A Letter from Penny: Christian Formation

Hello St. Paul’s,

One of the primary responsibilities of a rector or dean is to ensure that parishioners are engaging in Christian formation, to enable all of us “grow into the full stature of Christ”, as we repeatedly promise in the baptismal liturgy. For many years St. Paul’s has offered a weekly forum on Sunday morning, addressing a broad variety of topics relevant to our journey of faith. When we have someone willing and able to lead Bible study, we have offered that at the same time, as an alternative opportunity for growth. We also offer seasonal series in the fall and during Lent.

It is characteristic of our Anglican tradition that we learn and grow in community. There is great benefit in individual prayer and reading, of course, but we practice a corporate faith, and there’s no substitute for coming together for conversation, chewing over questions, and mutual support.

At one time the Sunday forum drew large numbers of people, but as with many things, the pandemic changed people’s habits, and these days there is a very small core of faithful attendees, with the total number rarely going above 20. In a parish of about 1200 people, this tells me that what we are offering isn’t working for the community as a whole.

Our formation committee has worked hard for years to fill the Sunday forum timeslot week after week. I am especially grateful to Donna Perdue and Calvin Johnson who have been leading this effort over the last year, managing to engage excellent speakers on compelling topics every Sunday.

I want to empower each of you to grow in Christ, so I need to know what would work for you. We are considering changing the Sunday forum schedule next year to consist of short series (4-6 weeks) on a single theme, followed by several weeks’ gap before starting another series. I would like to hear from you: would you be willing to commit to a short series, likely led by one of our adjunct clergy or professorial members? Would you prefer Sunday morning or an evening time slot? As of now, we have a Lent series planned for Sunday mornings and an Easter season film series on Sunday evenings, to include dinner.

I would also love to know if you are looking for a regular Bible study, and what schedule would work for you.

The pledge cards you received last week included an invitation to pledge an hour a week to ministry, outside of regular worship. I invite you to consider committing a regular time in 2026 to your growth in Christ. I would love to see St. Paul’s flourish as a school for spiritual growth!

Your sister in Christ,

Penny