EfM is about Christian formation. It’s a small group experiential learning program for people who desire to both educate themselves more deeply in the Christian tradition, and deepen their spirituality. It began back in the 80s at the Episcopal Seminary in Sewanee, Tennessee. An EfM seminar group is facilitated by a trained mentor and meets weekly over the course of an academic year. The curriculum of readings covers four years: Old Testament, New Testament, Church History and Theology to the present day. The group worships and prays together and engages in a process of theological reflection. Theological reflection is a structured conversation by which students connect their personal lives with the insights that come from the tradition. There is a modest tuition. The diocese of Massachusetts is one of the sponsoring dioceses of EfM. Most participants love the experience, desire to finish up and graduate after four years, and come away feeling inwardly transformed and with an understanding of themselves as ministers ordained in Baptism.

Join us on Sunday April 14, 11:45-12:30, for a brief presentation by our Priest Associates and EfM diocesan co-coordinators, the Revd’s Lyn G. Brakeman and Richard J. Simeone. Hear more. Ask your questions. Consider your own interest in being part of an EfM group, starting in the fall of 2013.

St. John’s has reserved a table at the Harvest on Vine Fundraiser, Thursday, April 25 at the Knights of Columbus, Medford Street, Charlestown. There is a buffet dinner and auction with raffles and entertainment. Tickets are $30 per person. Anyone wishing to join us may pay at the door, but please contact the church office if you plan to sit at the St. John’s table.

Congratulations to Ascher Kulich and Allie Kulich, who each received awards in the 2013 Scholastic Art and Writing Contest. Ascher, who is a senior at Buckingham Brown and Nichols School, received a Gold Key award in Writing and Photography for his portfolio. Allie, who is a sophomore at the Winsor School, received a Gold Key award in sculpture for her peice, “Wooden Bench.” We are also grateful that Ascher and Allie have served as torchbearers and acolytes at services at St. John’s.

Stratton McCrady received word that his mother, Sally McCrady, died on April 10th. Stratton will be traveling to Tennessee next week, and his mother’s funeral service will be on Saturday, April 20th. May she rest in peace and rise in glory. Please remember all of the family in your prayers.

Sarabinh Levy-Brightman and Charlie Stang are among the organizers of an upcoming conference at Harvard Divinity School, and we are invited. You can speak to either one of them on Sunday for more information, and you can register by going here: Information and Registration for HDS Conference

The 3rd Annual
New England Anglican Studies (NEAS) Conference
April 20, 2013

Keynote Speaker: The Most Rev. Frank T. Griswold III, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, 1998-2006

Contemporary Christianity has seen a resurgence of interest in contemplation: the retrieval of the rich resources of the pre-modern Christian contemplative traditions, as well as the exploration of contemplative practices in other religious traditions. Together these trends enliven contemporary prayer and practice. Common to all these efforts, however, is a conviction that contemplation is not a flight from the world and its many challenges, but rather a mode of delivering oneself and others into the world anew, renewed, and ever ready to face those very challenges. This conference aims to investigate and deepen this conviction by asking what contemplation is, and how it acts, both on the practitioner and his or her world. What can contemplatives and activists learn from each other? Might contemplation be a form of activism? Might the struggle for social justice be a form of contemplation? What other forms of religious “action” might be shaped or driven by contemplation? Given our investment in both the contemplative life and social activism, we Anglicans aim to convene this conversation and to ground it in our tradition, but also to widen it to include other voices and other traditions.

Registration: 8am
Opening Remarks: 9am
Closing Eucharist Concludes: between 6 and 7 pm
Harvard Divinity School
Cambridge, MA

Hosted by the HDS Episcopal/Anglican Fellowship and the Episcopal Chaplaincy at Harvard.