Parish Forums
We invite you to explore our shared faith through Parish Forums throughout the year. On Sundays at 10 a.m. we meet in the Elizabethan Room to discuss a variety of topics.
Sep. 20: Do You Believe in Coincidences? Ministry and Mysticism on the Camino de Santiago
A retired teacher and long-time parishioner at Atonement focuses on religious aspects of his experiences on 10 separate pilgrimages in Spain.
Facilitated by Patrick Eibergen
Sep. 27: The Finance, Stewardship, and Endowment Guilds
The parish’s guilds do some of the most important work around Atonement, and in this forum, the first of a series, we will learn about what three of the guilds are and how they benefit both the parish and the parishioners who serve on them.
Facilitated by Michael Cockerill, Charlaine Reynolds, and Michael Waltz
Oct. 4: Creation Care, Part I: “Saints and Beasts”
We all know St. Francis as the patron saint of animals, but he was not alone. When St. Cuthbert finished reciting the Psalter in icy water, he would emerge with two otters who dried his feet. St. Godric of Finchale, a hermit, let snakes warm themselves at his hearth fire and made pets of the largest ones. St. Julian of Norwich had a well-beloved cat—or so her iconography claims, despite a lack of textual evidence. What accounts for the authority some saints had even over wild animals? How can the witness of the saints help us shape an ecological witness today? This forum will help us celebrate the Feast of St. Francis.
Facilitated by Barbara Newman
Oct. 11: Atonement Ministry Fair
Join us in Montgomery Hall for our Atonement Ministry Fair. This is the time to come explore the many ministries that make up Atonement. Our ministries are all driven by parishioner involvement, and we hope that you will find a calling to support one of them.
Oct. 18: Creation Care, Part II: Celebration of Atonement’s progress
With the participation of many parishioners, and with considerable funding from outside sources, Atonement has completed roof replacement and solar installation, held a Decarbonization and Advocacy Fair, participated in Air Aware, and installed a modern and efficient boiler system. Forum hour will be devoted to informing parishioners about these achievements, to a blessing of the new roof and solar installation, and to hearing people’s suggestions about what we might do next by way of creation care at Atonement.
Facilitated by Fr. Charles Everson and Richard Benson
Oct. 25: Creation Care, Part III: “William Morris: Patterns of Nature”
Few individuals were involved in so many aspects of Victorian culture as William Morris (1834–1896). Best known now for his designs and his association with the Arts and Crafts Movement, in his lifetime he was better known for his poetry, but he was also a fantasy writer, a translator, an architectural preservationist, and a leading figure in the Socialist movement. Sarah Mead Leonard is Associate Director of Fellowships and Academic Programs at the Newberry Library. Her doctoral dissertation was about the significance of the River Thames and its tributaries in Morris's works. In this forum, she will focus on the ways Morris's intertwined interests in the English natural world, medieval culture, and contemporary social issues manifested in his famous pattern designs.
Facilitated by Sarah Mead Leonard