Tim Black, our seminarian, was the kind person who instinctively knew that I was unaware of what I was missing in Sunday School. So he asked me and invited and reminded me, here a Sunday, there a Sunday, and finally one morning wooed me back to the founders room to the sofa in the back. Before I knew it, I was completely engaged in the topic at hand. The class was interesting and funny and thought provoking, laughter and intensity. Everyone in the class had their hand up, and comments and questions bounced around the room like atoms under an atomic microscope.
Category : Adult Education
San Antonio Area Mystics course open to all faiths
Jan Hilton starts most days sitting in a living room chair, facing an iconic image of Jesus created 1,400 years ago in a Middle Eastern monastery.
Before she prays and meditates there for 20 minutes, she looks into the eyes of the picture.
“It creates the right frame of mind,” she said. “It’s just remembering that in awareness of the quiet is the divine.”
A spiritual director at an Episcopal church in Corpus Christi, Hilton said that same feeling of connection to God is one that has been enriched by her interest in mysticism. She has enrolled in a class about modern mystics that will begin next month in San Antonio.
Called “Christian Mysticism: History, Wisdom and Insights,” the course will include scholars talking about mystics from various Christian faith traditions, organizers said. In addition to talks about mystics, time is set aside in class for participants to practice prayer and meditation.
Al Zadig: Discipleship is Non-Negotiable
On Sunday, July 19th, I preached a sermon called: The Great Recall Virus. In light of events at the General Convention of the Episcopal Church, I made the diagnosis that our church all over the country is suff ering from this deadly disease. The recall virus defi ned is an IN-ABILITY TO RECALL WHO WE BELONG TO AND WHY”¦ A virus so severe that it leads to not only to what you read in the paragraph below, but one that has the potential to lead each one of us astray.
I will never forget the moment I knew The Great Recall Virus had hit the National Episcopal Church. It came as I sat in att endance at the convention of the Diocese of Washington in the National Cathedral. The convention preacher stood up and said these words:
“We live in a pluralistic world. A world of peoples with many belief systems and values. Our Christian, especially evangelical mission no longer can be as simple ”“ as if it ever was ”“ as telling people about Jesus, so that thy may be as we are and believe as we do. Perhaps our mission, by necessity, must continue to focus on more common human, not especially Christian concerns ”“ alleviating poverty, civil rights, the ill, economic exploitation, environmental devastation”¦”
As I sat in stunned silence, I was shocked to see the preacher receive a standing ovation!
Is there a remedy? Enter a new season of our Beta Course. As you know by now, we have divided our courses here at St. Michael’s into three:
Alpha: Cultural Christian to Believer
Beta: Believer to Disciple
Gamma: Disciple to Mission Apologist
Kendall Harmon: The Roots of the Roots
Do Episcopal parishes teach the basics?
When I finished seminary in 1987 I came out with youthful idealism, energy, and too much arrogance, among many other things. I also believed I needed to be unapologetic about teaching and preaching on the most basic questions.
For example, I taught for two years through the Book of Acts. What was the gospel they were proclaiming I wanted to know. What was their understanding of mission? Who did they think Jesus was? What did they believe about the church?
After three years in the parish where I served my curacy, I left the parish (and the country) to pursue a doctorate. This allowed me the luxury of reflecting on many things, including my three year curacy.
My deepest conclusion: I had failed to be basic enough. I had made too many assumptions. I had used too much Christian vocabulary without defining terms. The bottom line was my instinct was right but my implementation left a lot to be desired.
When I asked myself why, my sense was it was partly out of fear. It takes a lot of courage to ask someone to describe the exact nature of the God he or she believes in, to wrestle with the doctrine of Original Sin, to probe the mystery of the Atonement and the Cross, to delve into the depths of what heaven really is and is not like.
So consider this question: if we look at the parish of which we are a part, and its preaching and teaching, how are we doing in terms of asking and answering the most basic of questions? Are we daring to look at the roots of the roots?
Jesus talked about God and the nature of his kingdom. It is hard to get more basic than that. Can we do any less?
–The Rev. Dr. Kendall Harmon is Canon Theologian of the Diocese of South Carolina and convenor of this blog
Bert Keller in the Local Paper: Spirit leads children to learning
Adult education finds people at various stages of faith development. Some adults are stuck in certitudes of an earlier age while being vaguely aware the certitudes don’t work anymore. Some are in full flight from religious conventionalities and find freedom in discarding old forms of faith. Some are perplexed, wounded, and looking for a meaning that brings their life into focus and gives them hope. Some are exploring Christian meanings alongside alternatives provided by other religions, feminism or a passionate cause such as environmentalism. Adults in most churches, including ours, are all over the landscape!
Different forms of adult education meet different needs. The primary teaching function of the church is the sermon, which we call the Teaching. Based in the Bible and following the Common Lectionary, the Teaching relates faith and personal/public life by taking the Bible seriously but not literally. While the Teaching is usually the work of one person, we also use “talkbacks” to stimulate discussion and even disagreement.
Most adult education is done in small groups that covenant together to meet for an extended time to study a course. “Living the Questions” is one we have used with multiple groups for several years. It is a thoughtful, no-holds-barred exploration of pressing questions about Christian faith and it stimulates vigorous discussion. Courses on “Voluntary Simplicity” and “Choices for Sustainable Living” have also challenged groups to develop a more intentional lifestyle. These covenant groups often meet on a week night.