ADULT
Formation
Growing in faith is a life-long journey and we offer many opportunities for adults to explore the Christian faith and discover how to live out their faith in the world. At Good Samaritan, we value questions, wrestle with doubts, and don’t settle for easy answers. Learning together in community helps us understand more about God, the world, and ourselves. Our formation opportunities for adults are safe places to wrestle with real life and discover how God is present through every stage, experience, or challenge.
Adult formation is offered in a variety of ways, including Sunday morning formation during the academic year, small groups, retreats, and weekly Bible studies.
- Sunday morning formation takes place at 9:00 a.m. except during the Summer. Contact Fr. Chris for more information.
- Women’s Group meets each week on Tuesday evenings at 7:00 p.m. Contact Cathy Strohl for more information.
Current Adult Formation Series:
This Pride Month, we’re diving into something that might just change the way you read your Bible. 1946: The Mistranslation That Shifted Culture is a gripping documentary that follows researchers on a journey to uncover a surprising truth—that the modern Christian anti-gay movement may trace its roots not to scripture itself, but to a single mistranslation in 1946. Armed with never-before-seen archives unearthed at Yale University, the film makes a compelling case that there is a far less biblical basis for LGBTQIA+ prejudice than many would have you believe. Each week we’ll watch a portion of the film and then reflect and discuss together. The information covered in this series will help you become a better LGBTQIA+ ally and a better, more informed, Christian. Don’t miss it. Sundays June 7, 14, 21, and 28 at 9:00 a.m.
Past Sessions:
Previously we covered a broad range of topics. Here is a sampling of the sessions we had:
- The Bible Said What? About What? Mythbusting the Bible
- Supper is Served: The Evolution of Worship
- Mother of God: Meeting Mary Again
- Hygge and Holiness
- Discernment of Spirits
- Faith and Fear: Macabre Moments in Church History
- All Things Made New: Teilhard de Chardin, Creation, and Hope for Our World
- The Holy Spirit, The Trinity, and Us
- Creeds
- Jesus, How Do I Pray?
- The Transfiguration Icon
- Why we do what we do when we do it and other peculiarities of church
- The Power of Gratitude
- Monsters in the Bible
- The Story of the New Testament: Books and Readers in the Early Church
- Clobbering the Clobber Passages
- Miracles of Jesus
- Finding God Through Our Senses
- The Wild and Surprising World of Angels
- Light of the World: Looking at Advent with New Eyes
- Surprising Saints
- Habits and Spiritual Practices that Support Resilience
- Church History: A six week study of questions and issues with which the early Church had to grapple and how that influenced what we practice today
- Advent Series: The Proto-Evangelium and Its Influence on Tradition; The Voice of Isaiah; John the Baptist; and Poetry of the Incarnation
- What is a Priest?
- What is Happening at a Eucharist?
- Lenten Series on Prayer: Praying the Psalms; Praying the Old Testament Canticles; Different Methods of Contemplative Prayer; Poetic Language for God
- Church History: How the Romans viewed the Early Christians; How Christianity went from a Sect to a Major Religion
- Grappling with Racism within the Episcopal Church
- The Difference Course – a five week study exploring how to follow the example of Jesus within a deeply divided world
- How we Engage in Theological Reflection
