Sunday Forums
2011-2012 Theme: Inspiration
This year we face change within St. John's, and will need sustenance for the journey. We have picked the broad theme of Inspiration to help us feed the congregation with spiritual, intellectual, and emotional fortitude. Inspiration has a multitude of meanings: from simply breathing in, to awakening the self, even to divine guidance. We will explore how to be inspired through scripture, church teaching, art, history, service and community in the year ahead.
Sunday Forums are held in the main sanctuary during the Education Hour from 10:10-10:55. Bring your coffee and a friend.
Church History from Reformation to Modern Day
Jan 15, 22, 29, & Feb 5
Join Lynnell Mickelsen and John Bellaimey for a four week series on the Reformation. What were the strains in the church that led Luther to reach for the nails and the Pope to reach for his ex-communication pen? How overdue was the northern European explosion that became the Protestant Reformation? Was Rome right that the Bible was too flammable a text for lay people to hold in their own hands? What's the story of Quakers, Anabaptists, and Puritans? The Episcopal Church is a latter-day incarnation of the English Reformation. Join us in a lively exploration of scripture, theology, history, and coincidence.
The Episcopal Church and Marriage
February 12
Sally Johnson and Bill Peterson
Back in 1976 General Convention passed a historical resolution:
Resolved, that it is the sense of this General Convention that homosexual persons are children of God and have a full and equal claim with all other persons upon the love, acceptance, and pastoral concern and care of the Church. Resolved, that this General Convention expresses its conviction that homosexual persons are entitled to equal protection of the laws with all other citizens, and calls upon our society to see that such protection is provided in actuality.
Canon lawyer Sally Johnson and Outreach Minister Bill Peterson talk about what the church is thinking 36 years later and how the conversation includes St John’s and where we are moving around marriage equity.
Sunday, Feb 19 - No Forum - Intergenerational Event
Why Marriage Matters
February 26
Michelle Dibble and Bill Peterson
Michelle Dibblee, Field Organizer for Minnesotans United for All Families, and Bill Peterson, Outreach Minister, will discuss the coming amendment and what it means for Minnesota and how faith communities can respond.
Change Reflected in Scripture
March 4-25
The Rev. Dr. Heidi Joos
We will look at Biblical examples of the patterns of change that occur in the ways that God's people are called to live in the world.
Week I - Joos' First Law: "All change makes all people anxious all the time."
Week 2 - The Stress of Being Set Free
Week 3 - The Stress of Captivity
Week 4 - The Stress of a New Call
Search Process Update
March 25
No Forum Sunday April 1-8
A Hopeful Earth - Faith, Science, and the Message of Jesus
April 22 - 29, May 6
Mike Walters
Inspiration in Nature
May 13 & 20
|
