Adult Formation

The Martha J. Horne Lectures were established to recognize and celebrate the significant contributions that Dean Horne has made to the education and formation of many women and men for service in the Church. Her efforts to prepare students have been significant and far-reaching. These lectures strive to honor the commitment she made to the Virginia Theological Seminary during her 13 years as Dean and President and to St. Paul’s through her long-standing ministry as a Parish Associate. The lecture typically takes place in late winter.

Stay tuned for an announcement about the next Faith Seeking Understanding (FSU) course. All are welcome to participate, especially folks new to St. Paul’s and anyone looking to deepen their understanding of Christianity. Email Alyse to learn more and sign up.

A multi-week course (typically six weeks) that offers a survey of pertinent topics of the Christian faith from the Anglican/Episcopal perspective. It’s also a chance to get to know other parishioners and form lasting community. Think of it as part theology, part spiritual formation, part history and part practical faith.

Think of the content like an upside down funnel. We begin the first class broadly asking questions like “Is there more to life than what we can see?” “What does ‘God’ mean?” and “How do we respond to atheism?” From there, each week, we go deeper. How do we know what God is like? We look at the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. How do we account for this? We are entrusted with Scripture. How can we read Scripture and be mindful of its original context and how it operates as a living Word of God today?

Then we uncover how the Holy Spirit acts in the world, how the Church acts on behalf of the Spirit, and by the time we get to the seventh class, we have funneled down to a specific presentation and discussion on being Episcopalian in today’s world – how we worship, why we do what we do and believe what we believe given all that has come before.

It is designed to be appropriate for long-time parishioners as well as new parishioners, so that people at different points in their faith journeys can share and discuss these matters together and help each other form theological opinions, engage with Scripture, perhaps look at their own faith with new perspectives and possibilities, and strengthen our St. Paul’s community. Participants should commit to attending all classes, to the extent possible.

The format is simple: dinner, presentation, and discussion in small groups/tables. All three components are essential to the design of the course.

Email the Rev. Alyse Viggiano to sign up. Course cost is $20 to cover cost of materials. In certain circumstances the cost of the course can be waived.