We live in a world that trains us to scroll past complexity and look away from suffering. This sermon invites us to resist that pressure and to see again with the clarity, nuance, and courage Lent demands. From encounters with unhoused neighbors to rising antisemitism, and from disability justice to digital distraction, we’ll ask what God longs for us to see. And where the Spirit is already helping us take a second look.

In this session of our newcomers class at St. Michael and All Angels in Albuquerque, we explore how Christians — especially in the Episcopal tradition — understand the Bible as a library of texts written across many centuries.

Together we look at the structure of the Hebrew Bible (the TaNaK), the origins of the New Testament, how the canon came to be, and why different Christian communities treat biblical books differently.

We also talk about interpretation: literalism, inspiration, and how Episcopalians read scripture in community. Rather than treating the Bible as a rulebook, we look for the larger direction it points us toward — freedom, life, and the possibility of becoming fully alive in God.

This class is part of our “Newcomers Class” a series for newcomers and the curious. If you're wondering how Episcopalians approach scripture — historically, theologically, and spiritually — this video is a great place to start.

Join us Sunday for discussion, questions, and some hands-on engagement with the text.

🙏 Thanks for watching, and God bless.

00:00 – Welcome & Overview

00:19 – What Is the Bible? A Library of Books

01:41 – Hebrew Bible and New Testament

05:00 – The Torah and the Foundations of Scripture

12:04 – The Gospels and Early Christian Writings

17:19 – Understanding Revelation

21:56 – Inspiration, Literalism, and Interpretation

28:40 – How Episcopalians Read Scripture

31:25 – The Bible as Direction, Not Directions

32:31 – Closing Blessing

The Rev. Simone Drinkwater reflects on the encounter between Jesus and the Samaritan woman in John’s Gospel as a story shaped by cultural tension, religious estrangement, and unexpected openness. She notes how the conversation crosses boundaries of gender, ethnicity, and faith, even as it reveals the awkwardness and pain carried by John’s community of outcasts. Drawing on her own perspective as a trans woman with Samaritan ancestry, she names both the dignity and the difficulties within the story. In a world marked by conflict and misuse of power, she calls the church to engage in similarly uncomfortable but necessary conversations, trusting the Holy Spirit to work through them and make us instruments of peace.