We invite you to join us for this month’s media club (formerly book club, but no we include films!).

Monday, February 28th from 7:00-8:30 p.m. on Zoom.

This month’s film is My Name is Pauli Murray, which you can watch on Amazon Prime. Watch the film prior to our gathering and then join in for an engaging conversation.

Pauli Murray, born in 1910, died in 1985, was an attorney, activist, priest and poet who made a significant impact in civil rights, women’s and LGBTQ movements. Yet many have not heard of Pauli Murray. The documentary “My name is Pauli Murray”, now streaming on Amazon Prime, shows how she helped to shape landmark litigation around race and gender equity; the first person of color to receive a Doctor of Science Law at Yale Law; joined James Baldwin as one of the first Black Writers at the MacDowell Colony; co-founded the National Organization of Women, and became the first Black female priest in the U.S. Pauli Murray was added to the Episcopal Church calendar of saints in 2018.

CLICK HERE to find the film on Amazon Prime.

Please RSVP HERE. We will e-mail the zoom link prior to the meeting.

Contact Lynn Williams, Director of Community Engagement, with any questions.

Save the date for our January Faith and Culture Conversation with Dr. Jatia Wrighten, Assistant Professor of Political Science at VCU. This promises to be an engaging conversation exploring Critical Race Theory and more specifically, Dr. Wrighten’s own reflections on the intersections of faith, culture and race.

Join parishioners Dave Coogan and Christine Luckritz Marquis on Wednesday, January 12th at 7:00 p.m. on Zoom for this important conversation.

Registration is required. CLICK HERE to REGISTER.

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar. Registration is available through the end of the webinar.

Speaker Bio: Dr. Wrighten conducts research and provides instruction that emphasizes themes of equality, justice, and political effects for the most marginalized groups in the United States as an assistant professor at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). Her current research is on black women, state legislatures, and leadership, with an emphasis on intersectionality She was most recently awarded a research grant from the Center for Effective Lawmaking to continue her work on black women, leadership, and intersectionality. Jatia received her B.A. in political science from Virginia Commonwealth University; her M.A. in political science from the University of Maryland, College Park; and received her Ph.D. from the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University, where she defended her dissertation entitled, “Who Runs the World? An Examination of Black Women and Leadership in State Legislatures.” Jatia uses her degree to teach and serve as a mentor to a future generation of scholars. When she is not researching and writing, she enjoys traveling with her family.

More details about this series:

In the Bible, faith “is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1) Culture, by contrast, is known in what we can see: the customs, arts, institutions and other achievements of a particular group, nation, or people. Clearly, faith and culture intersect. But how? Toward what end? Can multiple faiths and cultures exist side by side in a public life in which everyone can flourish?

These sessions will be in a Zoom webinar format.

Learn more about the co-facilitators:

David Coogan is an associate professor of English at Virginia Commonwealth University specializing in rhetoric, the teaching of writing, and prison literature. He is the author of Writing Our Way Out: Memoirs from Jail, and The Public Work of Rhetoric: Citizen-Scholars and Civic Engagement. And he is the founder and co-director of Open Minds, a program that brings service-learning classes into the Richmond City Justice Center, and the director of Write Your Way Out: A Criminal Justice Diversion Program, which enables low-level offenders in Richmond to avoid incarceration by coming to VCU to write their ways out of the narratives that lead to incarceration. Coogan hosts a podcast, Writing Our Way Out, based on the book by the same name and featuring the co-authors he met in the Richmond City Jail. You can learn more at www.writingourwayout.com.

