Our understanding of Christian Formation is based on The Charter for Lifelong Christian Formation, put forth by an initiative of The Episcopal Church which defines Christian formation as “the lifelong process of growing in relationship with God, self, others and all creation. In this process we are transformed into the people God wants us to be.” The charter further states:
Formation is unceasing – serving the individual’s emerging understanding of identity, community, authority and purpose in Christ throughout their lives.
Formation is dynamic - encompassing learning, action and reflection.
Formation is formal and informal – informing, forming and transforming both the individual and the community.
Formation is hospitable – welcoming the “new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its creator.” (Col. 3:10).
Here at St. Augustine’s we seek to follow this definition by providing the following formation opportunities for adults:
Sunday Adult Forum
The Adult Forum is held in our Parish Hall on Sundays at 9:15 am, following our first coffee hour (which happens right after the 8 am service). The Forum ends at 10:15 am, so that those who wish can go to our 10:30 am service. Topics range from current events, health, and stewardship to liturgy, history, Biblical studies and Christian education. If you want to find out something about what we believe this is a great place to start!
Thursday Evening Events
Throughout the academic year we offer Thursday evening opportunities for fellowship and formation. We begin with a soup, salad and bread supper – a great way for us to get to know each other and catch up on the life of our community. Supper is followed by a variety of offerings: we could have a guest speaker making a formal presentation; we sometimes do book studies or use DVDs. All offerings are followed by an opportunity for commentary and discussion.
Upcoming Adult Formation Events:
February 2012
Sundays @ 9:15-10:00am – Adult Forum: February is once again at our doorstep. Consequently, we are sadly anticipating the accompanying dark days, blasts of arctic wind, and rain, lots of rain. The 8th Day Committee hopes our new slate of adult forums for February will, at least, help brighten your Sundays. We begin with the second part of the Annual Parish Meeting followed by our continuing series on The Old Testament. This series is brought to us by The Teaching Company as part of its “The Great Courses” library and is made available to us by the Diocesan Resource Center. These graduate level lectures are taught by Dr. Amy-Jill Levine, Professor of New Testament Studies at Vanderbilt University Divinity School. Our purpose in examining the Old Testament is to discover and discern our own faith roots through Hebrew scripture.
Specific forum dates, subject matter, and hosts/presenters are noted below:
19 February – Abraham, Sarah, & Hagar. Following Babel, God makes one more attempt to engage humanity. Abram, as he is initially called, sets out with his wife, Sarai, and nephew, Lot at the abrupt and unexpected divine command, “Go to the land which I will show you”, and where God promises Abraham he will be the father of a great nation. Yet nothing goes smoothly: Sarai is infertile; the promised land suffers famine; Pharaoh places Sarai in his harem; Lot is first taken captive and then faces the destruction of Sodom; and Sarai’s plan to have her slave Hagar conceive a child with Abram leads to domestic strife. Is Abram’s fidelity being tested? How are we to evaluate his actions and God’s promises? This lecture introduces Abram – faithful hero and morally ambiguous trickster – briefly in terms of historical investigation, and then through close reading of Genesis 12:10-20. Ted Brookes presents.
26 February – Isaac. The accounts of Abraham’s son Issac and daughter-in-law Rebecca provide the opportunity to introduce source criticism and to demonstrate its limitations. We will discuss of two sources already mentioned (J and P) along with two others (E and D), which together form the ” Documentary Hypothesis.” Following that discussion we turn to an analysis of “the binding of Isaac” or the Akedah, Genesis 22, in search of sources and more. Ted Brookes presents
February 19th @ 5-7pm – Family Fun Night: Please join us for Family Fun Night on Sunday February 19th where we will make tacos together and watch “Despicable Me” rated PG. “When a criminal mastermind uses a trio of orphan girls as pawns for a grand scheme, he finds their love is profoundly changing him for the better.” Please send me an email at formation@whidbey.com to let me know you will be coming!
March 1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd, & 29th @ 6:00-8:30pm – Our Lenten program will begin as usual with a light supper of soup, salad and bread and be followed by a Bible Study on the Lenten Epistle Texts and Their Contexts. Rev. Tom Johnson and Rev. Fletcher Davis will lead us in study and discussion of the Epistle Lessons and their New Testament contexts for the first five Sundays in Lent. Please let us know you are coming by emailing formation@whidbey.com.