Community Classes and Book Studies

And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.
John 21:25

The point of the spiritual life is not to merely learn about God and to learn about prayer, but to know God through prayer: He who knows prays; he who prays knows.

If one is not watchful over one’s thoughts, information and knowledge can fuel distracting thoughts; however, if the mind descends into the heart in prayer, such prayer is true and is the means to know God. This is why we learn about God: to encourage the spiritual life of watchfulness, prayer, and repentance.

If approached with the desire to repent — that is to change one’s way of thinking and living — the Church provides a treasury of wisdom concerning how to be watchful, pray, and repent. This treasury is vast because it spills over from hearts that know God into books, so much so that “even the world itself could not contain” the record of Christ’s work in the hearts of those who know Him.

We regularly have book studies and classes at St. John the Wonderworker wherein we learn about this treasury of spiritual riches. Additionally, we occasionally sponsor speakers who visit our community in order to lead us deeper into this treasury, either speaking at St. John the Wonderworker or at another local venue.

Believing that it is good for Christians to first assemble to pray and break bread together and then learn, our biweekly adult education classes regularly follow the evening prayer service of Vespers and accompany a potluck supper (see calendar to confirm the potluck and the timing). These classes are usually on every other Thursday with an altered schedule during the Nativity Fast and Great Lent.

“Life in Christ” Book Study

Our “Life in Christ” study is an ongoing book study that follows the morning prayers of Matins on Tuesday morning, unless there is a Divine Liturgy that day. Presently, we are reading The Enlargement of the Heart by Archimandrite Zacharias. All books are available at Pilgrim’s Way Bookstore.

For our specific schedule, see our calendar.