Adult education offerings focus on six areas (all broadly defined): scripture, theology and ethics, history, spirituality and liturgy, literature and the arts, and contemporary issues of faith and witness.

Monday Night Series
Laughlin Hall, 7pm-8:30pm

Episodic Series on the Islamic Faith
September 20:  The Beginning and Ends of Islam: An Introduction to the Faith, led by Haroon Moghul. Mr. Moghul holds an M.A. in Middle East and South Asian Studies from Columbia University, where he is currently a Ph.D. candidate. His fields of study include Muslim nationalism in South Asia, colonial and post-colonial Islamic politics and the development of the Indian Ocean economy. He was nominated for the 2009 Presidential Award for Best Teaching by a Graduate Student at Columbia University.
October 25:  The Saint and the Sultan: the Crusades, Islam and Francis of Assisi's Mission of Peace, led by Paul Moses. Mr. Moses will discuss his book, which describes a unique moment of Christian-Muslim dialogue: an historical encounter between a beloved Christian saint and a powerful sultan of Egypt who was a nephew of the great Muslim warrior Saladin.
November 22:  Sufism, led by Brad Gooch.  Dr. Gooch, parishioner and celebrated author, will draw on his current research into the life of Jalalu'l-din Rumi to present an overview of Sufism and the mystical path in Islam.

Romans Bible Study, begins September 27
Other Monday nights in the fall will offer a different opportunity to deepen your spiritual life and sharpen your interpretation skills in an on-going study of The Letter of Paul to the Romans, led by Hugh Grant, which will begin on September 27 and run through December 13 (meeting dates:  9/27, 10/4, 10/18, 11/1, 11/8, 11/15, 11/29, 12/6, 12/13—please note there is no class on Columbus Day, 10/11 or the Monday of Thanksgiving week, 11/22).

Sunday Special Events

Seasonal Eating:  Health for the Body and for the World, led by Nick Merolla
September 19, 1:15pm-2:30 p.m., Laughlin Hall
Mr. Merolla will draw on his experience as a Certified Health Counselor, a Certified Fitness Coach, and a former Athletic Competitor to discuss new and popular ways of eating foods that are local and readily available seasonally.  Not only are these foods healthier and often better tasting, consuming them reduces our carbon footprint since they are not shipped long distances.  This is good stewardship of body and planet--come learn more!

Finding our Spirit in Poetry, led by Spencer Reece
1:15pm-2:30pm, School Library, dates listed below
Yale seminarian and published poet Spencer Reece will lead this six part series, guiding the group in discussion of the poems and poets below, and more.  Mr. Reece's first book of poems, The Clerk’s Tale, won the Bakeless Prize in 2003, was published by Houghton Mifflin in 2004 and was a finalist for The Los Angeles Times Book Award.
9/26: “Homesick” from the Terezin Concentration Camp, “By Powers of Good,’ Dietrich Bonhoeffer
10/3: Elizabeth Bishop: “The Art of Losing,” “Crusoe in England,” “Five Flights Up.”
10/17: George Herbert, “Love,” Gerard Manley Hopkins, “God’s Grandeur,” John Donne, “Batter My Heart Three-Personed God”
11/7: Frank O’Hara, “The Day Lady Died,” David Trinidad, “Garbo’s Trolls.”
11/21: Marie Howe, “Isaac,” “The Gate” (to be viewed on Poetry Foundation website), Stanley Kunitz, “Touch Me,” “Hailey’s Comet,” Louise Gluck, poems from The Village Life.
12/5: Diane Glancey, Deborah Keenan, Jim Moore, G.E. Paterson.
**Mark your calendar now: this discussion group will conclude its exploration of poem and spirit with an Advent Quiet Day for the parish on Saturday, December 18th  from 10 am - 2 pm***