Christian education is a foundation of our community at St. Andrew’s. With a wide range of learning experiences offered, we welcome you to join us. These opportunities include a class for adults almost every Sunday at 9am in the parish hall, weekly or monthly Bible studies, field trips, triennial pilgrimages overseas, and “Faith & Practice” classes. All our offerings are listed below. Many are on Zoom as well. Please contact Margaret Schwarzer, associate rector for adult formation and membership, regarding any of the information below.
9am Adult Christian Learning
9am Adult Christian learning meets from 9am to 9:50am every Sunday from mid-September through mid-December and from the end of January through May. You can see our current offerings by reading St. Andrew’s communications, or sample the 2025 spring schedule. Recent topics have included spirituality, history, scripture, theology, and prayer. All are welcome. Please contact our associate rector, Margaret Schwarzer if you have questions.
2025 Spring Schedule
Click image to view/download
Lenten Program & Potluck
On Wednesday nights during Lent, we hold potlucks beginning at 6:30pm. We provide the entrée and drinks, and you are invited to bring a salad or dessert. From 7:10 to 8pm, we offer a 5-week program on a theme with different speakers each week. See a sample of what we do by looking at last years program. All are welcome. Please contact our associate rector, Margaret Schwarzer if you have questions
Click image to view/download schedule
Lenten Meditation Guide
During the 47 days of Lent and Holy week, parish members write a meditation for a particular day. We each can make the Lenten Meditation Guide one of our Lenten practices by reading our fellow parishioners’ words each day as we travel through this holy season. Click the image to the right to view the guide.
Click image to view/download
Bible Study Offerings
Weekly Beginner’s Bible Study
Adrian will be leading a weekly beginner’s Bible study on Thursdays from noon to 1pm. The study will be online to maximize participation. (Zoom link below). We will look at the Gospel of John through a scholarly lens but also ask what passages say to us as 21st century Christians. There is no homework, but you need a Bible. You are welcome to join us even if you cannot attend every week. Contact Adrian Robbins-Cole with questions.
Open Bible Study
Margaret offers a monthly open Bible study on the second Tuesday of every month from 11am to noon, and the same class again the second Wednesday night of the month from 7pm to 8pm. This year we are studying the Pastoral Epistles: Philemon, the Letters of James, 1 Peter, and 2 Peter (click the link for the 2024-2025 schedule). These letters are written by apostles to specific 1st century churches to help them grown in justice, love, and Christian wisdom. We meet in person and by Zoom (see links below). All are welcome. Contact Margaret Schwarzer with questions.
Men’s Bible Study, September – May
Adrian leads this men’s Bible study class that meets on Zoom on the first Saturday of the month from 8am to 9am. This year, we are studying the Gospel of Luke. Contact Adrian Robbins-Cole with questions.
Other Adult Learning Offerings
Faith & Practice Series
This year, we are offering three Faith & Practice classes that invite members of our parish to deepen their own practice of Christianity. We gather together to reflect on an aspect of our spiritual life and we share our own questions and experiences. This intergenerational class is held from 11:30am to 12:15pm, You are invited to join us as we grow in faith together. All are welcome. Here are our 2024-2025 offerings:
- September 29, 2024: Happiness and the Christian Life (S. Robbins-Cole)
- October 13, 2024: Labyrinth Field Trip: Being Pilgrims (M. Schwarzer)
- October 20, 2024: the film The Philadelphia Eleven (M. Schwarzer)
- January 12, 2025: Living Faith: The Amen Effect (P. Alexander and D. Guydan)
- March 9, 2025: How to Acknowledge Grief in Others (W. Haering and M. Schwarzer)
Men’s Book Club
Meets the first Wednesday of the month (check the calendar for exceptions) at 7:30pm for fellowship and discussion of selected works of non-fiction.
Pilgrimages
St. Andrew’s has been going on pilgrimages overseas for over twenty-five years. We anticipate traveling every three years. In 2023, we Discovered our Anglican Roots in London, Durham, and York. In 2018, we traveled in Italy, uncovering the early church in Rome, Florence and Assisi. Please contact Margaret Schwarzer or Adrian Robbins-Cole if you have questions about pilgrimage opportunities. Our next pilgrimage will be held in early summer 2026.
Sacred Ground
Sacred Ground is part of Becoming the Beloved Community, the Episcopal Church’s long-term commitment to racial healing, reconciliation, and justice in our personal lives, ministries and our society. Participants are challenged to put into practice their baptismal covenant promises to “seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself” and to “strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being.”
The 11-part series Sacred Ground is built around an online curriculum of documentary films and readings that focus on Indigenous, Black, Latino, and Asian/Pacific American histories as they intersect with European American histories. Please see the Sacred Ground website for more.
This is a continued learning process for all. A group of 30 parishioners took part in this rich and enlightening course last year and completed the 11 sessions on April 29, 2023. We plan to offer this course again in the Winter/Spring of 2024. For more information, lease contact our rector, Adrian Robbins-Cole.