How does our Anglican tradition help us to cope with issues such as gender equality, sexuality, religious diversity, ecological crises, and reconciliation with those who are separated from us?

This series of hands-on workshops will help participants find their own answers to that critical question—and in the process come to a deeper appreciation of the richness of our Anglican tradition. It has been developed under the auspices of the Diocesan Christian Education Committee.

All sessions will be at St Luke in the Meadow Episcopal Church, 4301 Meadowbrook Drive, Fort Worth, TX 76103. A donation of $3 to $5 is requested, to defray costs for use of St. Luke’s facilities. Although reservations are not required, people planning to attend are asked to please email FallTalks@episcopaldiocesefortworth.org to enable a count of participants.

Saturday, October 6, 2012: How God Speaks to Us
Saturday, October 20, 2012: How We Understand Truth
Saturday, October 27, 2012: Where We Meet Christ

The series is led by David R. Brockman, Ph.D., who teaches theology at Brite Divinity School, and explores three “hidden treasures” in our tradition—three key Anglican concepts that shape who we are as Episcopalians:

• How God Speaks to Us: Scripture-Reason-Tradition
• How We Understand Truth: Comprehensiveness
• Where We Meet Christ: Incarnationalism

These workshops combine presentations with group discussions to help participants not only better understand these “hidden treasures,” but also put them to work on the important questions that face The Episcopal Church today.

How the Sessions are Structured

Each session will begin with a potluck supper. Then Dr. Brockman will introduce one of the hidden treasures, exploring how it shapes who we are as Episcopalians—what we believe, how we worship, and how we “do church.”

After a break, Eleanor Forfang-Brockman (M.T.S, Brite Divinity School) will lead a series of group discussions that allow participants to put the “hidden treasure” to work on one or more of the “hot button” issues facing the church today. Some of the issues that will be discussed are gender equality, sexual identity, relations with non-Christians, environmental problems, and reconciliation with our separated sisters and brothers.

5:30 p.m. – Potluck supper
6:00 p.m. – Presentation (Dr. Brockman)
7:15 p.m. – Q&A
7:30 p.m. – Break
7:45 p.m. – Group Discussion (led by Eleanor Forfang-Brockman)
9:00 p.m. – Dismissal

David R. Brockman, Ph.D., a lay Anglican theologian, teaches theology at Brite Divinity School and religious studies at Southern Methodist University. He is the author of No Longer the Same: Religious Others and the Liberation of Christian Theology (Palgrave Macmillan, 2011), and co-editor with Ruben L. F. Habito of The Gospel Among Religions: Christian Ministry, Theology, and Spirituality in a Multifaith World (Orbis Books, 2010). A member of St. Luke’s in the Meadow Episcopal Church in Fort Worth, he serves on the parish vestry and on the diocesan Commission on Ministry and Christian Education Committee.

Eleanor Forfang-Brockman is a member of St. Luke’s in the Meadow. She graduated from the Anglican School of Theology with a Certificate in Spiritual Theology and Direction in 1989, then lived as a lay member of Osage Benedictine Monastery in Sand Springs, Oklahoma from 1989-1991. In 2006, she received a Master of Theological Studies from Brite Divinity School. Her central concern is the integration of Christian Spirituality into everyday life.