Dr. Christine Luckritz Marquis, Associate Professor of Church History and Master of Theology Program Director at Union Presbyterian Seminary. She received her M.A.R. from Yale Divinity School, Luckritz Marquis earned her Ph.D. in Early Christian Studies from Duke University. She has been teaching at Union since 2013. Her teaching and research expertise explore early Christian communities and their practices, especially late ancient communities in Egypt, Syria, Ethiopia, and the Arabian Peninsula. Her interests include memory and spatial practices, the role of violence in identity formation, material culture, and Christian interactions with neighboring Christians as well as non-Christians, especially Jews and Muslims. Her first book, Death of the Desert, explores how memory and spatial practices were transformed by acts of violence among Egyptian ascetics (UPenn Press, 2022). When she’s not teaching or writing, she enjoys baking, gardening, and spending time with her family.

Join us every second Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. on Zoom for our new Faith and Culture conversation series.

Parishioners David Coogan and Christine Luckritz Marquis will start off our first Faith and Culture Conversation on Wednesday, October 13th. Just a few days after Indigenous Peoples’ Day, they will be speaking with Stephen R. Adkins, Chief of the Chickahominy Tribe.

Chief Stephen R. Adkins has served as Chief of the Chickahominy tribe since 2001. As the leader of one of the “first contact” tribes in Virginia, his voice and representation of his community are crucial to larger discussions around faith in VA. In recognition of Indigenous Peoples’ Day, he will be sharing his own understanding of faith and culture, including how he understands his faith and has experienced it in light of new experiences. As a long-time advocate for his people, Chief Adkins will share how federal recognition of the Chickahominy and neighboring VA tribes in 2018 has shifted his relationship to surrounding culture and what new is on the horizon for the Chickahominy in relation to other peoples of VA.

Registration is required. Register with this link: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_eeqWfsDZSJiOyxQ5-2HH6Q

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

More details about this series:

In the Bible, faith “is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1) Culture, by contrast, is known in what we can see: the customs, arts, institutions and other achievements of a particular group, nation, or people. Clearly, faith and culture intersect. But how? Toward what end? Can multiple faiths and cultures exist side by side in a public life in which everyone can flourish?

These sessions will be in a Zoom webinar format.

Some of our guiding questions are:

• Can you describe for us what you know about faith and how you came to know it?
• Have you ever struggled to reconcile your faith with new experiences unfolding?
• If culture is known in the values, traditions, and achievements of a group, what best characterizes the culture of the Chickahominy tribe? Are there other aspects of culture that you want to highlight in your leadership of the Chickahominy tribe?
• Can you think of moments in which the culture of the Chickahominy tribe came into tension with other cultures? How did this tension get addressed?
• What facets of faith, as you define it, have proven indispensable in understanding culture, forming culture, and guiding culture in ways that are sustainable and inclusive for all? Are there any aspects of faith that you find problematic or limiting in sustaining a diversity of cultures?

Fall 2021 Schedule

Wednesday, October 13th: Stephen R. Adkins, Chief of the Chickahominy Tribe

Wednesday, November 10th: The Reverend Jess Cook, Program and Communications Manager at More Light Presbyterians

Wednesday, December 8th: The Reverend Caitlyn Bailey, M.Div., M.S., BCC, Clinical Pastoral Education Manager for VCU Health

Learn more about the co-facilitators:

David Coogan is an associate professor of English at Virginia Commonwealth University specializing in rhetoric, the teaching of writing, and prison literature. He is the author of Writing Our Way Out: Memoirs from Jail, and The Public Work of Rhetoric: Citizen-Scholars and Civic Engagement. And he is the founder and co-director of Open Minds, a program that brings service-learning classes into the Richmond City Justice Center, and the director of Write Your Way Out: A Criminal Justice Diversion Program, which enables low-level offenders in Richmond to avoid incarceration by coming to VCU to write their ways out of the narratives that lead to incarceration. Coogan hosts a podcast, Writing Our Way Out, based on the book by the same name and featuring the co-authors he met in the Richmond City Jail. You can learn more at www.writingourwayout.com.

