Dear saints,
This fall we will engage in a parish-wide and multi-month process of discerning the future of our block. It promises to be an exciting time as we seek the Spirit’s guidance for how our city block may become even more fully an expression of God’s justice and love in the world.
Before we can dream together about our patch of land, we first need to name for one another the future shape of our life as a church, including our mission and ministries. Between January and May, we will invite the whole parish to cast a vision for our life as a church – a vision for all the saints – both in the present and for decades to come. This visioning work will happen across our many and varied ministry areas, as well as during some parish-wide activities.
To help us imagine our future we will be joined by a series of preachers and teachers who will help us remember our own story as a church as well as learn from the stories of the church far and wide. I pray that as we ground ourselves in the Spirit’s guidance we will gain a greater appreciation for all we already are and hear from one another the dreams we have for the church we wish to become for future generations. I invite you to lend your voice.
Sincerely,
Simon+
Speakers
All forums will take place in Ellis Hall from 10:15-11:05 a.m. on the Sundays listed below. We plan to record these conversations and the recordings will be available in our Video & Audio Library.
January 9 | An Altar for the World with Barbara Brown Taylor and Martha Sterne
During the 1980s the Rev. Barbara Brown Taylor and the Rev. Martha Sterne served All Saints’ alongside Harry Pritchett as rector at a time when Atlanta faced the AIDS crisis at its height. Hear their exploration of how All Saints’ response to that crisis helped to shape the church we are today, their own ministries, and their understanding of how God invites us to love the world.
January 16 | Church, Mission, and the City with Luther Smith
The Rev. Dr. Luther Smith is Professor Emeritus of Church and Community at Emory University. One the nation’s leading theologians on the work of Howard Thurman, Luther calls the church to serve God in the world, remembering especially those who, in the words of Thurman, “have their backs against the wall.” Listen for how All Saints’ might respond to that call in the time to come.
January 23 | The Challenges of a 21st Century Church with Geoffrey Hoare
The Rev. Geoffrey Hoare was the eighth rector of All Saints’, leading the parish through a turbulent season in the Episcopal Church when the denomination worked to become a more fully inclusive church for people of all sexual orientations and identities. As we look to the century ahead of us, listen to Geoffrey’s sense of the kind of challenges the future church will need to face.
February 20 | The Multicultural Future Church with Nancy Frausto
The Rev. Nancy Frausto is Director of Latinx Studies at the Seminary of the Southwest in Austin, Texas. Born in Zacatecas, Mexico, Nancy immigrated to the U.S. as a child, and she is the first and only DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) beneficiary priest in the Episcopal Church. Nancy’s ministry seeks to honor diversity in language, culture, social-economic status, and race in people’s stories. Learn how the church is invited to embrace the increasingly multicultural nature of our nation in the future ahead.
March 6 | The Parish of Tomorrow with Mary Gray-Reeves
The Rt. Rev. Mary Gray-Reeves served as third bishop of the Diocese of El Camino Real for 12 years. Her three decades of leadership in the church and her current role as Managing Director of the College for Bishops give her a perspective on the state of the parish across the wide diversity of the Episcopal Church. Hear how parishes might evolve in the years ahead, and what that might mean for us and for the saints to come.
April 3 | Practicing Faith in a Secular Age with Lauren Winner
The Rev. Dr. Lauren Winner is Associate Professor of Christian Spirituality at Duke Divinity School and writes and lectures widely on Christian practice and the history of Christianity in America. Lauren’s writing explores the intersection of faith and practice and traces her own journey from Judaism to Christianity. Hear how our practice of faith might be reformed for an increasingly secular age.
May 1 | The Imagined Church with Dwight Zscheile
The Rev. Dr. Dwight Zscheile is Vice President of Innovation and Associate Professor of Congregational Mission and Leadership at Luther Seminary in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Dwight has authored multiple books and essays on innovation, leadership, and adaptive change, working extensively with congregations, judicatory systems, and institutions of higher education. Listen to how our faith-informed imagination can shape our vision for the future.
