Groups, classes, Sunday Forum for this fall

FALL 2022 OPPORTUNITIES TO CONNECT AND LEARN

St. Stephen’s Church offers ways to reflect, learn, and study as we connect with others.

BECOMING A GOOD PERSON Wednesdays at 6:30 p.m. beginning September 14 Led by the Rev. William L. Sachs

We speak of people in this way and even wonder what it might mean. What is a good person? For Christians the issue is important, but it has been distorted. Are we mired in sin and desperately needing to be saved? Does being good mean following the rules, and being punished if we break one? The Christian faith takes a different course to being good, as Bill Sachs will explain in six sessions. Using several biblical and early Christian figures, then working our way to the present, we will discuss a few key figures who have struggled to be good and to leave the world a better place. Join us, and consider what it means to be a good person.

Sign up: ststephensRVA.org/good-person Questions: bsachs@ststephensRVA.org

WHOLEHEARTED FAITH Wednesdays at 10 a.m., September 14 through October 12 Led by the Rev. Claudia Merritt

Wholehearted Faith by Rachel Held Evans is a series of essays about faith and doubt, seeking and certainty. It is for people who believe deeply in their connection with God and for those who believe, but with their fingers crossed. In that way these essays speak to our own journeys into the heart of God. Some days we are filled with love for all creation, even people or things we shun, and some days our doubts, feelings of inadequacy, sorrows or self-absorption overtake us. For Rachel, at the center of this very human journey was her commitment to the story of Jesus.

Rachel Held Evans grew up in the Baptist tradition, and eventually found her way to the Episcopal Church; this book is in part about the path she took. As for all of us, hers is an unfinished story of life in the Spirit. She died in 2019 at the age of 37 due to a severe allergic reaction. A recognized leader in current Christian thought, she was the author of several books, a blogger, and appeared on television and radio talk shows. Rachel has much to say to us in the 21st century as we explore our faith.

Sign up: ststephensRVA.org/wholehearted Questions: cmerritt@ststephensRVA.org

JOURNAL WRITING AS A SPIRITUAL PRACTICE Wednesdays from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.; eight sessions beginning October 5 | led by Regena Stith

Keeping a journal has a rich tradition in faith development and spiritual practice. In this eight-week class, participants will explore a variety of approaches to journaling. Regena Stith reflects, “Recently, a friend asked me why I continue to promote journal writing and how it is related to spiritual practice. Over the years that I have led this class at St. Stephen’s, I have observed how participants engage in a process of self-discovery, how their journaling provides a means to track spiritual development, gain perspective into past events, and how new insights surface in the process.” Regena notes that a bond develops among participants as they honor one another’s experiences. “I am buoyed by my times in class,” she says, “and my own spiritual life is deepened in the process.” Join Regena and others as they explore journal writing as a spiritual practice. There is no charge, but the size of the group is limited, so advance registration is required.

Sign-up: ststephensRVA.org/journal Questions: rrstith@gmail.com

The Sunday forum We’ll begin with our new rector on September 18

When the Sunday Forum resumes on September 18 at 10:10 a.m., the inaugural speaker will be the Rev. John Rohrs. This will be a wonderful opportunity to learn more about our new rector just a week after he begins his ministry here.

Other speakers are “in the works,” but not all of the details were firm as this edition of Seasons of the Spirit went to the printer. We can tell you about two of them, however:

THIS SACRED PLACE Speaker: The Rev. William L. Sachs | September 25, October 2

How does a church become a home? Using St. Stephen’s Church as a lens, Bill Sachs will describe how certain places become sacred to us. In two sessions we will link our searches for God to the places we find and the destinations that await us. God is in the world around us, and we even find God in a church. St. Stephen’s has a lively and fascinating history that will provide the frame for how we begin to see God now.

Bill Sachs is well-known to many at St. Stephen’s Church, having served on the staff here during the tenure of the Rev. Raby Edwards and again during the Rev. Gary Jones’ time as rector.

LIVING THE INCARNATION AND NAVIGATING THE DIGITAL REALM Speaker: The Rev. Martin Smith | December 11

The Church is in the early stages of exploring new opportunities for connection in the digital world. With the onset of the “metaverse,” and new tendencies for Christians to conduct their religious lives Continued on page 8