Adult Christian Formation

LENT Formation OpportuniTy—CHRISTIAN SOCIAL ETHICS

Feb 28, Mar 7, Mar 14, and Mar 21 - 10 am to 11:15 (four Saturday mornings)

What are some of the church’s significant contributions in considering social and political questions? How do (and how should) our spiritual practices - including prayer and contemplation - inform our social ethics, policy positions, and behavior? How do we deal with the fact that different people, including Christians (sometimes in the same parish!), have very different opinions? What if it really matters and we’re really sure we’re right?

Father Bob, OA, and Sister Michelle, OA, are offering four Zoom sessions focused on Christion social ethics this Lent. The sessions will be 1 hour 15 minutes each, and held Saturday mornings from 10:00 am - 11:15 am. See dates above. The sessions will have two parts: the first, a presentation on an approach to social ethics, with no expectation of advance reading. Part two of the session will be a discussion based on a short, topical, assigned reading. We won’t try to force connections between parts one and two of the sessions. The program might in itself be a form of contemplation and include a time of connected intercession.

We do need people to sign up in advance - email Sister Michelle if you’d like to join us. You’re not required to attend every session, though we hope you will. The outline below is subject to change as we get closer and as we go along.

Session 1 Part one: Obey your conscience, inform your conscience (Optional reading - The United States still prioritizes interests over values). Part two: Immigration (Assigned Reading - Immigration and social ethics; Optional reading - Immigration, social ethics and political pragmatism)

Session 2 Part one: Action grounded in worship and prayer (Optional reading - Let everything that has breath praise the Lord ). Part two: Assisted suicide (Assigned reading - Legalizing Assisted Suicide? and Religious Groups’ Views on End-of-Life Issues )

Session 3 Part one: Humility (Optional readings - God graciously accepts that service even when we are quite wrong and The Merton Prayer) Part two: War and Peace (Assigned reading - The Just War Tradition. Optional reading - Aquinas vs. Clausewitz in Venezuela)

Session 4 Part one: Freedom and responsibility (Optional reading -Freedom and responsibility: endowed by their Creator and Freedom and responsibility) Part two: Antisemitism (Assigned reading - Antisemitism - yes, again)

MID-WEEK adult forum

Fr. Kevin leads a regular educational forum before the Wednesday Eucharist. Classes are drop-in and begin at 4:30.

Eucharistic Practices

This is an experiential class of about an hour offered a couple of times a year, usually in the spring and the fall. Learn how to bow, genuflect, cross yourself, listen, engage silence, and otherwise participate more confidently in the Holy Eucharist. The class is led by Sister Michelle. If you’d like to participate, email Michelle for information.

Apostolic Practices - An Adult Formation Opportunity

Do you want to move toward living a more apostolic faith? To engage the central spiritual practices of the Anglican tradition? Do you have a desire to develop a more disciplined and flexible spiritual practice?

Sister Michelle and Brother Robert (Fr. Bob) offer a 3 – 4 month program every year. If you’d like to participate, email Michelle for information.

The central spiritual practices of the tradition are the Sunday Eucharist, the Daily Office, Reflection (including Spiritual Reading), Living the Church Year, and Understanding the Central Rhythm/Processes Underlying Apostolic Practices.

Click here to learn more about the program, the central spiritual practices, and how we’ll engage them.

About Christian Education

Understanding the Christian Faith – education and formation – is just as important to the Christian life as is worship. Episcopalians in general and the folks at St. Clement’s Church in particular understand education and formation in one’s faith to be a vital part living the Christian life. Because Anglicanism is based on three sources of authority - Scripture, Tradition and Reason – we find education and formation more than just studying the Bible. It involves understanding the contexts of the writing of certain parts of the Bible; understanding that ancient peoples defined “history” differently than we do; that some books and portions are mythical and fables – for instance, the Book of Job makes it pretty clear in the introduction that this is a story meant to teach a certain lesson and not a report of actual events. In the New Testament, the authors each have their own theological agenda they are trying to portray. This causes us to ask questions of the texts as they apply to 21st Century living. 

Tradition is that body of writing produced during and after the 1st Century, some of it written even earlier than portions of the New Testament. These resources assist us in understanding how the Church has interpreted the Christian Faith throughout the centuries and the importance of being somewhat congruent with them in our own time. 

Reason is oldest of these three sources in that God gifted humans with the ability to think about the world around us and make inquiries about our world. Science has always been thought of as part of Reason in that through science, God continues to reveal the mysteries of the universe. 

While Christian education and formation reflect on these sources, their main purpose is to inform, inspire and transform us in our call to live the Christian life. Many “doctrines” and “dogmas” are what the Church calls “holy Mysteries” because, while we hold them as truth, these truths are frequently difficult to put into mere words. Music, poetry, fine and performing arts are ways we can get a glimpse of what these Mysteries mean. 

Ultimately, Christian education and formation for both young people and adults is to guide us in following Jesus as the Lord of our lives by practicing the behaviors, concepts and attitudes he taught while on earth. Ultimately, Christian education and formation assist us in our relationship with God, the Church and each other. When boiled down, the Christian Faith is less about dogma and doctrine and all about being authentic and genuine human beings and practicing compassion, mercy, forgiveness, peace and justice. One might say that the real purpose of doctrine and dogma are to guide and encourage us in these endeavors. 

Christian education and formation for children focuses on who Jesus was and is, what he taught and the expectation that we be loving, caring and compassionate people. It also informs them to love others - even those who might not be so loveable – and ways to do that.