Dr. Christine Luckritz Marquis, Associate Professor of Church History and Master of Theology Program Director at Union Presbyterian Seminary. She received her M.A.R. from Yale Divinity School, Luckritz Marquis earned her Ph.D. in Early Christian Studies from Duke University. She has been teaching at Union since 2013. Her teaching and research expertise explore early Christian communities and their practices, especially late ancient communities in Egypt, Syria, Ethiopia, and the Arabian Peninsula. Her interests include memory and spatial practices, the role of violence in identity formation, material culture, and Christian interactions with neighboring Christians as well as non-Christians, especially Jews and Muslims. Her first book, Death of the Desert, explores how memory and spatial practices were transformed by acts of violence among Egyptian ascetics (UPenn Press, 2022). When she’s not teaching or writing, she enjoys baking, gardening, and spending time with her family.

Join parishioners David Coogan and Christine Luckritz Marquis every second Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. on Zoom for our new Faith and Culture conversation series.

This Wednesday, November 10th, we will hear from Reverend Jess Cook discussing faith and the LGBTQ+ Community.

Rev. Jess Cook is the first openly non-binary person ordained as a minister of Word and Sacrament in the Presbyterian Church (USA). They are currently in the process of starting a new worshipping community in Richmond, VA. They have over a decade of experience working with LGBTQIA+ youth and in the church. Jess loves people, liturgy that means something, and spaces that invite us to bring our whole selves. Jess lives in Richmond, VA with their partner, kiddo, two dogs, one cat, and a bearded dragon named Stubbs.

Registration is required. Register with this link: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_eeqWfsDZSJiOyxQ5-2HH6Q

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar. Registration is available through the end of the webinar.

More details about this series:

In the Bible, faith “is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1) Culture, by contrast, is known in what we can see: the customs, arts, institutions and other achievements of a particular group, nation, or people. Clearly, faith and culture intersect. But how? Toward what end? Can multiple faiths and cultures exist side by side in a public life in which everyone can flourish?

These sessions will be in a Zoom webinar format.

Fall 2021 Schedule

Wednesday, October 13th: Stephen R. Adkins, Chief of the Chickahominy Tribe

Wednesday, November 10th: The Reverend Jess Cook

Wednesday, December 8th: The Reverend Caitlyn Bailey, M.Div., M.S., BCC, Clinical Pastoral Education Manager for VCU Health

Learn more about the co-facilitators:

David Coogan is an associate professor of English at Virginia Commonwealth University specializing in rhetoric, the teaching of writing, and prison literature. He is the author of Writing Our Way Out: Memoirs from Jail, and The Public Work of Rhetoric: Citizen-Scholars and Civic Engagement. And he is the founder and co-director of Open Minds, a program that brings service-learning classes into the Richmond City Justice Center, and the director of Write Your Way Out: A Criminal Justice Diversion Program, which enables low-level offenders in Richmond to avoid incarceration by coming to VCU to write their ways out of the narratives that lead to incarceration. Coogan hosts a podcast, Writing Our Way Out, based on the book by the same name and featuring the co-authors he met in the Richmond City Jail. You can learn more at www.writingourwayout.com.

Dr. Christine Luckritz Marquis, Associate Professor of Church History and Master of Theology Program Director at Union Presbyterian Seminary. She received her M.A.R. from Yale Divinity School, Luckritz Marquis earned her Ph.D. in Early Christian Studies from Duke University. She has been teaching at Union since 2013. Her teaching and research expertise explore early Christian communities and their practices, especially late ancient communities in Egypt, Syria, Ethiopia, and the Arabian Peninsula. Her interests include memory and spatial practices, the role of violence in identity formation, material culture, and Christian interactions with neighboring Christians as well as non-Christians, especially Jews and Muslims. Her first book, Death of the Desert, explores how memory and spatial practices were transformed by acts of violence among Egyptian ascetics (UPenn Press, 2022). When she’s not teaching or writing, she enjoys baking, gardening, and spending time with her family.

St. Paul’s has joined the Mending Walls project as a sponsor and partner to support one of our 2021 Lenten Speakers Hamilton Glass, his team and this important work of imagination and reconciliation in our city.

