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An exciting line-up for the Sunday Forum
Sunday Forum returns to the Fellowship Hall
Guest speakers and St. Stephen’s staff will discuss a variety of topics during the Christian education hour
After a year of virtual forums focused primarily on conversations with each Sunday’s preacher, the Sunday Forum in its more traditional form will return on September 19. This standard of adult formation at St. Stephen’s Church will continue its practice of featuring high-quality speakers and teachers, drawing upon the best of our tradition through biblical, theological, and artistic lenses, both from within and outside the community of St. Stephen’s. In this time of transition and discernment, the forum will also provide space for dedicated engagement and conversation on related topics with the wider parish. Our hope and expectation is for all sessions to occur in person in the Large Fellowship Hall during the formation hour (from 10:10 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.). All sessions will be recorded and available later, on-demand.
The Forum will open with the Rev. Patrick J. Wingo, our interim rector. In fact, Pat will have the first three Sundays (September 19 and 26, October 3) in the Forum schedule, and will be joined September 26 by the Rev. Sarah Brockenbrough, the transition minister for the Diocese of Virginia.
On October 10, our guest speaker will be the Very Rev. Dr. Andrew McGowan, the dean of Berkeley Divinity School at Yale.
A panel of our new clergy and lay staff, including the Rev. Will Stanley, the Rev. Cate Anthony, the Rev. John Jenkins, and Ron Brown, will speak on October 17.
On October 24, we’ll welcome the Rev. Whitney Edwards, upper school chaplain at St. Christopher’s School.
A three-week series will take place October 31, November 7 and 14, featuring the Rev. Thom Blair. Thom was rector of St. Stephen’s from 1994 to 2004, and is known for his outstanding biblical teaching.
On November 21, Allison Seay, associate for religion and the arts, will speak in the Forum. Allison’s presentations are always extremely popular.
November 28 is the First Sunday in Advent, and there will be no Forum that day so that all can participate in our intergenerational
Advent Fair.
On December 12 and 19, another popular Forum speaker returns when Dr. Gardner Campbell, a St. Stephen’s parishioner and associate professor of English at Virginia Commonwealth University, will present a two-part Forum on an Advent poem (see description on page 25).
The Forum will then be on hiatus until the new year.
There is no Forum on September 5 (Labor Day weekend and the last Sunday for our summer schedule) nor September 12, which is “Rally Day,” when we will hold a ministry fair and fellowship time.
Good to know
The Café @ St. Stephen’s is open Sundays, 8:30 a.m. until noon. Drip coffee is complimentary on Sunday mornings, and other drinks, such as espresso drinks and smoothies, are available for purchase. Grab and go snacks and pastries are also available. Pick up your beverage of choice and bring it to the Forum with you.
Journal writing as a spiritual practice Popular group returns
One of the many experiences I missed at St. Stephen’s during the pandemic was a class I have offered here several times, “Journal Writing as Spiritual Practice.” I have been keeping a journal for over 30 years, sometimes faithfully, sometimes less so.
There is something about journal writing in a group that supports my self-discipline and spirit. Writing with others builds community, and my writing is enriched by the gifts of meditation, poetry and music.
By Regena Stith
Now that we have returned to face-to-face worship and other activities, I find that I am carrying a quiet excitement for joining a gathering to begin another year of learning and reflecting through writing. Keeping a journal has a rich heritage in faith development and spiritual practice. In this eight-week class, participants will explore a variety of approaches to journaling, engage in reflective writing and incorporate meditation, poetry, music and structured exercises to deepen and enrich their writing practice.
The class meets from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. for eight Wednesdays beginning October 6. There is no charge, but space is limited, so advance registration is required; call the parish office, 804.288.2867.
St. Stephen’s Flower Guild provides striking displays of flowers, gourds and other materials for this service.
