ADULT
Formation
Growing in faith is a life-long journey and we offer many opportunities for adults to explore the Christian faith and discover how to live out their faith in the world. At Good Samaritan, we value questions, wrestle with doubts, and don’t settle for easy answers. Learning together in community helps us understand more about God, the world, and ourselves. Our formation opportunities for adults are safe places to wrestle with real life and discover how God is present through every stage, experience, or challenge.
Adult formation is offered in a variety of ways, including Sunday morning formation during the academic year, small groups, retreats, and weekly Bible studies.
- Sunday morning formation takes place at 9:00 am except during the Summer. Contact Fr. Chris for more information.
- Women’s Group meets each week on Tuesday evenings at 7pm. Contact Katy for more information.
- Education for Ministry (EfM) is a four-year program designed by the School of Theology at The University of the South. Contact Kimberly Kim for more information.
Adult Formation Series:
Miracles of Jesus
Our society has a tendency to ignore miracles. Even those that give credence to the miracles of the Bible may be inclined to say that those kinds of miracles happened “long ago” but don’t really happen anymore. Others think of miracles as stories written by naïve people who weren’t privy to our level of science. No matter your position on miracles, though, one thing is undoubtedly true: they were a big deal to Jesus, his ministry, and to his followers. And, so, after celebrating the greatest miracle of all — the Resurrection — we are going to be spending some time looking at certain miracles of Jesus. We will combine short commentaries from the amazing New Testament scholar Dr. Amy-Jill Levine, with scripture study, theological discussion, and personal insights to in order to learn what the miracles of Jesus mean in a historical and theological context. And, in doing so, learn about what miracles can mean for us today.
Join us at 9:00 a.m. in the narthex — you are welcome to come for one or every session!
April 14—Giving sight to the blind
April 21—Healing the paralyzed man
April 28—The bleeding woman and the dead girl
May 5—Walking on water and stilling the storm
May 12—Feeding of the 5,000
May 19—Raising Lazarus from the dead
Past Sessions:
Previously we covered a broad range of topics. Here is a sampling of the sessions we had:
- Finding God Through Our Senses
- The Wild and Surprising World of Angels
- Light of the World: Looking at Advent with New Eyes
- Surprising Saints
- Habits and Spiritual Practices that Support Resilience
- Church History: A six week study of questions and issues with which the early Church had to grapple and how that influenced what we practice today
- Advent Series: The Proto-Evangelium and Its Influence on Tradition; The Voice of Isaiah; John the Baptist; and Poetry of the Incarnation
- What is a Priest?
- What is Happening at a Eucharist?
- Lenten Series on Prayer: Praying the Psalms; Praying the Old Testament Canticles; Different Methods of Contemplative Prayer; Poetic Language for God
- Church History: How the Romans viewed the Early Christians; How Christianity went from a Sect to a Major Religion
- Grappling with Racism within the Episcopal Church
- The Difference Course – a five week study exploring how to follow the example of Jesus within a deeply divided world
- How we Engage in Theological Reflection
