Dear friends in Christ,
Sunday we will have a special class on the Benedictine roots of Anglicanism by the Very Rev’d Steven Peay, the dean of Nashotah House, one of the seminaries of the Episcopal Church. Father Peay will speak, inter alia, on Benedictine influences in the Book of Common Prayer. We will meet on the fifth floor at 10 o’clock.
Then on Monday, February 1, the class on the collects of the Book of Common Prayer will study the prayers appointed for the season after Epiphany. The Prayer Book collects are a treasure-trove of condensed Anglican theology. This class meets from 12:40 to 1:20pm on the second floor.
Tuesday, February 2, the Rector’s Christian Doctrine Class will be on the Holy Trinity: Living in Community Reflects Our Belief in God as “Three in One.” Although designed especially for people who would like to be confirmed or received in the Episcopal Church, the class is open to anyone interested in the topic of the day. It meets in Andrew Hall from 6:30 to 7:30pm.
Friday at 12:45pm Father Spurlock will continue his Bible study on the 2nd floor of the parish house. The group is working through the Gospel according to Saint Luke.
I’m looking forward to Lent (who doesn’t?): We’ll have a three-week course on the Good Samaritan, beginning Wednesday evening, February 17. Professor Jeremy Waldron will join me in this class on the meaning of the parable and on some of its contemporary extensions in “Good Samaritan” laws and cosmopolitan thinking.
On Monday, February 22 (the true birthday of George Washington), the “Good Books & Good Talk” seminar will discuss The Unnamed by Joshua Ferris. The protagonist of this novel is a successful lawyer who is unable to stop himself from walking. When it hits him, he just has to walk, not knowing where or for how long. It is a stress on those who love him, of course; it is also struggle to survive. Anyone who reads the book is welcome to the seminar, which will be held, however, sitting down, at 6:15pm.
Around the Web
A couple of recent articles from the Anglican News Service may be of interest. This one is on the increasing persecution of Christians around the world. And at the end of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, Pope Francis apologized for the treatment of non-Catholic Christians.
Peace,
Father Austin
