesterton Society will support the American Chesterton Society's mission to bring Christ to people around the world by introducing them to Chesterton. Imagine the good that would be accomplished if every local Chesterton society member were to give something, no matter how small a gift.


As usual. our meeting will be held in the Village of Middle Lancaster, at the Lancaster Township Community Center located on Kings Alley and Community Center Drive, in Butler County PA. Kings Ally is a right turn off of Rt. 19N, approx. 4.5 miles north of Zelienople, just past the Zion Lutheran Church. (The Community Center is a former one room school house, adjacent to the ball fields at Bauder Park.)  The doors will open at 7:00pm , with the discussion beginning at 7:30. The meeting will wrap up around 9:30pm.


Any questions or comments, please feel free to email me at wpachesterton@gmail.com

February 10th Meeting of the WPA Chesterton Society

Greetings Fellow WPA Chestertonians and Friends,

We will gather on Friday, February 10, 2017 for our second installment of What I Saw in America.

What I Saw in America was originally published by Dodd, Mead, & Co. in 1922. It was later published as part of The Collected Works of G.K Chesterton, Vol.21 (Ignatius Press), and has been most recently (2014) published in a single volume by Aeterna Press (www.aeternapress.com , or here on their @%&zon storefront for $8.oo).

The book is available free on @%&zon for Kindle here. It also can be read online here.There is also a  free Librivox recording of the book available here, and various print or digital formats can be found here for as low as 99 cents.

I have linked a couple of brief overviews of the book, from Dale Ahlquist, and from Joseph Pearce .

*NEW UPDATE*
At the February meeting we will attempt to get through the 4 chapters listed below:

In the American Country (This gem was included in the readings for last month, but time didn't allow us to sufficiently glean from it, so I am placing it in the line up for a second chance.) 
The American Business Man
Presidents and Problems 
Prohibition in Fact and Fancy

I do not expect that we will read all of these four chapters aloud as a group at the meeting. I will ask you to share the excerpts that you found most interesting. That means that you'll contribute better, and get the most out of the conversation if you to read as much as you can before the meeting. If you find yourself short on time, then skim through, and find at least one chapter that peaks your interest and read through it before the meeting.

**In these winter months, we will keep our second Friday of each month schedule, weather permitting. Please check here on this blogspot page and/or our Facebook pages for last minute meeting information. If you wonder about the status of a meeting, please check your internet before leaving the house. I will try to make weather cancelations or venue change announcements no later than 5:00pm on meeting nights, and of course, use your best judgement in light of how the weather looks for travel from your location. **

As usual:

Our meeting will be held in the Village of Middle Lancaster, at the Lancaster Township Community Center located on Kings Alley and Community Center Drive, in Butler County PA. Kings Ally is a right turn off of Rt. 19N, approx. 4.5 miles north of Zelienople, just past the Zion Lutheran Church. (The Community Center is a former one room school house, adjacent to the ball fields at Bauder Park.)  The doors open at 7:00 pm for a pot luck of refreshments, with the discussion beginning at 7:30. The meeting will wrap up some time around 9:30pm.

Please consider bringing something for the refreshment table. I am looking forward to seeing all of you...

Any questions or comments, please feel free to email me at wpachesterton@gmail.com

The January 13, 2017 Meeting of the WPA Chesterton Society

New Years Greetings Fellow WPA Chestertonians and Friends,

With our first gathering in the New Year just a couple of weeks away, now is the time to make sure you have a copy (or the links) for What I Saw in America.  

Since my November announcement of our plan to read this particular book, I have become aware that there are at least a few other local Chesterton Societies in the United States who are setting out on the same course. It confirms my hunch that what we all saw in America this past year has Chestertonians wondering what GKC said, when he saw "what he saw" on his year-long tour of our country in 1921.

What I Saw in America was originally published by Dodd, Mead, & Co. in 1922. It was later published as part of The Collected Works of G.K Chesterton, Vol.21 (Ignatius Press), and has been most recently (2014) published in a single volume by Aeterna Press (www.aeternapress.com , or here on their @%&zon storefront for $8.oo).

The book is available free on Amazon for Kindle here. It also can be read online here.There is also a  free Librivox recording of the book available here, and various print or digital formats can be found here for as low as 99 cents.

I have linked a couple of brief overviews of the book, from Dale Ahlquist, and from Joseph Pearce .

At the January meeting we will discuss the first 6 chapters. I do not expect that we will read all of the first six chapters as a group at the meeting. We will read one of the six chapters aloud, together, and simply discuss the other 5. Which particular chapter we read as a group will be selected by popular vote at the meeting. That means that you'll contribute better, and get the most out of the conversation if you to read as much as you can before the meeting. If you find yourself short on time, then skim through, and find at least one of the first six chapters that peaks your interest and read through it before the meeting.

**In these winter months, we will keep our second Friday of each month schedule, weather permitting. Please check here on this blogspot page and/or our Facebook pages for last minute meeting information. If you wonder about the status of a meeting, please check your internet before leaving the house. I will try to make weather cancelations or venue change announcements no later than 5:00pm on meeting nights, and of course, use your best judgement in light of how the weather looks for travel from your location. **

As usual:

Our meeting will be held in the Village of Middle Lancaster, at the Lancaster Township Community Center located on Kings Alley and Community Center Drive, in Butler County PA. Kings Ally is a right turn off of Rt. 19N, approx. 4.5 miles north of Zelienople, just past the Zion Lutheran Church. (The Community Center is a former one room school house, adjacent to the ball fields at Bauder Park.)  The meeting will start at 7:00pm for pot luck refreshments, with the discussion beginning at 7:30. The meeting will wrap up around 9:30pm.

Please consider bringing something for the refreshment table. I am looking forward to seeing all of you...

Any questions or comments, please feel free to email me at wpachesterton@gmail.com