Tuesday, December 2, 2008

12/2 - Advent Wreath Making

Wreath-making was a blast this year!

We held our annual Advent wreath-making event on Tuesday, December 2. We had a great turnout! The Advent wreath is one of the most popular Catholic Advent traditions. We opened with a prayer, and then we got right to the action...


Everyone seemed to enjoy making a wreath. It provided just the right amount of challenge without being too complicated: attaching the greenery, tying the bows...it was just enough to provide a few laughs along the way, and by the time we finished, we felt like we really accomplished something!


Father Paul even checked it on us...and he appreciated our creativity!

The lighting of the candles of the Advent wreath throughout the time of Advent helps us to remember and focus on the promise of the coming of Jesus, the light of the world. This night, we were all fortunate to be able to spend this special and fun time together!

ToT hopes that you and your family and friends are able to experience the full joy and true meaning of the Christmas season.

Thanks to everyone who was able to join us! We look forward to seeing you at future ToT events in January.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

11/11 - Power in Weakness

Theology on Tap met Tuesday, November 11. Mandy was our speaker, and she led an excellent discussion of Paul's 2nd Letter to the Corinthians, considered by many to be one of Paul's most emotional writings. The theme was 'Power in Weakness,' and Mandy started by giving us an overview of the letter.

She outlined several examples of how Paul explained and demonstrated the 'power in weakness' concept. She gave us a good reminder that we shouldn't judge others when we see they're in an tough situation - sometimes it's tempting to say 'what have they done to deserve what they're dealing with?' We should instead provide encouragement and support!


Mandy's discussion also reminded us we are very fragile and woundable as human beings, and it's our spirit that gives us power, especially in tough times. Our own burdens -- the crosses we bear -- are how God works through us, the same way that God worked through Jesus in the way he suffered on the cross.


Mandy did a great job! She's always a lot of fun to talk with, so it was a great discussion on how we can improve our own lives, especially by supporting others in times of weakness. We hope to have some ideas for service projects in the next few months so we can put this learning to work!


(Also, Margaret Ann made a great bacon-frito-awesome dip!) :)


Thanks to everyone who was able to attend, and thanks to ALL for your prayers, support, and participation as we continue to build this young adult ministry!



Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Advent Wreath Making set for Dec 2

We've scheduled our annual Advent Wreath Making event for Tuesday, December 2 at 7:00 PM. Mark your calendars...more details to come soon!

Check here for a recap of last year's event: http://birminghamtot.blogspot.com/2007/12/advent-wreath-making.html

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

10/14 - Being Christian

Tuesday, October 14 was our third Theology on Tap meeting of the fall. Margaret Ann was our speaker, and she did great!


The main points of Margaret Ann's talk were Love, Forgiveness and Examination, and she gave us four themes for reflection:
-Everything we are composed of should belong entirely to God
-As followers of Christ we are brothers and sisters in him. We must understand one another's needs and talents
-Remember, Jesus was crucified and rose from the dead for us. If we remember him, we will perceive how we are to live
-The need to reevaluate ourselves

In the end, the group was all smiles!



Thanks Margaret Ann!

Our next session will be Tuesday, November 11. We hope to see you then!

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Upcoming ToT, Coffee meetings

Hi everyone – We have a Theology on Tap meeting coming up Tuesday, October 14. Continuing our “Paul” theme, our own Margaret Ann will lead us in a discussion about “Being Christian,” based on 1st Corinthians. Margaret Ann always does a great job working with our group so this should be a good discussion! We’ll meet from 7:00-9:00 in the OLV Parish Office Conference Room. As usual, the cost will be $5, and snacks, drinks, and childcare will be provided.

We hope that you can make it. Bring a friend!

Also, our Coffee and Theology series (“Romans: Amazing Grace”) will continue with our third meeting this Sunday, October 12. At our first two meetings, we had two very lively and interesting discussions. If you weren’t able to make it, please join us! Attendance at every session is not required. For this series, we are asking for a one-time $7 fee to cover the cost of the books. We meet in the OLV Social hall, 9:45 to 10:45 (between masses). And we provide coffee and doughnuts!

Email us at theologyontap@olvsch.com with any questions.

See you soon!

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Coffee and Theology starts 9/28!!

Happy Fall everyone!

The ToT team is happy to announce that "Coffee and Theology," our Sunday morning bible study series begins this Sunday. This season, our theme will be "Romans: Amazing Grace." We will use a study guide and group discussion to learn more about Paul's Letter to the Romans, considered to be one of the most influential books of the New Testament.

Beginning this Sunday, will meet in Our Lady of the Valley's Social Hall from 9:45-10:45 (between masses), for six Sundays in a row:

September 28
October 5
October 12
October 19
October 26
November 2

Coffee, doughnuts, and childcare are provided. The cost is $7 (to cover the cost of materials).

Mark your calendars! Attendance at every session is encouraged but not required. As always, feel free to email if you have any questions.

Hope to see you there!

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

9/9 - Standing Firm in Our Faith

We had a great Theology on Tap meeting on September 9. Matt, one of our ToT team members, was our facilitator. Several other activities (plus a little bit of weather), perhaps, contributed to a smaller-than-usual group, but it was an excellent group nonetheless. Like last meeting, we were happy to have a few new faces, and we were excited to see some second-time faces as well!

