Bring your pets to the Blessing of the Animals on Sunday, Oct. 5th at 10 a.m.
In honor of St. Francis of Assisi, we will again be holding a “Blessing of the Animals” at the 10 a.m. service on Sunday, Oct. 5th. Bring your pets to church, where they will receive a special blessing. If you can’t bring your pet along, bring a photo of them or a stuffed animal, instead. […]
‘Breaking the Apocalypse Code’ looks at how the Book of Revelation, and other biblical voices, meet modern science
The end of the world fascinates us. Billionaires and survivalists prepare for it with well-stocked bunkers. Many Christians read biblical writings like Revelation for predictions of end-times events (known as the apocalypse). Books claiming last-days prophecy fulfillment in our lifetimes are perennial best-sellers. Are they right about our times, and about the Bible? Why is […]
‘Project Hail Mary’ by Andy Weir was another in our ‘summer reads’ book discussions
Dear St. James Family, I’d love to invite you to join me this summer in reading Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, a New York Times #1 bestseller, and the latest page-turning adventure from the author of The Martian. While it’s a gripping science fiction story filled with suspense, humor, and brilliant imagination, I also […]
This summer, we discussed the book ‘The Tao of Thomas Aquinas’
Can 13th-century wisdom from St. Thomas Aquinas be helpful for us today? Absolutely. Dr. Bill Yarchin, Fr. Richard Rubin, Dr. Nancy McLoughlin, and Ariel Vapor met in the Lab on Sunday mornings at 9 on the first Sundays of May, June, and July to discuss The Tao of Thomas Aquinas by Matthew Fox. Can a […]
‘Ethics and Espionage’: Watch retired CIA counterterrorism officer Darrell Blocker discuss this at our Faith Lab Speakers’ Series event
https://youtu.be/ZDxCrESz_Zo Intelligence-gathering isn’t a modern thing—the Bible has several stories dealing with it. How can we use it ethically in our 21st-century age? Retired Deputy Director of the CIA Counterterrorism Center Darrell Blocker was with us on Feb. 21, 2025, in another installment of our Faith Lab Speakers’ Series to discuss how intelligence gathering is […]
An Invitation to read and reflect: ‘Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor’
Dear St. James Family, In times of global conflict, we are called to reflect on our role as peacemakers, bearers of Christ’s love in a broken world. As the Israeli-Palestinian conflict continues to make headlines, we are reminded of the human stories behind the political struggles—stories of longing, fear, and hope. This is why I […]
See the video of the Ukrainian Cultural Forces’ concert at St. James the Great on Sunday, Nov. 10th
The members of the Ukrainian Cultural Forces, who were at St. James the Great for the 10 a.m. service and then a concert following the service on Sunday, Nov. 10th, were all professional artists before the war, but are now active duty soldiers and frontline volunteers. They presented a wide variety of music, from Ukrainian […]
Why is the Book of Job in the Bible? We have a three-part class that explores the questions people have about it
In 2021, St. James’ resident theologian, Dr. Bill Yarchin, held a series of classes on the Book of Job, and looked at the many questions people have with this biblical book: • “The patience of Job.” Or maybe not? Is it fact or fiction? • Did God really devastate a human being just […]
Sabbath: How can we keep that holy time? See videos of our discussion series on this book
In this brief yet profound meditation on the meaning of the Seventh Day, Abraham Joshua Heschel in his book The Sabbath introduces us to the idea of an “architecture of holiness” that appears not in space but in time. Judaism, he argues, is a religion of time: it finds meaning not in space and the […]
See “From Capitol Hill to Kyiv”: Ambassador William B. Taylor’s Faith Lab presentation and discussion about Ukraine
The Faith Lab Speakers Series hosted Ambassador William B. Taylor, who spoke to us about the evolving war in Ukraine, his dozen trips there since the war, and his continued diplomatic efforts to end the war. He was here on Oct. 17, 2024, and you can watch the video of his talk below. Ambassador William […]