Formation for Newcomers

If you are new to St. Mark’s, the Episcopal Church, or Christianity more broadly—welcome! These formation offerings for newcomers are designed to get you oriented in this strange new land. Feel free also to get in touch with Cathedral clergy; we are happy to answer questions, learn more about you, and accompany you on your spiritual path.

Baptism & Confirmation

Baptism is “the sacrament by which God adopts us as his children and makes us members of Christ’s Body, the Church, and inheritors of the kingdom of God” (BCP, p. 858).

Confirmation is the sacramental rite in which individuals “express a mature commitment to Christ, and receive strength from the Holy Spirit through prayer and the laying on of hands by a bishop” (BCP, p. 860). Confirmation is an opportunity to recommit oneself to the responsibilities of baptism.

Upcoming opportunities for Baptism:

• Easter Vigil, Saturday, April 19, 2025

• The Day of Pentecost, Sunday, June 8, 2025

Upcoming opportunities for Confirmation:

• The Day of Pentecost, Sunday, June 8, 2025

ALL THINGS ANGLICAN CONFIRMATION RETREAT

Saturday, May 31, 2025, 2-5 p.m.

This retreat is designed to equip the saints for ever-deeper encounter with the Living God whose indwelling spirit is the very core of our being and whose deepest desire is to love us into loving. Emphasis is placed on developing a flexible and adaptive constellation of spiritual practices to be engaged on a daily basis in the context of our busy, 21st century lives, that we might become the very love we see in the one we follow after and call “Lord,” as we follow Jesus into the Way of Love. Participants will be introduced to and have an opportunity to practice: 

• the Daily Office

• dwelling on God’s word in scripture (lectio divina and Ignatian contemplation)

• Contemplative prayer

• Visio Divina

• Ignatian Examen

++This retreat is required for those seeking confirmation in the Episcopal Church, and open to all who seek a deeper relationship with the God who loves us first.++

GUIDELINES FOR A SPIRITUAL AUTOBIOGRAPHY

Finding one’s place within the unity-in-difference/difference-in-unity Body of Christ requires that we become comfortable being transparent and courageously vulnerable in telling our story. Telling our story helps us see how God has (often hiddenly) been at work in our lives, open to where God might be leading us, and illuminate for others their own walk with Jesus. There is no set length for the Spiritual Autobiography. Plan to share it with your sponsor and aim for 300–500 words. You can also record your Spiritual Autobiography as an audio file (5-7 min).

What is a Spiritual Autobiography?

A spiritual autobiography is the story of our personal journey with God. Throughout the Scriptures, God reveals Godself powerfully and personally in the particularity of individual lives. These moments of God’s self-revelation and a believer’s God-consciousness enable ordinary folks like us to discern, with the help of other Christians, our place within Christ’s body (Ephesians 4:11–16).

Having an understanding of one’s spiritual autobiography also helps Christians respond sensitively, compassionately, and resiliently to those persons and events they encounter in their ministry. By listening to the presence and voice of God in our own lives, we increase our ability to help others feel God’s presence and hear God’s voice in theirs. God is always with us, even in those moments when we are afraid God isn’t — in the face of suffering, trials, temptations, and testing. Those moments of God’s seeming absence speak just as powerfully in a spiritual autobiography as those moments when we experience God’s presence in worship, prayer, service, or conversation.

What should a Spiritual Autobiography “Say”?

A spiritual autobiography should discuss not only those moments when we have felt the joy of God’s presence but also those moments when we have felt the sorrow of God’s absence. It should also relate the experience of God in community. Please use the following questions as a guide for reflection:

• What kinds of Christian community have I experienced as a child, youth and adult?

• When has God felt most real to me? When has God felt most absent?

• When/where/with whom have I encountered God in a pivotal, life-changing, transformative, or powerful way (such as at worship, at prayer, in conversation, in community, on retreat, while reading, etc.)

• Have I had seasons of doubt, disillusionment, or disobedience? What did these moments feel like? Where was God in these moments? What have I learned about God as a result of them?

• Who do I know, or have known, who seemed to know God intimately? How does my story overlap with theirs? How is my story different?