Certainly a very important part of the meeting was the food, and we did good tonight! Cheese/fruit/veggie trays, etc. Special mention goes to Margaret Ann's chili-cheese-wonderfulness dip. (SOME might say it is rivaled only by her magnificent spinach-artichoke-wonderfulness dip, which perhaps will make an appearance at a future meeting.) :)


Matt is a great speaker! Experienced at handling groups both large and small, he had no trouble with us this evening! He introduced us to Paul's 1st and 2nd Letters to the Thessalonians. We learned about the differences between each letter. The 1st is a very enthusiastic, positive, encouraging account of praise of the Godly lives of the Thessalonians, while the second is presented with a very different, condemning tone. We learned that both warned the Thessalonians of temptations that are still very relevant and present in today's world. Matt helped to bring the writings of St. Paul to our daily lives!


We had the opportunity to participate in small group discussions. While M.C. Tony did not get to count us off to split us into groups, he certainly gets credit for some fantastic work in the material-distribution department. :)


After our group discussions, we had a little more social and fun time before we called it a night.


Thanks Matt! Great work! We’re looking forward to our October 14 meeting, when Mandy and Margaret Ann will talk with us about ‘Being Christian,’ referencing Paul's Letter to the Corinthians.

Thanks to everyone for a great meeting!

Monday, September 1, 2008

ToT next Tuesday (9/9)

Thanks for a great meeting last week! Sister Madeline led a great discussion to get us started on our "Year of St. Paul" theme. We enjoyed seeing everyone - especially several new faces - after the summer break! If you missed it, check the blog for some highlights!


We have a quick turnaround with our next meeting coming up next Tuesday, September 9. Matt Smith, one of our own Theology on Tap team members, will discuss "Standing Firm in our Faith," based on Paul's 1st and 2nd letters to the Thessalonians. We'll meet in the OLV Parish Office Conference Room from 7:00-9:00 PM. Food, drinks, and childcare will be provided. The cost is $5.


Also: please note that we've changed the starting date of the Coffee and Theology series to September 28.


Thanks everyone! See you soon!

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Year of St. Paul Introduction

The first session of our Fall season finally arrived!


Our theme for Theology on Tap for the Fall 2008 is "Year of St. Paul," so Sister Madeline kicked off the season on August 23 with an introduction to St. Paul and his writings.





It was very informative. St. Paul was one of the most influential people on Christianity, and the story of his conversion (his "Damascus moment") to Christianity is both inspiring and challenging for us. Paul's message is that God is willing to take us in - anyone and everyone - no matter what our past is like. We are called to imitate God's holiness, peacefulness, and inclusion...to conduct our lives in actions that demonstrate faith, hope, and love.


The next three ToT sessions will provide us an opportunity to learn more about Paul's teachines and some ways we can apply his advice in our daily lives. The sessions will be presented by Theology on Tap team members. Check the schedule on the left side of the blog page for the dates!


We also had some pretty good social time...it was great to see some new faces! And it was great to see the "old" faces, too... :) We had lots of good treats (plus a little beer and wine)! Kathy won the award for the most colorful shirt...

Below is an action shot...it's a little hard to see, but this was taken about two seconds before one of our favorite ToT team members (who shall remain nameless) spilled M&M's all over the sofa...







It was great seeing everyone after the summer break! We hope to see you at our meeting on September 9!


We're back! All are welcome!

Theology on Tap at Our Lady of the Valley Catholic Church (Birmingham, AL) starts back on August 23rd. ToT is OLV's "young adult" group. Our age range is 21-40s, and we are a mix of married and single (and divorced, etc.) people. We're primarily Catholic, but we often have visitors from many other Catholic churches, Christian denominations, and other faiths. All are welcome!

To contact us, please email us at theologyontap@olvsch.com.

Theology on Tap Meetings - our Tuesday night gathering for food, drink, and discussion! These meetings are held from 7:00 to 9:00 PM in the Our Lady of the Valley Parish Office Conference Room. Food, drinks, and childcare are provided. The cost is $5.

Our theme will be the "Year of St. Paul."

Aug 26: Overview of St. Paul--Sr. Madeline Contorno
Sept 9: Standing Firm in Our Faith—Matt
Oct 14: Being Christian--Mandy & Margaret Ann
Nov 11: Power in Weakness—Kathy

Coffee and Theology - our six-week Sunday morning bible study series. Meetings are 9:45-10:45 Sunday mornings (between Masses at OLV), in the OLV Social Hall. Attendance at every session is encouraged, but certainly not required. We will be studying Paul's Letter to the Romans, considered to be one of the most influential books of the New Testament. Coffee, doughnuts, and childcare are provide. There is a one-time cost of $5.

Dates:
September 28
October 5
October 12
October 19
October 26
November 2

We hope to see you!

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

Stump the Priest

On January 8, 2008, we decided to start the year off right by learning more about our faith, and who better to answer those questions than our own priest, Father Ray. Now, while the goal of this gathering was to learn more about our faith, it is always fun to see if we can stump our priest. Father Ray, being the brave soul that he is, decided to subject himself to our line of questioning and it is good thing that he did as we were all able to learn more about our faith. We went over such topics as how to define a sin, confession, and Mary's sinfulness.
Our answers included such definitions as: Mary is without sin from birth, which is why we say she is "full of grace"; thus, there is no sin, only grace. And, as for the definition of a "Sin", in order to be a sin the action (1) has to be wrong, (2) we have to know it is wrong, and (3) we have to freely choose to do it.
We concluded this gathering by going around the room and everyone saying what he/she believes is most special about being Catholic. The answers were overwhelming! People came from different backgrounds meaning both cradle Catholics and converts. People mentioned such things as being able to receive communion every week, our 7 sacraments, and our closeness to Mary. It was truly a special, fun, and entertaining night and although we weren't able to stump Father Ray this time, there is always next year! Peace and blessing to all and a very special thank you to Father Ray for all of his time, love, and support. See you next month! The Team