Scholars refer to “the Exodus tradition” as a way of exploring how the Exodus story – its plot, images, language, and theology – shapes and permeates everything else in the Bible, both Jewish (Old Testament, for us) and Christian (the New Testament additions).

For the 2021-2022 church program year, Fr. Craig Townsend invites you to delve into that tradition in the Bible, and also in the history of Christianity in America with him. The Exodus story has provided the same powerful influence at many stages of that history – the Puritans, for example – and this is especially true in the history of the Black church. So, we will explore “the Exodus tradition” as a history of giving hope and voice to the enslaved, the marginalized, the oppressed. We’ll look at ancient Israel’s use of Exodus in the Psalms, the prophets and other writings, and we’ll look at that use in sermons from the history of the Christian Church, Black and White, in this country.

So, plan to join Fr. Craig on the first Wednesday of the month, October 6, 2021, through May 4, 2022, 7:00-8:00 pm. We’ll gather initially on Zoom and continue there for as long as that seems best. A reading list and other information are available here. Please contact Fr. Craig if you wish to participate.

Photo: Moses presenting the Ten Commandments (detail), Hermon A. MacNeil, 1957. Relief on the New York State Supreme Court building, Adams Street, Brooklyn