How to SoulPerSuit

What is it?
SPS is a Bible-based, full sensory, creative experience that explores, expresses, discovers and internalizes the mysteries of our relationship with God.

The idea behind SoulPerSuit is simple. It's a guided, spiritual journey and it's an art project. The SoulPerSuit web site provides everything you need to take this journey.

1. Shuffle the Deck - This is a quick little art task intended to get your creative juices flowing and prepare your mind to think in terms of your senses: smell, taste, touch, sight and sound. These are provided for you each week at the beginning of the study. Get loose, have fun.
2. Deal the Cards - This is the beginning of the study. It's like a travelor's guide to a new location. The studies are on various topics. A list of the studies can be found when you click the "Calendar" menu option or when you rollover the word "Creativity". Choose whichever topic interests you. Each study is broken down over a number of weeks. For example, the Lament study is 6 weeks long. You can do the studies at your own pace or follow the suggested study schedule.
3. Play Your Hand - This is where the art comes in. At the close of each study, you are provided with some thought provoking questions about the study. What do you remember from the journey, how did it affect you, how are you different because of where you've been? Answer these questions by making a small collage on or with a playing card. The playing cards makes the project small enough to complete and to carry around with you. We also encourage you to use any creative expression you prefer: writing, singing, video, photography, carving, painting, etc.

Below you will find more details about how to do SoulPerSuit. But if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact us.

Why does it exist?
The creators of SPS believe that everyone is creative because God is a creator. We want individuals to rediscover and use their creative nature in their pursuit of understanding and experiencing these God mysteries.

More on How to do SoulPerSuit

There are no rules (TaNR)
How long is it?
Do I need to buy anything?
SPS Starter Kit
The Basics:
- Shuffling the Deck
- Deal the Cards
- Play Your Hand
We want to see your cards!

NOTE: This information is mainly directed at individuals doing SouPerSuit on their own. If you are leading or are a part of a group SoulPerSuit, we suggest you read this information and then go to the "Group Guide".

There are no rules (TaNR) (top)
This may be more difficult for some of you to handle than the fact that this is an art project. But how would we go about telling you how to express yourself to God? So we will frequently remind you that TaNR.


How Long Is It? (top)
Each study presented on this web-site will have multiple Parts. We have designated 3 weeks to do each part but you can spend as much or as little time on each part as you like. A single part may resonate strongly with you and you may want to spend more than 3 weeks on it. Other sections may simply fall flat and say nothing to you at the moment. We encourage you to stay with each part for at least 7 days. If still nothing comes to you, move on to the next part. Something you experience may bring you back to it later. Don't worry, though. TaNR.


Do I Need To Buy Anything? (top)
No. You don't even need playing cards.

SoulPerSuit is designed so that you can use whatever you have on hand. You can get as creative as you want but supplies should not prevent you from pursuing. Here's what we would consider a SPS Starter Kit, but, remember TaNR:

- Bible (you can also access scripture on-line)
- pencil/pen
- journal
- playing cards (old or new)
- glue stick
- scissors
- old magazines
- package of multi-color paper

We suggest you use a journal but it's not necessary. But writing down what you learn, doing Shuffle the Deck, sketching ideas, etc. is a part of doing SoulPerSuit so, as a Starter Kit, you need paper and a pencil but you can use a spiral notebook, composition notebook or loose leaf paper. You can buy a journal or make one.

Playing cards are used as the canvas for our "art projects". They are small, inexpensive and versatile. You can just as easily create your art projects directly in your journal or on pieces of paper cut out the size of playing cards or on any surface you desire. Check out some of the creative choices of previous pursuers in the Galleries. How we use the playing cards in a SPS is explained below in Play Your Hand.

The remaining supplies in the SPS Starter kit are a suggestion for materials to use to embellish your playing cards. You can cut out great pictures and words from magazines. A glue stick works just fine to glue any kind of paper to playing cards. Be sure to look at our Tips & Tricks frequently for new ideas or when you may be having problems with your supplies. If you want to expand your repertoire of supplies, check out the Full House of Supply Ideas.

The key is to not let the supplies become the main thing. Keep the pursuit the main thing. If you ever think it's becoming more about the supplies, you may want to get rid of everything except the Starter Kit.


The Basics (top)
The basic instructions for doing a SoulPerSuit Bible study are as follows:
1. Shuffle the Deck
2. Deal the Cards
3. Play Your Hand

1. Shuffle the Deck
This step, a trademark characteristic of SPS, is not to be taken lightly. (You can also call these ice breakers.) It's a way to get your creative juices flowing. An example of an ice breaker might be, “What does worship smell like?” It might smell like a rich red wine or the air at the top of a mountain or like fresh cotton linen. There’s an individual, personal reason why you associate that particular smell with worship. Why? The answer to that question begins the SPS process.

2. Deal the Cards
This is the body of the study. Read through the entire part for that day and answer any questions. This will set the context for your SPS for the next few weeks.

Write out the answers to the questions in your journal. Make notes of any insights or questions you have when you're reading or studying the lesson. Visit the blog to learn what others are saying about the lesson that week.

3. Play Your Cards
This section includes your application questions. To make application with a SPS bible study, you create a collage or small piece of art on a playing card.

As you walk through your daily experiences, the application questions are simmering in the back of your mind. They will begin to take on real world images, feelings, tastes, sounds and smells that personalize the lesson for you. Some parts may immediately bring a whirlwind of feelings and images to you while others may take time to become robust and full bodied.

Use your journal to sketch ideas for your cards. Glue an envelope in the back of your journal in which you can store clippings or other ephemera.

As with everything else, TaNR regarding the cards. They are simply there to give you a starting point. You can do artwork on one side or both sides of the card. You can tear up the card. You can glue the card to other surfaces. You can eliminate the cards all together and use something else that works better for you. The idea is not to create an “altered” playing card, i.e. the cards do not have to look like a playing card when you’re finished with them.

You also do not have to do just art. You can write a poem, a song or a story. You can mold clay, dance, play an instrument or make a video.

The idea is to stir up your creative juices with a creative tool like a playing card. Don't hesitate to visit the Galleries and see how other pursuers expressed themselves using their playing cards (or other materials).

We want to see your cards! (top)
When you have made a SPS card, we would love to see it and share with others in the SPS. Each study we do will have it's own Gallery and they will be posted there as we receive them. You can e-mail a scanned or digital photo of the card along with an explanation of what the card means to you. In our past experience, the greatest rewards are making the cards and then seeing what others have made.

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