Faith Formation
Adult Forum
Adult Forum gathers around coffee and snacks every Sunday morning at 9 a.m. in the Garden Room.
Guided by a variety of speakers and teachers, going deeper in conversation, we explore ways to articulate our identity as people of an ancient faith in these modern times.
Touching the Soul Book Group
What good literature can do and does do . . . is touch the human soul. – Karen Swallow Prior, The Atlantic, 2013
The St. Paul’s Touching the Soul Book Group is open to everyone. We generally meet twice a month, Sundays, 11:45, in St. Paul’s Conference Room. You can also participate via Zoom if you let us know in advance. Please register (by emailing nancyeday@gmail.com) so we can send you updates, discussion questions, and time changes. View our schedule here!
Education for Ministry (EfM)
"Renew in these your servants the covenant you made with them at Baptism.”
This is what we ask from God during the Service of Confirmation. It includes proclaiming by word and example the Good News of God in Christ – each one of us needs help doing this.
EfM is an adult ministry helping members and friends of St. Paul’s church to build lives of faith and service through theological reflection and study. EfM is not preparation for ordination. Indeed, all baptized Christians are called to be active participants in the church's total ministry, and EfM prepares you for the ministry to which you are called. It is that vocation for which we pray at the end of the Eucharist: "And now, Father, send us out to do the work you have given us to do, to love and serve you as faithful witnesses of Christ our Lord."
The EfM program consists of seminar groups of six to twelve participants and a trained mentor who meet weekly over the course of a nine-month academic year. The EfM curriculum is developed and maintained by theologians and scholars at Sewanee - the University of the South. For more detailed information, please visit their website.
We Would Love to Include You!
The EfM year begins with a retreat held at St. Paul’s on the Sunday after Labor Day. Regular meetings are held on a weekday evening, starting the week following the retreat through mid-May. Watch for opportunities to enroll mid-summer.
Contact: Marie Thompson, Mentor, thompsonmarie@umkc.edu.
For the past two years, the EfM group has offered beautiful Good Friday Meditations. They shared them with the congregation members, who were invited to pause at 6 p.m. on Good Friday and to enter into a time of private, yet shared, reflection and prayer. Resources included the poem Good Friday 1613 – Riding Westward, by John Donne, the lyrics of the hymn, Stabat Mater, and the opportunity to immerse yourself in a symphonic recording of that work. The resources provided at the links above will give you the poem, the hymn, and a link to the recording, along with additional information about the authors and their history. We share them here, as the mediation is meaningful year-round.
Episcopal Church Women (ECW)
Originally organized nationally in 1871, the ECW at St. Paul’s is an informal chapter which gathers monthly, welcoming people to come as they are able without requiring membership of any kind, alternating our get-togethers between members’ homes and the church. We enjoy occasional speakers, seasonal fellowship, and are often recruited to help with various outreach and educational projects across the ministries of St. Paul’s. This is a unique opportunity to relax and learn from the experiences of a wondrous variety of ages, stages, incomes and backgrounds of women who gather to support one another, learn stuff, and have fun. The common denominator of our members is love of God and the wish to do God's work. Our vision for the Episcopal Church is that we come together as a peacemaking, healing part of the Church. Contact: Beth Herbers, bethherbers@gmail.com.