Come, ye thankful people
The Rt. Rev. Gayle E. Harris to be guest preacher November 25
Last year we had to find new ways to observe cherished customs such as the unique Thanksgiving Day service that the entire Richmond community has embraced over the decades. We are so glad that— as this edition of Seasons of the Spirit went to the printer—it appears that we will be able to offer this service in 2021.
On Thursday, November 25, at 10:30 a.m., St. Stephen’s will hold its traditional service of Morning Prayer: Rite One with our excellent choir, organ, and brass. Our guest preacher will be the Rt. Rev. Gayle E. Harris, bishop suffragan of Massachusetts since January 2003. Bishop Harris attended our Thanksgiving Day service in 2019 while visiting friends here, and the Rev. Gary Jones, then rector, immediately invited her to be the guest preacher in 2020. She accepted, but then the pandemic intervened. We’re grateful that she’s agreed to join us this year.
It’s always a good idea to arrive at this service early, because it is as well-attended as an Easter or Christmas Eve service, and ushers will remind you not to save seats.
The Rt. Rev. Gayle E. Harris
On Sunday, November 28—the first Sunday in Advent— individuals, couples and families are invited to gather in the Fellowship Hall after the 9 and 11:15 a.m. services for the Advent Fair.
At this event, you can make an Advent wreath, pick up free resources for observing Advent at home, and enjoy fellowship and refreshments.
Wreath kits will be available to assemble your Advent wreath on the spot, or to take home. You’re invited to make a donation to cover the cost of the materials, which include a wreath form, candle holders, and candles. We’ll have plenty of fresh greenery, as well.
More details about this intergenerational event will be available in The Spirit, eSpirit, and on our Web site, closer to the time.
There will be no Sunday Forum on November 28.
You can make an Advent wreath at this intergenerational event.
‘Supernatural Love’ is focus of two-part Advent Forum
Gardner Campbell explores this remarkable poem
It is rare that a single poem explores the central mysteries of the Incarnation, from the strangeness of our own embodiment to the wonder of God’s loving, sacrificial choice to become human, Emmanuel. “Supernatural Love” is one of those rare poems. Written by Gjertrud Schnackenberg, one of the greatest American poets of the last 100 years, “Supernatural Love” tells the story of a four-year-old girl whose intuitions send her father, a history professor, on a search for knowledge that can explain his young daughter’s visionary insights. The poem is written very simply, as a first-person story told by the young girl, but the universe that her story opens to the reader is breathtaking, unforgettable.
You can find a copy of the poem here: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/ poems/47547/supernatural-love
Join Dr. Gardner Campbell this Advent as we experience this remarkable poem together, illuminating our own questions, intuitions, and discoveries through the story “Supernatural Love” tells.
Prof. Gardner Campbell
This year’s community service takes place November 29
The holiday season is many weeks away, but it’s not too early to note that our annual Holiday Memorial Service will take place November 29, the Monday after Thanksgiving, at 7 p.m.
The weeks that begin with Thanksgiving Day and include Advent, Christmas, and Hanukkah, bring on powerful memories and emotions, and this can be a particularly painful time for those who have lost a child. If you have experienced this loss, or know someone who has, we want you to know about a special service we offer each year.
The Holiday Memorial Service, begun in 2007, is an interfaith offering sponsored by several area congregations and schools— Protestant, Roman Catholic, Episcopal, Jewish—to provide a time and place for families to remember the child they lost. This season of holidays is filled with images and expectations of loved ones coming home, while bereaved parents and family members know that not everyone can be around the table. Moreover, “holiday cheer” seems to preclude bringing up the name or the memory of the deceased child. The Holiday Memorial Service offers an opportunity to do that, whether your child died 30 years ago, or three weeks ago; whether as an adult, a teenager, a child or an infant; from illness, accident, violence, suicide, or other cause.
This service is so important to St. Stephen’s and the larger community that last year, when it was not safe to hold the annual event in the church, we reimagined it and provided an opportunity outdoors for people to remember their children.
Please help us spread the word about this offering, open to all, which is followed by a simple reception.
