Throughout the year, St. Bart’s offers a wide variety of opportunities to learn and grow. Our offerings encourage both spiritual and intellectual engagement and welcome all sorts of people and views.
The Forum
Easch Sunday at 10 am, guest speakers from a variety of backgrounds and disciplines join our Vicar, the Reverend Peter D. Thompson, and other St. Bart's clergy for deep and insightful conversations about topics that matter to our lives as responsible citizens and people of faith. Speakers in recent years have included winners of the Tony Award, the Emmy Award, the MacArthur Fellowship, and the Pulitzer Prize, professors from prominent universities like Yale, Harvard, Princeton, and Columbia, and journalists from New York, The New Yorker, and The Atlantic.
Watch The Forum live on our website, or join the conversation live on Facebook or YouTube where you can post your questions for our speaker in the comments during the live stream. Visit our The Forum page for upcoming schedule and past recordings.
ADULT FORMATION OPPORTUNITIES
Women and the Gender of God
Thursdays, October 20-December 8, 7-8 pm
The Reverend Peter Thompson and the Reverend Meredith Ward tackle the controversial topic of God’s gender through Professor Amy Peeler’s new book, Women and the Gender of God, described as “a robust theological argument against the assumption that God is male.”
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Disability and the Body of Christ: A Bible Study
Tuesdays, October 18-November 15, 6-7 pm
The Reverend Zack Nyein and accessibility consultant Janina Sajka examine what scripture tells us about disabilities and the people who have them.
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C.S. Lewis and the Inklings
Wednesdays, October 12-November 9, 6:30-8 pm
The Reverend John Wirenius, Deacon, leads a discussion on the life and work of C.S. Lewis. Sessions will also touch on the Inklings, a group of Lewis’ literary and scholarly friends. In addition to Lewis’s own work we’ll be looking at The Fellowship: The Literary Lives of the Inklings (2015, Zaleski & Zaleski); C.S. Lewis: A Biography (A.N. Wilson, 1990); The Narnian (Jacobs, 2005), and the Inklings one joint work, Essays Presented to Charles Williams (1947).
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The Saving Acts of Jesus
Thursdays, September 8-October 13, 6:30-8 pm
St. Bart's favorite Larry Welborn, Professor of Theology at Fordham University, explores collections of miracle stories found within the Gospels themselves. Professor Welborn writes: "At this moment, I feel the need to investigate the acts of Jesus, that is, the gospel accounts of how Jesus enacted his primal confidence in the reign of God, through his work as a healer, a liberator from oppressive spirits, an agent of God's righteousness. Some years ago, the great New Testament scholar Paul Achtemeier demonstrated that the Gospel of Mark contains two primitive collections of miracle stories. Robert Fortna argued that a similar collection of the deeds of Jesus is found in the Gospel of John as a "Signs (Semeia) Source". So, our fall course will explore these primitive collections of the saving and liberating acts of Jesus, and the relevance of these stories for our present moment. Perhaps, together, we can find a path beyond our current feeling of powerlessness, and back into constructive action."
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Breathing Under Water: The Spirituality of the Twelve steps
Saturdays, July 30-October 29, 10:00 am-11:00 am
For its next selection, the Saturday morning discussion group turns to Richard Rohr’s work on the spirituality of the twelve steps. Countless lives have been changed for the better through Alcoholics Anonymous and other twelve step programs, but, Rohr argues, the spirituality of the Twelve Steps can change the lives even of those who don't participate in recovery groups. This series will begin with an optional informal discussion on July 30th. Please read the foreword and introduction prior to the August 6th discussion. If you don't already own a copy, please obtain a copy of the tenth anniversary edition.
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Peace Book Club
We continue our focus on Norman Wirzba’s This Sacred Life. The Peace Book Club meets on the 2nd and 4th Sundays of the month.
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ONGOING CLASSES
Weekly Bible Study
Wednesdays at 1pm
Thoughtful reflection and lively discussion of the upcoming Sunday readings, hosted by a member of our clergy. Please contact Liz Gillespie to be added to our weekly Bible study via Zoom. Click here for Sunday’s reading.
Education For Ministry (EFM)
Are you looking to live into your faith more fully, to have faith connect more deeply with everyday life? What can the Bible teach us about the world today? Do you ever wonder what God is calling you to do? If you want to seek answers through study, reflection, and spiritual practice in community, EfM -- a four-year certificate program in theological education with a weekly in-person seminar format that starts again this fall -- may be for you. To learn more, please download our information handout here, or contact EfM Mentor Liza Page Nelson.
