Adult Spiritual Formation at

Grace St Paul's Episcopal Church

 September 2016
Sunday Mornings @ GSP
[ Note: There is no 9:00 class on Sunday, Sept 4 ]
Exploring Today's Lectionary
Sunday, Sept 11 at 9:00 am
in the Bloom Education Center
One Sunday a month we provide an opportunity to discuss the Bible readings for that day in more depth in a small group setting. Come join us for a thoughtful but always lively conversation about scripture.

Facilitated by Jim Franks, a member of the Adult Spiritual Formation ministry. Jim also currently serves on the vestry at GSP.  

Social Media in an Age of Uncertainty
2 Sundays, Sept 18 & 25 at 9:00 am in the Bloom Education Center
Social media: We’re not sure how to live with it and we find it difficult to live without it. Social media connects us to family and loved ones, it can create and sustain a sense of community and—in a time of rising individual and collective anxiety—it can feed our worst fears. Join us for a conversation about the blessings and pitfalls of life lived with social media—and how the Church can engage social media to spread a Gospel of Transformation.

Catherine Penn Williams will moderate a panel of speakers to address these issues.

Free Online Class & Discussion
Bridging the Political Divide with Parker Palmer
A free online course with a follow-up group discussion on
Sun, Oct 9 at 11:45 am in the Bloom Room
As we know, we are in the midst of what may be the most polarizing and contentious elections in recent U.S. history. Many observers note that the political rancor and rhetoric has reached all time highs, injecting unprecedented fear, division, and unease into our culture. How do people of faith respond? How do we remain calm and centered amidst our difference and tension, taking our roles as peacemakers and even prophets, seriously? Educator, author, and activist Parker Palmer has a few ideas. He has written extensively on faith and democracy issues. In this course, he offers thoughtful insight into how we might approach divisive political issues with grace and grit.

Register for free by clicking here . Once registered, the course can be taken for free from September 5-19. It will take an average student 45 minutes to complete. No special software is required.

The group discussion will be facilitated by Brian Arthur. Please contact him here if you have any questions about the class.
3rd Friday Movies @ GSP
Fall Film Series: Food Stewardship
3rd Friday of each month at 6:30 pm in the Bloom Room  

As Christians, we believe we are called to be good stewards of the Earth. Do we really need to concern ourselves with what we eat? The influence of lobbyists and multinational corporations on the huge business of agriculture has changed the way food is grown, impacts the environment and has challenged the health of our nation. And the poor are often left with the price tag.

Join us on the third Friday of each month during the fall for a free film and discussion about food production in America today.  

Friday, September 16 at 6:30 pm in the Bloom Room    
FED UP (2014), a documentary that claims everything we’ve been told about food and exercise for the past 30 years is dead wrong. FED UP is the film the food industry doesn’t want you to see. From Katie Couric, Laurie David (Oscar winning producer of AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH) and director Stephanie Soechtig, FED UP will change the way you eat forever.

This film series will be hosted by Jim Franks, a member of the GSP Vestry and the Adult Spiritual Formation Ministry Team.
Book Discussions @ GSP
GSP Readers Group
Friday, September 9 at 9:30 am
in the Bloom Education Center

Michel Faber’s The Fire Gospel is a wickedly funny, acid-tongued, media-savvy picaresque that delves into our sensationalist culture. Theo Griepenkerl, a Canadian linguistics scholar, is sent to Iraq in search of artifacts that have survived the destruction and looting of the war. While visiting a museum in Mosul, he finds nine papyrus scrolls that have been perfectly preserved for more than two thousand years. After translating them from Aramaic, Theo realizes he is in possession of the Fifth Gospel, and it offers a shocking and incomparable eyewitness account of Christ’s crucifixion and last days on Earth. A hugely entertaining, and by turns shocking story, The Fire Gospel is a smart, stylish, and suspenseful novel.

All are welcome. No registration necessary. For more information, please contact the church office at 327-6857.
Understanding Scripture @ GSP
For Everyone: Coffee, Bagels
and Bible Stuff
Every Thursday from 7:30-8:30 am in McBride Hall

Join a diverse group in a discussion of the 1 Corinthians. In our second year many are attending their first bible study and are enjoying the attempt to put the weekly readings into historical prospective while finding current application. All materials are provided. Drop-ins are welcome, and we start and end on time.

Facilitated by Bill Moore, GSP Junior Warden.
Bible Women
2 Fridays, September 2 & 16 from 10:30-11:30 am in the Weeks Room

What do the voices of women in scripture have to say to us about our own lives, regardless of our gender? This class studies the Bible through the words of women in the Old and New Testaments. The focus is on actual scripture and its contexts; an optional text, Bible Women: All Their Words and Why They Matter by Lindsay Hardin Freeman is available through Amazon. The group meets twice a month on the 1st and 3rd Friday. No registration is necessary and participants are welcome to join the group at any time.

For more information contact Vicki Stefani, 520-743-3978 or here.
Weekly Small Groups @ GSP
Sharing Our Spiritual Journeys
Every Monday, beginning Sept 12 from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm in the Bloom Education Center

In this small group we share what matters most to us as followers of Jesus and how we practice this in our individual lives and the life of our community. Each meeting focuses on a different intersection between spirituality and religion, and the conversation always takes us where the Spirit guides.

Each session stands alone and all are welcome. No registration is necessary.

Co-facilitated by Catherine Penn Williams, Brian Arthur and Jim Franks.
Saturday Java Jive:
Coffee & Conversation
Every Saturday from 8:30-11:00 am at Epic Cafe (745 N 4th Ave, at University Blvd)

Want to meet and get to know folks in a relaxed and friendly environment? All are welcome to join this long-running motley crew that meets every Saturday morning for coffee and conversation. We never know who will show up, the topic is always up for grabs and hilarity often ensues.
Other Community Programs of Interest
Southern Arizona Friends of Jung Presents...

A FILM & DISCUSSION: “Beauty and the Beast” (1946) 
Friday, Sept 16 from 7:00-9:00pm
Annual Meeting for Members at 6:45 pm
Registration opens at 6:30 pm
Members: $15,  Non-Members: $20
NEW Location: Grace St Paul’s Episcopal Church (McBride Hall)
2 331 E Adams St Tucson, AZ   

Jean Cocteau’s Beauty and the Beast (1946), inspired by the fairy tale of Jeanne-Marie, Leprince de Beaumont (1711-1780) and starring Jean Marais (Beast) and Josette Day (Beauty) is a story imbued with love, power, tension, poetry and the religious flavor of ancient archetypal myths—Cupid and Psyche, Orpheus, Oedipus, Jesus—all striking a universal and eternal chord. The film depicts human nature in the raw, with characters living conflicted lives, yet struggling for self-enlightenment. Cocteau creates a world that plunges the audience into the duality of good and evil, night and day, truth and lie, sexuality and puritanism—all struggling for supremacy.

Join us for an evening of film followed by conversation about the Jungian themes in the film, the fairy tale, and contemporary applications for today’s audience.

Download a flyer here. For more information go to www.safoj.org.
Registration is required by Sept 7.

Download a flyer here .
NOTE: This program is being held at GSP but is not affiliated with Grace St Paul's.
Living Wholeheartedly: An Eight-Week Series
Presented by Jewel Lea Grant
8 Wednesdays, Sept 14-Nov 2
from 6:30-9:00pm
Grace St Paul's Episcopal Church 2331 E Adams St, Tucson, AZ
This hands on, practical yet spiritual eight week journey will give you an opportunity to explore who you are authentically and to assist you in creating the life you desire with greater connection to your essential Divine Self.