In addition to supporting the city-wide vision and activity of the Mending Walls project, St. Paul’s has an exciting opportunity to add to our own continuing story and serve as one of their temporary public art sites.

During the weekend of October 15th-17th, the Mending Walls team will bring together local artists from different cultural backgrounds to our St. Paul’s grounds to transform plywood panels and canvas into works of art. The goal of the event is to bring more attention and awareness to the inequities of racism along with inspiring more people to get involved in the conversation.

• You are invited to show up at any time throughout the weekend from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., to visit and watch the artists work on their public art piece.
• Ribbons of Hope Installation | This is an opportunity to write a hopeful message of solidarity for our community on a ribbon and tie it onto the Church’s Sanctuary fence. Yellow ribbons will be used for this installation, as Yellow is associated with hope and can be seen in some countries when yellow ribbons are displayed by families who have loved ones at war. The hope is a display of ribbons around the church filled with the voices of hope for our community. As people attend the 3-day art event to see the artwork from the artists come to life, ribbons and markers will be provided for all who attend and would like to participate and write their message of hope.

To learn more, visit the Mending Walls project and the artists involved at mendingwallsrva.com and check out their social media @mendingwallsrva.

St. Paul’s has joined the Mending Walls project as a sponsor and partner to support one of our 2021 Lenten Speakers Hamilton Glass, his team and this important work of imagination and reconciliation in our city.

In addition to supporting the city-wide vision and activity of the Mending Walls project, St. Paul’s has an exciting opportunity to add to our own continuing story and serve as one of their temporary public art sites.

During the weekend of October 15th-17th, the Mending Walls team will bring together local artists from different cultural backgrounds to our St. Paul’s grounds to transform plywood panels and canvas into works of art. The goal of the event is to bring more attention and awareness to the inequities of racism along with inspiring more people to get involved in the conversation.

• You are invited to show up at any time throughout the weekend from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., to visit and watch the artists work on their public art piece.
• Ribbons of Hope Installation | This is an opportunity to write a hopeful message of solidarity for our community on a ribbon and tie it onto the Church’s Sanctuary fence. Yellow ribbons will be used for this installation, as Yellow is associated with hope and can be seen in some countries when yellow ribbons are displayed by families who have loved ones at war. The hope is a display of ribbons around the church filled with the voices of hope for our community. As people attend the 3-day art event to see the artwork from the artists come to life, ribbons and markers will be provided for all who attend and would like to participate and write their message of hope.

To learn more, visit the Mending Walls project and the artists involved at mendingwallsrva.com and check out their social media @mendingwallsrva.

St. Paul’s has joined the Mending Walls project as a sponsor and partner to support one of our 2021 Lenten Speakers Hamilton Glass, his team and this important work of imagination and reconciliation in our city.

In addition to supporting the city-wide vision and activity of the Mending Walls project, St. Paul’s has an exciting opportunity to add to our own continuing story and serve as one of their temporary public art sites.

During the weekend of October 15ht-17th, the Mending Walls team will bring together local artists from different cultural backgrounds to our St. Paul’s grounds to transform plywood panels and canvas into works of art. The goal of the event is to bring more attention and awareness to the inequities of racism along with inspiring more people to get involved in the conversation.

• You are invited to show up at any time throughout the weekend from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., to visit and watch the artists work on their public art piece.
• Ribbons of Hope Installation | This is an opportunity to write a hopeful message of solidarity for our community on a ribbon and tie it onto the Church’s Sanctuary fence. Yellow ribbons will be used for this installation, as Yellow is associated with hope and can be seen in some countries when yellow ribbons are displayed by families who have loved ones at war. The hope is a display of ribbons around the church filled with the voices of hope for our community. As people attend the 3-day art event to see the artwork from the artists come to life, ribbons and markers will be provided for all who attend and would like to participate and write their message of hope.

To learn more, visit the Mending Walls project and the artists involved at mendingwallsrva.com and check out their social media @mendingwallsrva.