Christian Learning & Discipleship
As Christians, we are meant to nurture continued spiritual growth and deepening our faith—through our whole lifespan. One way we, as adults and young adults, do this is by meeting together for further study, conversation, and prayer beyond what we share together in worship.
Parish-wide Advent Reflection
This year’s Advent reflection book: Advent is the season in our church year when we prepare our hearts in anticipation for the birth of Jesus at Christmas. This Advent, our parish-wide Advent reflection book is Embracing Humanity by Isabelle Hamley. Throughout the month of December, I encourage you to consider reading this book as a spiritual discipline. There is a short reflection and prayer for each day from Dec. 1 through Dec. 25. You can read it on your own, with your family, or join one of the conversation groups that are happening throughout December. Please contact Rev. Becky for group location and/or Zoom link, or for help getting a copy of the book.
❦ In-person group: Sundays, 3-4 p.m. (December 1, 8, 15, 22)
❦ Online group: Mondays, 7-8 p.m. (December 2, 9, 16, 23)
Isabelle Hamley explores what it meant for God to become flesh and how this enables us to understand what it means to be human. Seeing humanity in a new light. God became flesh at Christmas. But how does God, who created all things, live within the limitations of humanity – limitations that humanity itself often resents and tries to transcend? And what does it truly mean to be human? Through the lens of Advent and Christmas, Isabelle Hamley guides us through daily reflections and prayers, encouraging us to meditate on being human in the light of God's choice to reach out to us in Jesus.
Gather & Grow on Sunday Mornings
As part of the Diocese of Toronto’s Season of Spiritual Renewal, we will offer a variety of conversations, speakers, and activities meant to encourage us to gather together as we seek to grow in our faith on Sunday mornings from 9:15-10:15 a.m., September through December 2024.
All adults and youth are welcome to join us for our weekly Gather & Grow program. Childcare is provided for those ages 0 through grade 5. Location of Gather & Grow is either in the Parish Hall (downstairs) or Nave (upstairs); see weekly e-news for details.
❦ September 8: Glad Gifts Workshop, presented by Elizabeth McCaffery from Diocese of Toronto, Congregational Development Office
❦ September 15: Following in the Footsteps of the Saints: A Celebration of St. Aidan from the Holy Island of Lindisfarne, featuring poems by Jay Hulme and choral works sung by the St. Martin’s Voices.
❦ September 22: A Rocha: Caring for Creation and Equipping Others to Do Likewise, presented by Anthony Siegrist, director of A Rocha Ontario. Learn more about Christian environmental stewardship taking place around the world through A Rocha International.
❦ September 29: Listening to Indigenous Voices: Commemorating Orange Shirt Day.
We will listen to oral history stories of those who experienced the residential schools firsthand, with time for reflection and conversation about how we, as Christians, are called to respond.
❦ October 6: Season of Creation reflection (facilitated by Martha Asselin)
Season of Creation is our time to stop, feel and sense the world we are in, the ways we are a part of God’s world. Please join us for reflection, conversation, and snacks and gain insights on scripture and your heart for this wonderful creation of which we are a part!
❦ October 13: No program this week (Thanksgiving)
❦ October 20: Traveling the Way of Love: Turn
With God’s help, we can turn from the powers of sin, hatred, fear, injustice, and oppression toward the way of truth, love, hope, justice, and freedom. In turning, we reorient our lives to Jesus Christ, falling in love again, again, and again. At Thistle Farms in Nashville, we see what it is to turn from a broken system to a way of healing, from a life of pain to a life of wholeness, from our own inadequacies to fulfilment.
❦ October 27: Traveling the Way of Love: Pray
Jesus teaches us to come before God with humble hearts, boldly offering our thanksgivings and concerns to God or simply listening for God’s voice in our lives and in the world. Whether individually or corporately, when we pray we invite and dwell in God’s presence. We will listen to stories of prayer practices from two congregations to inspire us to share our own experiences of prayer.
❦ November 3: Traveling the Way of Love: Worship
Jesus teaches us to come before God with humble hearts, boldly offering our thanksgivings and concerns to God or simply listening for God’s voice in our lives and in the world. When we pray, we invite and dwell in God’s loving presence. In worship, we gather with others before God, hearing the Good News of Jesus Christ, giving thanks, confessing, and offering the brokenness of the world to God. But what does it mean to worship in a non-traditional setting? How can we be responsive to neighbours who might never walk through the red doors?
❦ November 10: Traveling the Way of Love: Go and Bless
Jesus called his disciples to give, forgive, teach, and heal in his name, and we are empowered by the Spirit to bless everyone we meet, practicing generosity and compassion and proclaiming the Good News of God in Christ with hopeful words and selfless actions. As Jesus went to the highways and byways, he sends us beyond our circles and comfort, to witness to the love, justice, and truth of God with our lips and with our lives. We go to listen with humility and to join God in healing a hurting world. Honoré Mill and Farm heeds that call with their farm-to-altar ministry, offering whole and healthy bread back at the table from which they were sent.
❦ November 17: Traveling the Way of Love: Rest
From the beginning of creation, God established the sacred pattern of going and returning, labor and rest. Especially today, God invites us to dedicate time for restoration and wholeness - within our bodies, minds, and souls, and within our communities and institutions. We will hear stories of rest from a priest serving in a parish in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and share stories of how we make space in our own lives for rest for our bodies and souls.
❦ November 24: Inspiring Music for All Ages (facilitated by Michael Pirri)
Gather to sing and discuss the riches of our own musical identities, bring hope and inspiration to the music in our lives, and learn more about how we glorify God in worship. This session explores music-making as a biblical endeavour, exposing the scriptural roots of why, what, and how we sing God’s praises.
More Small Group Learning Opportunities
Details of when groups are offered may be found in our weekly e-newsletter (emailed on Fridays) and in the printed announcements distributed at church on Sunday. To find out which group or class could be a good fit for you, contact Rev. Becky.
Recent offerings have included:
Advent reflection group (in Advent 2023 we met online and reflected on selections from Kate Bowler’s Bless the Advent We Actually Have: A Daily Devotional for the Christmas Season)
Lenten reflection group (in Lent 2024 we met online and discussed devotions from Kate Bowler’s Lent book, Have a Beautiful, Terrible Lent)
Lenten contemplative prayer and reflection services (last year, we featured Taize music and reflected together on poetry drawn from Malcolm Guite’s anthology, The Word in the Wilderness: A Poem a Day for Lent and Easter)
Confirmation preparation (typically offered in the winter/spring, in the months preceding a confirmation service at St. Aidan’s or at the Cathedral)
Ecospirituality book discussions (organized by our members of the Ecospirituality Group)
Wednesday book conversations (recently we read the Ramsey Prize winning book, The Love that Is God)
The Being With course (coming soon)