Adult Christian Formation Offerings
at Grace Church (partial listing)

THIS YEAR

2007

January:  Jeus at the Barnes and Noble: an Introduction to the Gospel of Luke

February:  Movie Night:  CRASH.

March: An Introduction to Centering Prayer with the six continuing sessions

March 11:  Erasing the Distance: The People I Know (a dramatic presentation of the stories of persons living with mental illness or stories of those who love them)

March 25 and April 1 : Preparation for Confirmation and Baptism:  IDENTITY AND MISSION

May 13: The Social Policies of the Episcopal Church

May 20: Judgemental Language: Are We Having Fun Yet?

May 27 / Pentecost: Jesus in Celluloid: the Hollywood Iconography of Jesus

June 24: The Nicene Creed: Why does it matter?

PAST YEARS

2000
Feb - May -- The Jubilee Themes: Respect for the Earth, Sharing Wealth,  Reconciliation, Release of the Captives

Parish Lenten Retreat -- Practical Spirituality -- journaling, the Enneagram, sacred movement

Lent -- The Message of the Mystic -- an exploration of the Gospel of John

Lent -- Gospel Alive: embodying the Good News in our Space and Time -- reenactments

April -- Spiritual Healing

October -- Introduction to Centering Prayer

October -- A guide to your portable, hand-held connection to God -- an introduction to the Bible

December -- Speaking with your Heart on your Tongue -- a workshop for proclaimers of Scripture in public worship

2001
Jan - Feb -- Christian Moral Issues

Mar -- Dream Stories / Life Stories -- an exploration of our dreams

Parish Lenten Retreat -- Painting the Face of Jesus -- an experiential
examination of my life in Christ

Lent -- The Spirituality of the Lord's Prayer

May -- Introduction to the Enneagram

June -- How Race is Lived in America -- a five-week discussion of the New York Times articles of the same name

July - August -- Sunday at the Art [Institute] with Grace -- lunch together at the Art Institute and then a discussion of one work in the galleries

October 01 - January 02 -- The Guild of the Word -- an expansion of the preaching voices here at Grace Church (a training program for lay preachers)

October -- To Kill a Mockingbird -- Grace's participation in the Chicago-wide reading of this classic

October -- Evil -- a four-meeting special adult formation series occasioned by the events of September 11, 2001

November -- Race at Grace -- a four-night continuation of our discussions on race in our culture, lives, church

2002

Jan -- The Spirituality of Sound -- exploration of the sounds we hear/make in worship as prayer

Parish Lenten Retreat --  My Spiritual Development

Lent -- The Letter to the Romans: The Gospel according to Paul

Lent -- Epiphany on the Sofa: The Gospel according to the Simpsons -- America's favorite cartoon family reveals much about the church, religion, the spirit and culture.

June/ July -- Grace Book club starts to meet.

July -- book study of David Steindl-Rast's "Music of Silence: A sacred journey through the hours of the day" and a practicum on the laying-on-of-hands.

September / October -- "I-Grace (Indispensable Grace)": a series of discussions with the rector and lay members on how Episcopalians perceive of and live the Christian life. Topics: Witness, Beliefs, Worship, Communion, Prayer and Music, History, Spirituality, Belonging.

September / October -- The Religious Voice in English Poetry.

September -- "Keeping God's People Safe: Preventing Child Abuse" at GracePlace for the Episcopal Diocese.

October -- The Great Mysteries of Faith, book study using McIntosh's "Mysteries of Faith" in the Church's Teaching Series.

2003

Jan -- Sabbath Rest: an exploration of incorporating God's Sabbath in our everyday lives.

Feb -- Vocation: Hearing God's Call in our Daily Lives.

Oct -- "Just Don't Scare the Horses: Same-Sex, Change-Sex and the Scriptures": Parish discussion of the texts in the Hebrew and Christian scriptures which are often quoted in the gay and lesbian debate in the church

Nov -- "The First Five Centuries," an exploration of the early development of the Church when scripture, liturgy, creed and heresy were all invented.

2004

Lent: "Faithful Citizenship in the 21st Century": Br. Wayne Teasdale, keynoter, with sessions on the "Being a Christian in the Global Marketplace" with McCloskey, "The Faithful Citizen and the U.S. Constitution" with Healy, and "Vegetarianism: The Spirituality of Food" with Eigenberg.

March/May -- "Beyond Marriage: Intimacy, Sexuality and Spirituality," an exploration of the nature of God's commitment to us, and our commitments to one another.

2005

March / Lent: FEAR in Scripture and in our Lives

November -- "Slave of Christ?: An exploration of slavery in the Christian bible and the Antebellum American Experience"

2006

Feb: Making and using Prayer Beads

Mar / Lent: Confronting the Forces of the Evil One:  The Gospel of Mark

September/October:  "Particular Spiritualities: What we know about ourselves that informs us about God."

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