Sunday Morning Faith Formation Offerings

Sunday morning faith formation classes enable churchgoers to ask the difficult questions and dig deeper into their faith. We take these opportunities to consider scripture from a variety of angles and discuss a range of topics relating to the church and God’s impact in our world.

Faith formation is held from 9:00 to 9:50 am each Sunday and is open to all. We invite you to come engage in these discussions as we grow in faith together.

General Timeline for Sunday morning Formation offerings:

9:00 a.m. Forum and Contemplative Prayer/Meditation both begin
9:45 a.m. Forum and Contemplative Prayer/Meditation both end

Contemplative Prayer/Meditation: 9 a.m. on Sundays (Palmore Room)

This fall, we are offering contemplative prayer/meditation as a faith formation offering in the Palmore Room on the second floor. No meditating experience is required; feel free to join us whenever you’d like.

Faith Formation Forums This Fall: 9 a.m. on Sundays (Norwood Room)

-September 15th: Tom and Joyce Smith will talk about their recent (July) visit to Mwitkira.  Come and find out more about what our parish partners are doing in Tanzania through efforts focused on agriculture, educational advancements, and economic development in Mwitikira.
–September 22nd, 29th, and October 6th: Aisha Huertas, the Minister for Mission, Outreach, and Diversity, and Lynn Williams, our Minister for Outreach, will be presenting on “The Beloved Community: Saying Goodbye to Fear and Embracing God’s Gifts in Each Other”. They will engage us in conversations that will challenge us to welcome our community and one another in the way Jesus welcomes us. We will discuss how fear keeps us from allowing the Spirit to transform us into people that see everyone as gifts to be utilized to glorify God and change the world.

–October 20th, 27th, November 3rd, 10th, and 17th: Sharing (Y)our Story in conjunction with the Community Giving Campaign (coordinated along with Sarah Nolan)
The Sharing (Y)our Story faith formation series is designed to provide a space for members of our community to share their faith story in a safe and authentic space. We hope that people will attend these sessions in order to get to know others better and feel a richer connection to our parish family, “St. Paul’s, Your Community!” This five-week series is held in conjunction with the Community Giving Campaign.

Our presenters for this series are as follows:

October 20th: Maritza Pechin
October 27th: Mary Kay Huss
November 3rd: Matt Stehle
November 10th: The Rev. Dr. Charlie Dupree
November 17th: Dr. Kia Bentley

-NO Forum on Sunday, November 24th
–December 1st, 8th, 15th, and 22nd: Advent Series
-NO Forum on Sunday, December 29th

Education for Ministry

The St. Paul’s Education for Ministry Group will be meeting on Tuesdays from 5:30-7:30 p.m. from September through June.

Fall Formation Groups

We encourage friends and members of St. Paul’s to join one of the six-week formation groups this fall! These groups provide a safe and open space for meaningful small group discussions (~8-12 people) focused on a particular topic. They will meet for six weeks at various times throughout the week.

The four groups are: E-Formation Group, Lectio Divina, Contemplative Book Group, and Thursday Morning Book Club. You can find more info about each of these groups here. Registration will take place from Sunday, September 8th through Thursday, September 26th via the church website and a signup sheet in the gathering area of the Parish House. Please email Keli Shipley Cooper (kshipleycooper@stpaulsrva.org) with any questions or to learn more about these groups!

If you have questions or thoughts regarding faith formation, please reach out to Minister for Faith Formation Keli Cooper.