Thursday webinars welcome diverse speakers
T
his fall, St. Stephen’s will offer a new Thursday educational series open to all. The webinars will be presented live, allowing for participant to engage with the speakers, and they will be recorded for on-demand viewing.
This series will address: • our deepest spiritual needs and longings as human beings; • our relationships with God, each other, and our own souls; • the rich resources of Christian tradition, literature, and depth psychology; and • the peculiar stresses and opportunities of our time, with healing insights and practices With this series: Our role as a Village Green takes on new significance: This year, as we welcome speakers from around the United States and the world, our Zoom webinar format also allows us to welcome those who are “weary and carrying heavy burdens” (Matthew 11:28), people from across the country who consider St. Stephen’s Church to be their spiritual home. This is a sacred Village Green where everyone belongs, where we affirm the dignity and sanctity of every human being. Our role as a New Abbey becomes even more evident: In the midst of anxiety and crumbling institutions, we delve deeply into abiding witnesses of Scripture and Tradition. Drawing on insights and practices, both ancient and new (from psychology, theology, Christian practice, literature, and the arts), we are welcoming modern spiritual pilgrims who seek nourishment for their souls, guidance for their daily lives, and enduring wisdom and truth to accompany them on their journey. Our role as a Healing Community finds fresh expression: As the world makes its way through a withering pandemic, and as we struggle with severe loss, deep grief, uncertainty, and anxiety, this educational series is designed to tend what is wounded and help mend what has been torn in our social fabric. World-renowned teachers have been enlisted to promote the kind of personal healing that leads to wholeness and thriving in our families, our communities, our country, and our world. Each of these four compelling speakers and their topics are described on these pages. Visit ststephensRVA.org/thursdays to register for any of them—or all of them! The webinars are free and open to all (not just parishioners). But space is limited, so do register as soon as possible. S A I N T S T E P H E N ’ S E P I S C O PA L C H U R C H
The Summons of the Soul
September 10-October 8 | 7-8 p.m. BY JAMES HOLLIS
The unexamined life is not worth living. SOCRATES
A consequence of the necessary adaptations we make to the demands of family, the world around us, and the imbedded messages we all carry, causes each of us to get separated from our own truth, our personal authority. Initially accountable to the world around us, we adapt, repress, leave behind some of our best parts. Living a mature life is an ongoing summons of accountability to the soul, and the potential we are asked to bring into this world. The current pandemic has forced us out of longstanding routines and presented many people with the opportunity to re-examine patterns and assumptions about our lives. In this five-part series, I will identify some of the issues, and the tasks they raise for us, in living a mature, examined life. September 10: Growing Up: the Recovery of Personal Authority September 17: Stepping Out from Under the Parental Shade September 24: Getting Unstuck: Exorcising the Ghosts October 1: Freeing Your Children (from you) October 8: Mature Spirituality: Meaning vs. Happiness James Hollis, Ph.D., is a renowned Jungian analyst living in Washington, D.C. Dr. Hollis, who teaches and lectures widely, is the author of 16 books, the latest being Living an Examined Life: Wisdom for the Second Half of the Journey and Living Between Worlds: Finding Personal Resilience in Changing Times. ✤
James Hollis is the most lucid thinker I know about the complexities and complexes that interfere with living a full life. His broad background in literature, philosophy, and Jungian psychology is everywhere present in this important book, which, as it strips away illusions, posits the soul-work that’s necessary for the difficult task of making our lives meaningful. He’s one of our great teachers and healers.
PENTECOST 2 | FALL 2020
STEPHEN DUNN, PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING POET
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