Adult Formation

🗓 Sunday Forums this Fall: The Symbols of the Faith

The sacraments of the church are tangible, palpable things: they are meant to be visible signs of God’s spiritual grace. They would be sadly lacking if we couldn’t feel them – if they weren’t things that we could taste and see. Join the clergy of St. Paul’s for an introduction to the core symbols of our faith. Think of it as a way to familiarize ourselves with the things we take for granted in the liturgy: just why is water so important to baptism? How, of all the things we could eat, did bread and wine become so essential to the core convening ritual of our faith? 

September 18 | WATER 
“And darkness covered the face of the deep…” (Gen 1:2)
with the Rev. Javier Almendárez-Bautista

September 25 – Ministry Fair (No Forum)

October 2 | BREAD 
“Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” (Jn 6:35)
with the Rev. George Adamik

October 9 | WINE
“But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins.” (Jn 5:38)
with the Rev. George Adamik

October 16 | OIL 
“You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.” (Ps 23:5)
with the Rev. Javier Almendárez-Bautista

October 23 | FIRE 
“Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them…” (Acts 2:3)
with the Rev. Javier Almendárez-Bautista

October 30 | Confirmation Sunday and Bishop’s Forum
with the Rt. Rev. Mary Gray-Reeves

November 6 | Annual Meeting 
No Forum

November 13 | Rector’s Forum: Leadership at St. Paul’s 
with the Rev. George Adamik

November 20 | Resilience: Childhood Trauma, Prevention, and Hope 
with the St. Paul’s Resilience Ministry

🗓 Sunday Forums in May: Living into Easter Resurrection (2022)

Join us at St. Paul’s this Easter season as we explore how we are called to live into Christ’s resurrection in our world today. Fr. George will provide an overview of the Gospel of Luke—the gospel we are exploring Sunday after Sunday this church year. The Racial Justice Planning Group (RJPG) is also excited to bring two speakers to our Sunday forums: Jack Holtzman, from the Fair Housing Project, and Sara Smith, from North Carolinians Against Gun Violence.

May 1 | Discrimination and Fair Housing: A History
Jack Holtzman, Co-Director, Fair Housing Project, Legal Aid of NC

May 8 | The Gospel of Luke, Part I
The Rev. George Adamik

May 15 | The Gospel of Luke, Part II
The Rev. George Adamik

May 22 | Gun Violence in North Carolina
Sara Smith, Organizing Director, North Carolinians Against Gun Violence

🗓 Lenten Series: The Strange, New Worlds of the Bible (2022)

The 20th century theologian Karl Barth once wrote that Scripture reveals, “not the right human thoughts about God”, but “the right divine thoughts about [humankind].” On Sunday mornings this Lent, join us as we explore not just Scripture, but how we read it–the many ways that we can enter into relationship with it. Each Sunday from 10:20-11:00 a.m., we will explore a new path toward reading and understanding Scripture. From midrash to comic books, our speakers will shed light on various tools we can use to find meaning in our sacred texts.

March 6
Scripture and Midrash: “What is his name, what shall I say to them?” (Ex 3:13)
Rabbi Raachel Jurovics, PhD, Rabbi-in-Residence, Episcopal Diocese of NC

March 13
Scripture and Myth
The Rev. Javier Almendarez-Bautista

March 20
Scripture and Illustration: the Psalms
The Rev. Canon Earnest Graham

March 27
Scripture and Poetry
The Rev. Javier Almendarez-Bautista

April 3
Scripture and Meditation
The Rev. George Adamik

🗓 Winter Series: Discovering a Practice of Prayer (January 2021)

On Sundays in January and February, join St. Paul’s clergy for our winter series on prayer practices in the Christian tradition. There is no one tried-and-true way to pray, of course, but that doesn’t mean that developing a practice of prayer is easy. How has prayer been a part of your life? Where has it proved difficult? What avenues to prayer have you yet to explore that might enrich your spiritual journey? Each Sunday, we will explore a different practice of prayer, loosely based on the book by the Rev. Rhonda Lee, Ph.D, Seek and You Will Find: Discovering a Practice of Prayer. We will also hear from the author herself! 

January 9, 2022
The Holy Eucharist
The Rev. George Adamik

January 16, 2022
The Daily Office
The Rev. George Adamik

January 23, 2022
Lectio Divina
The Rev. Javier Almendarez-Bautista

January 30, 2022
Break — Parish Meeting

February 6, 2022
Praying the Psalms
The Rev. Alice Graham Grant

February 13, 2022
The Lord’s Prayer
The Rev. Javier Almendarez-Bautista

February 20, 2022
Seek and You Will Find: A Conversation with Rhonda Mawhood Lee
The Rev. Javier Almendarez-Bautista & the Rev. Rhonda Mawhood Lee, Ph.D.

February 27, 2022
Spiritual Direction
The Rev. George Adamik

Selected recordings from past forums:

Advent 2021
The Song of Zechariah with the Rev. Javier Almendárez-Bautista
The Song of Mary with the Rev. Javier Almendárez-Bautista

Fall 2021
Episcopal 102: What does it mean to belong to the Episcopal Church? with the Rev. George Adamik

Spring 2021
Family Promise: Helping Families Find Safe, Affordable, Permanent Housing with Carey Phelps, Development & Volunteer Manager, Family Promise

Lent 2021
The Liturgical Year in the Jewish Tradition with Rabbi Ariel Edery, Beth Shalom, Wake County

Fall 2020
Anxiety in the Midst of the Pandemic Phillip M. Bass, MDiv, ThM, MA, LCMHC, NCC
Resilience – Childhood Trauma/Prevention/Hope with St. Paul’s Resilience Ministry
Faithful Citizenship: Where Do We Go From Here with the Rev. Javier Almendarez-Bautista & Aleta McClenney

These and other recordings are available on St. Paul’s YouTube channel.

Daytime Book Group’s News:

Daytime Book Group

Posted: February 21, 2022

The Women’s Study Group has changed it’s name to Daytime Book Group, to be more inclusive. They meet the second Tuesday of each month at noon via Zoom.

Women’s Study Group (July 13)

Posted: June 24, 2021

The Women’s Study Group will meet again via zoom at noon on Tuesday, July 13, to discuss this marvelous book, Love is the Way: Holding on to Hope in Troubling Times, by our own Presiding Bishop Michael Curry.

Women’s Study Group (first part of 2021)

Posted: February 9, 2021

The Women’s Study Group will continue meeting on each second Tuesday at Noon via Zoom during the first part 2021. They usually alternate between fiction and non-fiction and read a wide variety of books of interest to women.