Adult Forum, Lent [Plus] 2011
As promised at the parish’s annual meeting, this Lent [plus one Thursday in Epiphany] we will present a variety of topics for exploration and discussion. All of these sessions will be held on Thursdays, beginning at 7pm and lasting for no more than one hour.
Thursday, March 3rd – Biblical Archaeology: The Newest Discoveries
[and new information about some of the older discoveries.]
A return to the subject of our popular 2010 Lenten program, we will examine some of the new discoveries made in the past year, re-visit some familiar sites that are favored by new theories about significance, construction, and cultural relevance, and take a closer look at the once-mythical city of Ubar.
Thursday, March 10th - Biblical Archaeology, Continued
Thursday, March 17th – No Series offering, as this is the Feast of St. Padraic.
Thursday, March 24th – Middle Eastern Christianity: The Copts, The Syriac, The Melkite, and The Armenian.
While we are familiar with Western Christianity, and perhaps less so with the Eastern Orthodox Church, there are a number of Christian sects in the Middle East that are of great antiquity and, like our own Celtic tradition, pre-date the Church of Rome, having resisted historic animosity, marginalization, and violence into the 21st century. We will examine their history as one would a time capsule, to see what early Christianity valued in its prayers and songs, and look also at what may be revealed about our own tradition and its development from this common source.
Thursday, March 31st – Christian Themes in Art, Music, and Literature
From the Catacombs to the WPA artists of the American Depression, from Gregorian chant to its juxtaposition with paganism in the opera of Richard Wagner, and from the early Passion Plays to Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Christian themes have presented themselves for artistic inspiration and interpretation. In a frolic across time and cultures, we will look at and listen to some of the deepest expressions of yearning, quest, and redemption experienced by artists and their audiences.
Thursday, April 7th - Art and Music, Continued
Thursday, April 14th - will serve either as a substitute for any cancellations due to poor weather or if we should, in our enthusiasm, overrun any of the previous topics.