Where is Jesus?

Advent is a season of expectation, of joyous anticipation, and of preparation, for the coming of Jesus. Who are we expecting? The divine Son of Man? The human hero the Son of God? Where do we expect to meet him? How will we greet him? Will he come to us as conquering hero, freeing us from oppression and anxiety? Will he come to us as Savior, suffering servant and healer? We have our expectations of who the Christ will be and how we will see him.

Where is Jesus? Do we see him in creation? In the midst of our families and friends?  Do we find him in solitude? Do we see him at work in the world?

How do we imagine him coming to us? As an infant? A judge?

Andrew was by the lakeside, when John the Baptist pointed out a man walking nearby. Behold, the Lamb of God: and Andrew went and found his brother and said, “We have found the Christ.”

In the next four weeks as we prepare our hearts to make him room, let us explore together where we find Jesus - and where Jesus finds us.

The season of Advent, and this course, begins the Sunday after Thanksgiving.

Spiritual Formation 9am Sundays in St Andrew’s parish hall. November 27 and December 4, 11, 18, 2016. Come join us for all or any of the sessions.

(Announcement for an adult spiritual formation course at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, Tucson.)

spiritual formation

Spiritual Formation Easter to Advent 2016

Saint Andrew’s Episcopal Church, Tucson

Sunday Mornings

During Easter season, the Rev. Stewart McDonald introduced us to “Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations”, practices that we as a congregation (and as its members) engage in that bring life to our community. This fall starting in October, Pastor Stewart will lead a series on prayer, entitled “Teach Us to Pray”, introducing various practices of prayer, communal and individual, that enhance our continuing spiritual life as people of prayer and praise. Complementing these two series, in September we will have several Sundays to explore our exterior life as people of God. We will be hearing from presenters on three missions of outreach to our Tucson community, especially focused on people with limited means. All those offerings come during the Sunday morning 9 o’clock “Spirituality Hour” between services.

Wednesday Evenings

On Wednesday evenings in the fall we have envisioned beginning a standard format for midweek gathering: a service of worship followed by a meal and then a variety of programs, from classes to committee meetings. Offerings and opportunities may vary from week to week, Contemplative prayer, book groups, Scripture reading, all can happen at this time. Services beginning with All Souls November 2nd will have the overall theme Holy Women, Holy Men.  

Reaching Out

Reaching out to the neighborhood and the city is important to us as a congregation. Our own “outreach” programs include supporting Neighbors Feeding Neighbors and hosting such programs and organizations as Passion Community Cafe, BorderLinks, and the Armory Park Neighborhood Association. And we hope to host the interfaith Thanksgiving service this year.

Reaching out to our neighbors includes our spiritual neighbors. Celebrating our areas of intersection and building bridges of understanding between faith groups is especially important in these times. And it affords us opportunities to enrich each others’ lives and faith journeys. Our Senior warden, Jane Stroup, is venturing a series of such opportunities, to give us a chance to meet in conversation with representatives of some of the great diversity of faith groups in our town. 

This fall promises many rich opportunities for faith development. Stay tuned for news of more adventures in faith together.

Fr. John