Sunday Forum
Looking for videos of past forums? Follow this link.
The Sunday Forum takes place 10:10 a.m.-11 a.m., September-May. You do not have to be a member to attend, and no registration is required. On most Sundays, St. Stephen's clergy or other staff members speak. On occasion, we welcome outstanding guest speakers.
The forum will begin this fall with a four-part series, “What we stand for,” spelling out how the Christian faith grounds our life as a parish. Led by members of our clergy and staff, the series will trace Anglicanism, Scripture, and Christian tradition as the foundations of our distinctive faith community. Join this series and move deeper into our life together.
Upcoming forum schedule
2024
Epiphany
As we begin a new year and a new season of the Sunday Forum, we offer a series that invites us into conversation and learning about several core spiritual practices, representing various ways of welcoming God’s presence into the rhythm of our daily lives.
January 7
Spiritual Practices: Mindfulness meditation
The Rev. Gordon Peerman, with the Rev. William Sachs
January 14
Spiritual Practices: Contemplative prayer
The Rev. John Jenkins, Millie Cain, Patty Carpenter
January 21
Spiritual Practices: Sacramental worship
Panel led by the Rev. William Stanley
Our vicar, Will Stanley, will lead a panel discussion with lay liturgical leaders who will reflect on how they see their service and ministry at St. Stephen’s as spiritual practice: Susan Wilkes (subdeacons), Earl Roney (chalice bearers), Daniel Mullery (readers), Ben Emerson (vergers), and Catherine Whitham (healing prayer ministers).
January 28
Spiritual Practices: Sabbath-keeping
The Rev. Cate Anthony and Cantor Sarah Beck-Berman
The annual meeting will take place at 10:10 a.m. on February 4. Read more.
February 11
The Spirituality of Baseball
The Rev. John Rohrs
In preparation for the start of spring training, John Rohrs will offer a presentation on the spirituality of baseball, combining personal stories, reflections, and movie clips with insights from the book Baseball as a Road to God by John Sexton.
Lent
Looking within and learning from without
The Sunday Forum at St. Stephen’s Church will strike an important balance in the coming weeks. During the season of Lent, we are urged to look inward in search of personal healing and spiritual growth. In order to look closely within ourselves, we must look outward to see the world with renewed hope. Descriptions of these topics are available here.
February 18: The Spiritual Life in Lent; St. Stephen's clergy
February 25: Seen From Richmond: The Holy Land We Share; Rabbi Michael R. Knopf and Prof. Imad Damaj
March 3: Our Church’s Witness Amid Conflict; the Very Rev. Richard Sewell
March 10: On The Ground in Israel Now; Marvin Daniel
March 17: Many Threads, One Garment; St. Stephen's clergy
March 24: Palm Sunday (no Forum)
March 31: Easter Day (no Forum)
Easter Season
April 7, 14, and 21: Heaven and Hell
No images capture our religious hopes and fears more than heaven and hell. In the weeks following Easter, no contrasts offer a more energetic basis for discussions of faith. But where do the themes of heaven and hell come from and why do they touch us so deeply? What truth do they hold for us as followers of Christ? For the three Sundays after Easter, our Forum presentations will address the meaning of heaven and hell.
April 7, “Scriptural understandings of heaven and hell”
The Rev. Dr. Sam Adams, an ordained Presbyterian minister and professor at Union Seminary in Richmond, will share key examples from the Hebrew scriptures of Jewish understandings of the afterlife and how they influenced the teaching of Jesus and the language and imagery he used (e.g. eternal life, kingdom of heaven, hell/Gehenna and the weeping and gnashing of teeth, etc.) as recorded in the gospel narrative.
April 14, “Heaven and Hell in Western Literature: Case Studies”
Gardner Campbell, VCU professor and St. Stephen’s parishioner, expands the scope of our discussion. For centuries, writers have imagined afterlives of perpetual blessedness or eternal damnation. Between the unknown of eternal bliss and the torments of loss and separation, these writers bring theological concepts to life in ways that can illuminate our daily lives as well as our devotion. We’ll consider some of these representations in works by Dante, Milton, Blake, Dickinson, Moore, and C. S. Lewis.
April 21, “Getting Saved in American Religion”
Speaking in terms of a living faith, Bill Sachs will draw together the themes we have discussed. His focus will be on what “salvation” means for American Christians now. Does being a Christian center on going to heaven rather than being condemned to hell? The influence of evangelical religion has stamped faith and life for millions of people. What might this mean for us as Episcopalians today? Must we think in terms of heaven and hell to define who we are? This presentation will bring our Forum discussions home.
Celebrating 50 years of the ordination of women
April 28
On Sunday, April 28, the Rev. Cate Anthony will be joined by the Rev. Weezie Blanchard, our former vicar, to discuss the journey from the ordination of the "Philadelphia Eleven" 50 years ago this summer, to today. Weezie will also be our guest preacher in the 9 and 11:15 a.m. service that morning, and the Rev. Penny Nash will be the reflector in the Celtic service that evening.
May 5
Sunday, May 5, is the date for the bishop's annual visit to St. Stephen's; there will be no Forum that day, but we will have receptions following the 9 and 11:15 a.m. services.
Forum livestream and recordings
Last year we began livestreaming the Sunday Forum. Because the conclusion of the 9 a.m. service takes place so close to the beginning of the Forum, these two events are provided in one continuous stream. If you watch the 9 a.m. service online and/or you watch the Sunday Forum, you can find either/both on Sunday livestream page. There will be a period between the service and the forum where you'll see a message on the screen, and perhaps hear background noise. Just be aware that the Forum will begin as soon as folks settle into their seats in the Fellowship Hall. We aim for 10:10 a.m.
Make sure you have ONLY ONE page with a video open while you're watching the livestream, or you'll hear conflicting audio streams.
To see recordings of the Forum, visit this page.
Previous forum topics
From the first "semester" of this program year.
September 17
What we stand for
Introduction to four-part series with St. Stephen’s clergy
September 24
What we stand for: Anglican ethos
The Rev. Cate Anthony and the Rev. William Sachs
October 1
What we stand for: The Bible as foundation
The Rev. John Rohrs and the Rev. Abby Kocher
October 8
What we stand for: The Christian Life
The Rev. William Sachs and the Rev. William Stanley
October 15
One Body. One Spirit. One Hope.
The Rev. John Rohrs, the Rev. William Stanley, Al Albiston, Debbie Dunlap, Will Paulette
October 22
Faith in Public Life: Living in mission
Heidi Schmidt and Monica Vega, St. Stephen’s missionaries in Argentina
October 29
Faith in Public Life: Lifelong formation
Jamelle Wilson of the University of Richmond, and Tom Cox, St. Stephen’s parishioner and attorney
November 5
No Forum (Baptism celebrations)
November 12
Faith in Public Life: A life of service
Richard V. Spencer, former Secretary of the Navy
November 19
Parish update with vestry and staff leaders
November 26
No Sunday Forum (Advent Fair)
December 3
Advent I
The Rev. Martin Smith: Deepening Our Faith in the Salvation of All
Additional details about Martin Smith, his forum topic, and an Advent Quiet Day he will lead, are here.
December 10
Advent II
A program on Advent music with Diana Chou, St. Stephen’s associate director of music, and the Rev. William S. Stanley, vicar (To see Diana's slide deck more clearly, you can download this PDF.)
December 17
No Forum (Youth Christmas Pageant)
December 24 and 31
No Forum