Lifelong Learning in Lent

Since the days of the early Church, Lent has been the season when those new to the faith prepared for baptism. Traditionally, here at Trinity, Lent has also been high season for Christian learning. For guest speakers. And for transformative small group conversation. This coming Lent (which corresponds pretty neatly this year with the month of March) is so full of these opportunities that we’re interrupting Epiphany (by tradition a season of feasting and carnival!) to share some important dates with you, in the hope that you’ll mark them down and plan to join us.   

 

Sunday Forums in March (11:30 a.m.) 

On March 8, during our formation hour, our guest will the Rev. Michael Battle of General Theological Seminary. A theologian whose works include The Wisdom of Desmond Tutu and The Church Enslaved: A Spirituality of Racial Reconciliation, he’ll offer us historical perspective on the experience of people of color within the American Episcopal Church. His visit is a planned “Bonnyman Forum,” conceived as the Bonnyman Symposium team plans for a weekend symposium in 2021.  

Sunday morning forum hours for the following three Sundays will host Habitat for Humanity CEO Jonathan Reckford (March 15), poet and Yale Divinity School Professor Christian Wiman (March 22), and Boston Public Schools Superintendent Brenda Cassellius (March 29). As our Lenten Price lecturers, each of our guests will be addressing what might strike you as an un-Lenten topic: joy. How do we speak of joy in a world of ever-present injustice and suffering? How is joy, which Wiman has called “that durable, inexhaustible, essential, inadequate word,” different from happiness? Can we think of it as a “discipline”? Join us for what promise to be three very different perspectives! 

 

Faith Fundamentals  

(Sunday afternoons 2/23-3/29, 4:00-5:30 p.m., Forum) 

Join us for a cup of tea, a provocative presentation and small-group conversations as we explore the essentials of Christian and Anglican identity. Intended for those new to the church or for those seeking a refresher, these sessions will be led by the Rev. Patrick Ward and will also include a daylong retreat at Glastonbury Abbey (Hingham) led by the Rev. Bill Rich on Saturday,  March 21. Click HERE to register. Supporting texts for this series are A Faith for the Future by Jesse Zink and The Episcopal Story: Birth and Rebirth by Thomas Ferguson.

Youth Confirmation 

Lent will also mark the beginning of our confirmation program for youth in the ninth grade or older. While confirmation itself will take place in December 2020, when Bishop Gates visits Trinity, we’re beginning programming now. Families interested in learning more about these Sunday morning sessions should contact Sarah Neumann. We'll hold an organizational meeting on Sunday, February 23. 

Eternal God, bless our parish, that it may be a lively center for sound learning, new discovery, and the pursuit of wisdom; and grant that those who teach and those who learn may find you to be the source of all truth, through Jesus Christ our Lord. AMEN.

See you in church!

 

Patrick