Fourth Fridays Online is All Saints’ rather cryptically named discussion group, meeting by Zoom on—you guessed it—the fourth Friday of each month. It’s part of our parish’s wonderful range of adult faith formation and fellowship groups. (We literally have a group for every day of the week! Explore them all at All Saints’ bible studies & small groups.)

Less than a formal Bible study and more like coffee-shop theology, Fourth Fridays explores the connections between faith, Scripture, and everyday life. The Fourth Friday gatherings last about 75 minutes, and they create space for venturing opinions and sharing different experiences.  Each session typically draws on one or two selected passages of Scripture, and includes some gentle reflection, maybe a meditation, at least one or two multimedia elements, and always a curated piece of “exit music” chosen by yours truly.

I love leading this group because the conversations are relaxed, wide-ranging, often funny, and full of fresh perspectives. We began the year exploring New Year’s resolutions and fresh starts with God, and followed that with a Valentine’s edition asking, “Who knew loving your neighbour could be this hard?” Spring brought us the women along the Way of the Cross at Easter; Jesus’ biblical gardening imagery in May; and the practical meaning of Spirit-led living at Pentecost.

In the early fall, we explored what Scripture has to say about iPhones, social media, and our increasingly digital lives. Not surprisingly, the Bible has quite a lot of wisdom about how to use technology sensibly while remaining attentive to God and to one another. (And we had a lot of fun re-imagining the story of Mary and Martha, if each of them had been using cellphones.)

Our most recent session turned to All Hallow’s Eve, All Saints’ Day and All Souls, and the root Christian traditions of Hallowtide. We considered how Christians might engage with Hallowe’en—reject it, reclaim its roots, or fully participate with a focus on life, light, generosity, and community?—and how these Christian elements of these feast day observances speak into a culture increasingly fascinated by jump scares, zombies, and the macabre.

Every gathering leaves me energized by the humour, insights, and thoughtful questions that emerge. There’s no pressure to speak; you’re equally welcome to listen and enjoy the conversation. There’s something hopeful and affirming about exploring—in the company of others who are asking the same question—what it means to follow Christ in a modern world.

Now, if all of this hasn’t sounded enough like a commercial already, let me directly invite you to the November Fourth Friday session. It’s happening on November 27, 7pm. The link will be on the parish website landing page and calendar. I haven’t done the prep yet, but the working them for November is “how is Advent and the act of waiting relevant in a weary restless world.”

For a more sustained study in Advent, consider also a 4-week series I’ll be facilitating, also on Zoom. On each Tuesday in Advent (Nov 24, and Dec 1, 8 & 15), using a Loyola Press Art & Advent resource, we’ll encounter a painting inspired by the Advent message and together we’ll take a look at this season of hope and preparation through the lens of sacred art over the ages. No art history or Bible study experience is necessary.

But for now, let’s stay with Hallowtide. Rather than concluding with a prayer, I’ll leave you with the exit music from our October gathering, when we reflected on the saints: not only the officially recognized saints, martyrs, prophets, and biblical witnesses, but also the countless ordinary believers whose faithful lives are fully known to God.

“They lived not only in ages past;
there are hundreds of thousands still.
The world is bright with the joyous saints
who love to do Jesus’ will.
You can meet them in school, on the street, in the store,
in church, by the sea, in the house next door,
they are saints of God whether rich or poor,
and I mean to be one too.”

Click to listen to  “I Sing a Song of the Saints of God” (2 mins, performed by Wendell Kimbrough, based on a hymn for All Saints from the Episcopal Hymnal 1982. Words: Lesbia Scott ©1929 Lesbia Scott. Music: GRAND ISLE, John Henry Hopkins.)