Faith in Action @ 50 Minutes: Carol Howard Merritt, Pastor and Author

This Sunday, October 9, The Rev. Carol Howard Merritt will be speaking at 50 Minutes. Ms. Merritt is an influential voice for young Christians, both as the author of the books Reframing Hope and Tribal Church and as the pastor of Western Presbyterian Church in Washington, DC. She will also lead an afternoon discussion from 2:00 to 4:00.

Drawing upon her knowledge of postmodernism and her experience as a young mainline pastor, Ms. Merritt proposes hope as the virtue for vital Christian community, especially for the younger -- often missing -- generations. Her work at Western Presbyterian, an intergenerational congregation committed to serving the poor of DC, gives her a unique perspective on the challenges and opportunities facing the church today.

We invite you to attend the talk and discussion, and to think about:

+ What can we at St. Peter's learn from Ms. Merritt's work?

+ What do you think of her ideas as a response to some of the other issues raised by our last two speakers, Gary Dorrien and Paul Levy?

+ Thinking especially about Mr. Levy's talk and his comments about social and economic changes in Philadelphia, what does it mean to be a church in an urban setting? Do we have a special mission?

+ Ms. Merritt's work focuses on those who are sometimes forgotten or excluded by the church, especially young adults. In a recent blog post she asks, "What sort of church would work in a new generation? What is our vision for the 21st Century?" What do you think the answers might be, especially thinking about young adults at St. Peter's?

Visit the St. Peter's Adult Ed page for more information. You can also check out her blog and subscribe to her feed on Facebook.