Adult Formation

In April and May adult formation will be looking at the Stewardship of Creation and what it means to be a good steward of God’s creation.

A good description of why this is important was written by the pastors at Christ the King Lutheran Church in Houston.

“The concept of steward can be applied in its most original and fundamental meaning to refer to our human responsibility to care for the Earth itself (Gen 1-2). The concept of environmental stewardship originates with the first of the creation stories, in which God gives humans dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and the animals of the land (Gen 1:1–2:4). Traditionally, Christians have distorted the mandate to “exercise dominion” to mean that creation was made for human beings and that we have a right to dominate and exploit creation for our own wants and needs. We now understand that the Hebrew word for dominion does not mean “to dominate” or “to exploit.” Rather, it means “to take responsibility for,” as a ruler would be responsible to assure the well-being of those in the realm. In this first creation story, human beings were created last, not as the so-called “crown of creation,” but in order to exercise responsibility for the well-being of the garden Earth. According to Genesis 1, exercising responsibility as part of God’s creation is the main reason humans were created. Therefore, being stewards of creation is foundational to what it means to be human. Caring for creation is not an add-on, not a sideline, not related just to part of our calling. It represents our proper human relationship to Earth. This portrayal puts human beings squarely in a caretaker position in regard to environmental stewardship.”

The Episcopal Church talks about Creation Care in three parts:

Loving Formation, Liberating Advocacy, and Life-Giving Conservation.

We will be looking at all three of these aspects as we explore what it means that we are entrusted with the Stewardship of God’s creation and how we can make a difference in the climate crisis both through our own actions and our advocacy for how our city, state and nation act.

This session will meet on April 16, 23 & 30 and May 7, 14 & 21

You can watch videos of the sessions here.

Throughout Sundays in Lent, Sunday morning Adult Formation will focus on the Baptismal Covenant.

From the earliest days of the church, those being baptized were called on to confess their faith. The ways this happened changed over time and place, with some form of a Creed being used in many times and places.

In the first Book of Common Prayer in 1549 the promises made by the godparents of the child to be baptized were the Apostles’ Creed broken into three sections as in the 1979 Prayer Book of the Episcopal Church followed by asking if the person wished to be baptized.

In the second Book of Common Prayer in 1552 the Creed was reduced to a single question, again followed only by an expression of the desire to be baptized.

In the 1662 Book of Common Prayer the confession of the Apostles’ Creed remained a single question. This was followed by the minister asking: “Wilt thou then obediently keep God’s holy will and commandments, and walk in the same all the days of thy life?” with the godparents answering “I will” on behalf of the child.

In the first American Prayer Book of 1789, the assumption was that baptism would be administered within a Sunday service where the Creed would be said. The questions asked to the godparents on behalf of the child were: “Dost thou believe all the Articles of the Christian Faith as contained in the Apostles’ Creed?” followed by the question from the 1662 Book. This was the form used in the American Books of Common Prayer of 1892 and 1928 as well.

The Liturgical Movement of the 1960’s and 1970’s led many denominations to go back to the older practice of breaking the confession of the Apostles’ Creed into three questions and to expand the question about keeping and following God’s will into more specific questions. It is out of this movement that the Baptismal Covenant as we have it in the 1979 Book of Common Prayer arises.

The Baptismal Covenant is promised at baptism. It is this Covenant that is confirmed during the Confirmation service and the whole congregation renews its Baptismal Covenant every time someone is baptized.

You can watch the recordings of these sessions here.

Lesser Known Bible Stories

Adult Formation in January will focus on Lesser Known Bible Stories.  Pastor Vicki will lead an exploration of a few of the stories of the Bible that not many of us have read (and that don’t get read as a part of the Sunday morning lectionary).

We will look at the stories of: Tamar, Nabal and Abigail; the rape of Tamar; and the Deceptive Prophet.

We will gather in the parish hall from 9:30 – 10:15 a.m. The session will meet January 8, 15, 22, and 29.  There is no adult formation on January 1.

 

Religions of the World & Christian Denominations

In October and November, Pastor Vicki will lead a series that focuses on world religions and Christian denominations.

You can watch the videos of past sessions here.

• October 9: Overview of Major World Religions
• October 16 – Connection and Development of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
• October 23 – The Great Schism and Development of Orthodoxy (capital O)
• October 30 – Medieval Theological Developments
• November 13 – Protestant Reformation
• November 20 – Methodism, American Denominations

Looking at the Episcopal Church

September 11 – Pastor Vicki will lead a session on how the Episcopal Church works and what are the groups involved in making decisions for the church.

September 18 – Bishop Wayne Smith will meet with us to talk about this summer’s General Convention and to answer our questions.

September 25 – Pastor Vicki will lead a session looking at issues coming before our Diocesan Convention in November and the process for electing the next bishop of Southern Ohio.

Read the Episcopal Church’s Charter for Life-Long Christian Formation HERE.