ADULT FORMATION

As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

- Colossians 2:6-7

Advent 2025 at St. Alban’s

Migrants & Mangers:

God’s people on the move

Abraham and Sarah.

Ruth and Naomi.

Joseph and Mary.

Our Lord Jesus.

Each of these biblical figures (and many others) left their homes to journey to unfamiliar lands. Some set out to escape hardship or violence. Others went in response to a call from God. What awaited them when they reached their destinations—a manger of welcome, or the stigma of the outsider?

With immigration dominating our national and local news, this Advent season offers the opportunity for a timely exploration of why and how God’s people moved from place to place in Holy Scripture, as we consider our approach to today’s issues through the lens of our faith.

December 7 ~ 2nd Sunday of Advent

9:10 a.m. – 10:10 a.m. Dead Women Walking: Ruth and the Alien’s Redemption, part 1 (Parish Hall)

In our time in which borders seem impermeable and the life of strangers in peril, we do well to tend to ancient stories that remind us of how faith allies with the crossing of boundaries, daring acts of hospitality and accompaniment, and the risks of scandalous association. The Hebrew Bible offers precisely this in the book of Ruth, a comic novella and trickster narrative that dramatizes the need of the outsider as well as the outsider's role in redeeming insiders from death-dealing obsessions. A potent story in the cultural wars of Israel’s post-Exilic restoration, the book of Ruth holds a mirror up to our contemporary crises concerning the migrant and the different and offers itself as a guide to the way of dead women walking whose steps beat the path of our own salvation.

Dr. Karl Plank will be our leader and guide for this three-part Advent series. Karl has been a member of St. Alban’s since the Lorimer days. He is the J.W. Cannon Professor of Religion, Emeritus, at Davidson College where he taught from 1982-2023.

December 14 ~ 3rd Sunday of Advent

9:10 a.m. – 10:10 a.m. Dead Women Walking: Ruth and the Alien’s Redemption, part 2 (Parish Hall)

December 21 ~ 4th Sunday of Advent

9:10 a.m. – 10:10 a.m. Dead Women Walking: Ruth and the Alien’s Redemption, part 3 (Parish Hall)

DAUGHTERS OF THE KING

The Order of the Daughters of the King is an international community of Episcopal, Anglican, Lutheran (ELCA), and Roman Catholic women who take vows to pray and serve our Lord Jesus Christ every day. Becoming a member professes the intentionality to pray and serve. We model the importance of prayer and service in our parishes and in the larger church.

BIBLE STUDY

On Wednesdays at 10:00 a.m. the clergy lead a weekly in-person Bible Study in the Reflection Room. Together we read and reflect on the lectionary scripture lessons for the upcoming Sunday. This is a wonderful way to deepen your faith and understanding of the Bible. No RSVPs or advanced reading is needed--just drop in when you can.