Join us on Sundays at 9:15 a.m. in the Parish Hall. All adults are welcome. Masks optional.
Hunger for Home - Final class on March 26
Christ Church is one of three churches across the country which has been chosen for an exciting new adventure: a multi-sensorial journey into food in the Gospel of Luke. Using the recently published book Hunger for Home, we will explore the important role of food and hospitality – and home – in our Christian vocations. Our guide will be one of the book’s authors, Matt Croasman, who will present short videos and guides for small-group discussion. Needless to say, breakfast will be a pivotal part of this six-part series! Please write Posie Mansfield to let her know a) that you can be one of the participants and if possible b) that you can contribute through bringing food, cooking and/or setting up/taking down the breakfast setup.
Upcoming Adult Formation Dates:
April 2, 9 - No Formation Hour classes on Palm Sunday or Easter
April 16 - Jim Zingarelli presents Christ Church: Art & Architecture as a Liturgical Tool
What
is significant at Christ Church about the sanctuary space, the stained
glass, the chalice & ciborium? How can the architectural
design, stained glass narratives, and other sacred objects contribute
to our liturgy and overall worship on any given Sunday? This
presentation will offer some historical information on why the
1961church looks the way it does and why this is still significant
for our communal worship today.
April 23 - Jeanne Maurand & Jim Reynolds
April 30, May 7 - Tom Kelly presents Four Key Monasteries
April 30 - Part I: Montecassino and Saint Benedict
The mother house of Benedictine monasticism stands today where it always stood, but it has been destroyed and replaced several times. We’ll take a tour, starting with St. Benedict and his Rule, and rebuilding after World War II.
May 7 - Part II: Solesmes and Saint Gregory
Pope St. Gregory I
is the legendary founder/inventor/composer of the traditional Gregorian
chant. When monasticism was revived after the French Revolution, the
monks of
Solesmes sought to find out the truth.
May 14, 21 - The Rev. Joyce Scherer-Hoock presents Theological
Themes in Catechesis of the Good Shepherd
In
most protestant Sunday Schools the typical approach to Christian
Education is to merely recount Bible
stories from Genesis through Jesus. The
content of The Catechesis of the Good Shepherd is a meta
narrative encompassing rich, Christian themes that are tightly
woven through three levels for children ages 3- 12. At its core,
this method is a deeply scriptural and theological way of
offering the Gospel. But it is not
just children who can benefit from the atrium. In addition to
being theologically rich, this method is highly visual and it
speaks to our world today, offering adults the opportunity to
review, re-frame, and unify their own faith. This two-session
class will use materials from the Christ Church atriums to
illustrate the following themes: Sacred History & the
meaning of time, Incarnation and Globalism, Liturgy and the
Bible, Moral Formation and the human vocation. Christians in
any walk or stage of life: parents, professors, plumbers, and
preachers will have their faith stretched and strengthened by
attending. Come and be surprised and delighted.
The Rev. Joyce Scherer-Hoock discovered the Episcopal church and the Book of Common Prayer during her time at Gordon-Conwell seminary and was subsequently confirmed and married at Christ Church. Christian Formation for all ages has been a central part of Joyce’s ministry and her recent retirement from parish ministry after serving as rector at St. Andrew’s in Ayer is allowing her to develop online courses for the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. She especially enjoys building bridges between Roman Catholic and Protestant lay people in her CGS Formation courses. Before ordination she taught high potential learning-disabled adolescents at Landmark School. Joyce and her husband Robert (MTS ’79) have two grown daughters, a Shetland Sheepdog, a miniature horse, and a goat. They live in Topsfield, MA.