St. Mark's Adult Education
| General Information | Bible Studies |
| Adult Forum | EFM |
| April and May Forums |
General Information
The Adult Education Ministry wants to create opportunities for us to:- Expand our knowledge about the Christian scriptures and the Anglican tradition
- Engage in theological reflection and discussion, drawing connections between the scriptures, the tradition, and our lives
- Further our faith formation and deepen our relationships with God
- Dialogue with other faith traditions in order to appreciate our similarities and our differences
- Adult Forums
- Bible Studies
- Education for Ministries
Adult Forum
Adult Forum is an exploration of various topics that are connected to the ministries of St. Mark’s. Adult Forum meets on Sunday mornings at 9:30 AM in the Upstairs Adult Education Room.
Forums often occur in two or three part series. Past series include "The Road to Reconciliation", "Dialogue with Islam", and "From the Mouths of Babes: An Exploration of the Wisdom of Children and Family Life". Current Adult Forum series include "Sacramental Living", "The ‘Gnostic’ Gospels", "Faith Practices", and "Art & Soul".
April & May Forums: Sundays, 9:30 AM
Paul & Baptism: April 6 Come explore Paul’s apocalyptic thought and his views on the miracle of baptism. Led by R. Dale Smith, MATS.
Art & Soul Series: April 13 & April 20 What can we gain from the dialogue between art and religion? This series explores that question with forums on the visual arts and the written word.
- Visual Arts Forum: Douglas D’urso will discuss painting and his experiences at the Art & Soul Retreat (held annually at Shrine Mont) on April 13.
- "The Gospel According to Lucy, Elwin and Rebecca..." Award-winning author Walker Buckalew returns to lead us in an examination of the work of C.S. Lewis and his own Rebecca Series on April 20. Discussion will focus on the craft of creating Christian stories. You do not need to have read the Rebecca series to attend this forum. As an added bonus, there will be a limited number of the novels available gratis.
"The Gnostic" Gospels: April 27 & May 4 We continue our discussion of extra-canonical texts and what they reveal about early Christian communities. April 27 we will examine the Gospel of Mary Magdalene and May 4, we will look at the Gospel of Judas. Led by J.
Bible Studies
- Greek Language Bible Study - Wednesday Mornings, in the Library. This is an exploration of the lectionary text in its original language. No prior knowledge of Greek is required.
- Buck's Bible Study - Wednesday nights at 7:00 PM, in the Library This is an in-depth exploration of a single book from the Bible. Buck’s Bible study is currently exploring the 1 & 2 Samuel.
EFM: Education for Ministry 2008
Education for Ministry, affectionately known as EfM, is a program of theological education-at-a-distance of the School of Theology of the University of the South. Students sign up one year at a time for this four-year program. It covers the basics of a theological education in the Old and New Testaments, church history, liturgy, and theology. Students meet regularly--usually once a week--in seminars under the guidance of trained mentors.
The program grants a certificate at the completion of the four years and 18 Continuing Education Units for each year's work. A group may contain persons working on any year of the EfM material. St. Mark's is sponsoring EfM this year as we have for the past two years. The program year begins in January, breaks off the summer months and resumes in the fall. Meetings are held on Monday nights from 7:00 - 9:00 PM in the Adult Education Classroom upstairs. EfM is being mentored by K aren Hardison; a member of St. Mark’s who is a graduate of Union Theological Seminary and a certified EfM mentor. Anyone with questions about this program may contact Karen at KEHardison@aol.com.