ADULT

Phil Ballinger is back with his new educational offering! He writes: In over 40 years of theological study and teaching, I have never presented anything substantial about the Holy Spirit.  I could claim that this is because Western theological traditions heavily influenced my studies and formation, and that those traditions did not spend a lot of effort on pneumatology – the study of the Spirit.  Sure, the Holy Spirit was important in the prayer traditions and rituals of the Western Church — especially in the witness of saints and mystics through the centuries — but not so much in its thinking and teaching, at least not strongly until the latter half of the 20th century! The centuries-long theological ‘amnesia’ of the Western Church led it to theologically relegate the Holy Spirit to being the silent, invisible ‘partner’ of the Triune God.  And if there is something the Holy Spirit IS NOT in the Scriptures and ancient traditions of the Church, it is ‘silent’ or ‘invisible’!  Thankfully, the other ‘lung’ of the universal Church — the Eastern Church — came to our aid.  We rediscovered the East’s rich theology and liturgical traditions centered upon the person and action of the Holy Spirit.  It wasn’t as if our relative theological inattention to the Holy Spirit meant the Spirit was not active in our lives and in the Church, we simply had theological blinders on that distanced us from awareness of the wonderfully beautiful theology and practical, day-to-day riches of the Holy Spirit.  Additionally, this theological inattention in the mainline traditions of the Western Church more easily permitted the introduction and growth of what I would argue are religiously and socially harmful beliefs and practices associated with the Holy Spirit, especially in America.  We are currently reaping some of the awful fruit of these beliefs and practices in everything from forms of Christian nationalism and theocratic visions of imposed government by divinely guided individuals, to fantasies of some self-appointed ‘spirit-led apostles’ whose messages are founded on conflict ideologies colored with the possibility of violence – certainly not fruits of the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit.  So, I approached Fr. Chris about doing a substantial series about the Holy Spirit. The first group of formation sessions will be offered during Advent, and the second group during the month preceding Pentecost.  We will look at the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament and Jewish traditions; in the New Testament and the ministry of Jesus; in the ‘temples of the Holy Spirit’ – that is, the body of Christ (the Church) and the bodies of each of us as believers; and in the gifts of the Holy Spirit, including in our own lives, prayer and in liturgies.  I will end with a reflection on the Trinity, the Holy Spirit within the Trinity, and the role of the Holy Spirit in our theosis —  are you curious yet?  Come and see – and be prepared to be moved by the Spirit!

First Installment: Sundays, December 1, 8, 15, 22
Second Installment: Sundays, June 1, 8, 15