 St Alban’s Episcopal Church Bolivar, Missouri Saturday-Sunday, July 23-24, 2022 Searching for Sunday by Rachel Held Evans  The Adult Class – 9:30 AM Searching for Sunday I hope that by now you have all bought or borrowed or downloaded copies of this.(I have two extra copies to give or loan tomorrow if you haven’t been able to find one.) Just a word about the author, Rachel Held Evans. She was born in 1981, and died in May, 2019 of a freak allergic reaction to a medication prescribed for an infection. Rachel left her husband and two young children – and a multitude of faithful friends and followers of her blog and readers of her books. Born into an Evangelical family, she had become an Episcopalian in her adulthood.That means she wrote about the Evangelical impulse towards a personal faith, and shared the Episcopal resistance to Biblical or theological certitude and our love of liturgy. If you have never read her work, you will be surprised, maybe, by her sense of humor, her brilliance in illuminating the right questions, her love of God and her equal conviction that she – and we – are beloved by God. She divided this book into seven sections using the sacraments as the “containers” for the six sub-sections within each of the seven larger sections. Nothing she says is trite or predictable.It will surprise you. Maybe unsettle you. It’s not just for women, either, But it’s quite wonderful, I hope you do read it with us.Tomorrow we will begin with an introduction and overview, using the foreword and Rachel’s prologue, entitled: Dawn.The chapters are long, but fascinating. Next Sunday, July 31, we will discuss the six sections within the chapter, Baptism. I hope you will not be put off by the longer readings. Take some time to read a several-page section every day and you’ll be ready every Sunday. Please do come, even if you aren’t able to complete the reading but let’s leave space for those who have read the chapters to speak!  Stop right here.We are into “safe” – at least for us if not for everyone, but what about the “no one is comfortable” part? What’s our capacity for di-ease? For awkwardness? For discomfort? What excuses do we find it easy to make to avoid feeling embarrassed, guilty, ashamed or simply uncomfortable? This book is like a long, thoughtful, probing conversation with a beloved friend –   Rachel will make you laugh and cry and sometimes and to stand up and cheer.I think you will love this book! |
Categories:
Tags:
No responses yet