Weekday Adult Christian Formation
Childcare will be provided.
In his book entitled Ethics after Easter, the Rev. Dr. Stephen Holmgren reminds us that our faith is an Easter faith. “Our lives, therefore, ought to be Easter lives. That is why Christian ethics may also be called ‘ethics after Easter.’”
For this series of five evenings in Lent, we will explore this theme together with an extraordinary group of teachers. Following the 2007 Lenten Series on the Creed—what Christians hold close to our hearts in seeking to understand the mystery of a Triune God (“What do we believe?”)—we now address the question: “How shall we live?”
14 February - Framing the Conversation and Moral Decision-Making
with the Rev. Dr. John Westerhoff
We will explore the nature and character of theological ethics, moral discourse, and what it means to make a moral decision as a believer in Jesus Christ and a member of his body, the church. The Rev. Dr. John Westerhoff is an Episcopal priest who retired as professor of theology and Christian nurture at Duke University. He came to Atlanta and St. Luke’s to be theologian in residence and founder of an institute on pastoral studies. Most recently he has been professor of theological ethics and moral theology at the General Theological Seminary. He is now priest associate and resident theologian at St. Anne’s. Of his more than thirty books, his latest is Living Faithfully as a Prayer Book People, which deals with the relationship of the spiritual and moral life, liturgy and the moral life, and the formation of moral people and communities.
21 February - Faith and Politics: How We Start and Where We Go
with Dr. Theodore Weber
Dr. Theodore Weber, Professor Emeritus of Social Ethics at the Candler School of Theology, will talk with us about how a Christian thinks about political responsibility and action. His most recent book is entitled Politics in the Order of Salvation: New Directions in Wesleyan Political Ethics.
28 February - Singing Our Lives
with the Rev. Dr. Don Saliers
Professor Emeritus of Worship and Theology at Candler, the Rev. Dr. Don Saliers will lead us in an evening of singing the songs of our faith and allow the intersection of text, melody and ethics to permeate the air. Don is the author of numerous books, including A Song to Sing, A Life to Live: Reflections on Music as Spiritual Practice, which he co-authored with his daughter, Emily.
6 March - Christian Views of War
with the Rev. Dr. Wesley Smith and the Rev. Canon Debra Shew.
The Rev. Dr. Wesley Smith is currently rector of Christ Church, Macon and is also a Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Army Reserve (Chaplain Corps). The Rev. Debbie Shew is Canon for Community Ministries in the Diocese of Atlanta.
As a bonus for this week’s topic, we will have the opportunity to watch a new film entitled “Soldiers of Conscience” on the preceding Sunday evening, March 2, at 7 pm. The Rev. Allan Sandlin, associate rector at Holy Trinity, says, "The clergy of the Diocese of Atlanta had the opportunity to screen this film at our September conference. I watched the film that evening along with a group of my sisters and brothers and found it compelling. As you will read in the synopsis below, it has been screened in both pacifist churches and at West Point." 
Synopsis (from official film website):
Their country asked them to kill. Their hearts asked them to stop.
Four sincere war fighters and four sincere conscientious objectors, all struggling with the question: to kill or not to kill?
Made with official permission from the US Army, this film transcends the usual divisive rhetoric of politics and instead reveals a surprising shared truth. All our soldiers are “soldiers of conscience,” torn between the demands of duty and the call of conscience.
From West Point grads to drill sergeants, from Abu Ghraib interrogators to low ranking reservist-mechanics: this film allows soldiers to speak about killing, and what it means to them.
When is it right to kill? Is war inevitable? What is your duty to your nation? What is your duty to God? To your fellow soldiers? To your conscience?
SOLDIERS OF CONSCIENCE breaks the taboo of talking about this subject, and provides access and intimacy to the issue of killing that is rarely, if ever, seen in documentaries.
Screened at both West Point and peace churches, this is a unique and powerful film. Respectful, balanced, cinematic, and dramatic, SOLDIERS OF CONSCIENCE is a realistic yet optimistic look at war, peace, and the transformative power of the human conscience.
For more information, see the Soldiers of Conscience website at www.socfilm.com
13 March - Some Pragmatic Thoughts in Conclusion
with the Rev. Martha Sterne
The Rev. Martha Sterne is associate rector of Holy Innocents’, Atlanta and author of Earthly Good: Seeing Heaven on Earth and Alive and Loose in the Ordinary: Stories of the Incarnation. She will include in her remarks some thoughts about the ethics of caring for others without losing yourself.
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Wednesday Morning Bible Study
The class approaches scripture by considering its historical and cultural context as well as the modern context in which we hear the word today.Contact: The Very Rev. William Thomas Deneke (Rector)
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