In this newcomers class at St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church, we look at two core questions: Why Christianity? and Why the Episcopal branch of the Jesus Movement?

The class follows four main movements:

1. Christianity and resistance

We begin with the world Jesus lived in: a world shaped by empire. Drawing on Howard Thurman and liberation theologians like Orlando Espín, we explore how Christianity began as a way for ordinary people to endure and resist systems of domination. We also name the hard truth that the church has often blessed empire—and how many Christians today are returning to the movement’s earliest roots in compassion and justice.

2. Christianity as inheritance

Christianity gives us stories that have shaped our culture and our moral imagination. Many of us inherit prayers, practices, and community through family or through returning to faith after time away. We talk about what it means to receive these stories honestly and interpret them for our own lives.

3. The centrality of Jesus

We turn to Jesus himself: his boundary-crossing compassion, his preaching about the Reign of God, and his ability to make people more fully alive. Jesus remains the deepest reason many of us stay Christian.

4. Why the Episcopal Church

We consider how the Episcopal tradition holds ancient faith and real openness together. We talk about the Anglican approach to questions, the role of the creeds in worship, and the central place of the Eucharistic table.

The video ends with two icons of the Trinity—Rublev’s traditional image and Kelly Latimore’s contemporary reimagining—both reminding us that there is room at the table for every person, including those the church has excluded.