Adult Forum

On Sundays at 10 a.m., our parish gathers for discussion and teaching on topics that matter to us as Christians. Usually our talks are energetic and fulfilling, with lots of great ideas in the air. Come by for a good cup of coffee, stay for a great class and a rousing discussion! All classes meet in-person in the Parish Hall, ending in time for the 11 a.m. Mass. Contact Mother Nora Johnson if you have questions or would like to hear more.

January at the Forum: The poems of R. S. Thomas 

R. S. Thomas (1913-2000) was a Welsh poet and Anglican priest. His austerely beautiful writing captures something distinctly modern about faith, even as it evokes the presence of God in unlikely and unpromising landscapes. We have been enjoying his poems about Christmas and the Epiphany, and will continue to look at his works through the month of January.

January 12: R. S. Thomas on prayer
Thomas often speaks bluntly about prayer, and about the discouraging sense of God's absence. But his poems often manifest a paradoxical sense of the divine presence. This session will focus on the poems "Kneeling," and "In a Country Church" among others.

January 19: R. S. Thomas on ministry
Thomas seems in some ways to have been an unlikely priest, and his poems sometimes sound almost disparaging about his rural congregation. Join this session for a look at the striking way Thomas imagines the role of the priest and of the church more broadly.

January 26, R. S. Thomas on the environment
Many of Thomas's poems talk about the (broken) relationship between science, technology, and God's earth. We'll look at a series of poems that are candid about environmental decay even as they allow us to see God in action in the physical world.