An Experiment in Deep Learning
Here at St. Columba’s we’re working on a holistic approach to learning and experiencing scripture. Aspirationally this is multigenerational work that follows the pedagogical model “reflection, action, reflection”: incorporating elements of small group reflection (Sunday morning formation, Bible study, etc.) and then imaginative application (in, for instance, the play Before Easter). Here are some of the elements at work in this parish.
Before Easter: A Play
- A 90 minute, fully immersive play
- Word-for-word re-telling of The Gospel of Mark, Chapters 1-10
- Cast comprised mostly of children and youth
- The entire life of Jesus before the events of Holy Week
- Next performance Lent 2026
- Flyer for 2024 Performance
- More about the context of the play here.
Before Easter: A Curriculum for Children and Youth
- Written for the season of Epiphany, a forerunner for the Before Easter play; using many of the implements of the play to both explain and explore the central values of the Gospel of Mark.
- Instructional about the historical and literary context of the Gospel; developmentally focused on concepts and themes appropriate for young children and adolescents; and, finally, interactive in placing the kids and youth at the heart of these simple but profound stories.
The Bare Gospel: A Play
- A 120 minute, fully immersive play.
- A solo-performance of the entire Gospel of Mark from memory
- The “spoken word” of the play comes only from Mark and is a word-for-word re-telling of it.
- The visuals, staging, and implements are all original and are used as representations meant to illuminate the various themes that run from the very beginning of the gospel until the end.
- Premiering on the Feast of the Ascension (May 29) 2025.
Small Group Conversations
The Rev. David Griswold (Sunday and Wednesday mornings)
The Rev. Adelyn Tyler-Williams (Young adults, Wednesday evenings)
The Rev. Joshua Daniel (Wednesday evenings, often on Markian themes 🤩)
Dialogues on Mark: the Podcast
- Hosted by The Rev. Dr. Joshua Daniel and The Rev. Ragan Sutterfield.
- The Podcast will give an in depth look at the heart of the Gospel and offer a few ways to understand its essential message and some of the hard-to-understand passages.
About The Hosts
Ragan Sutterfield is a writer, teacher, and agrarian living in his native Arkansas. Ragan is the author of Farming as a Spiritual Discipline, a contributor to the book Sacred Acts: How Churches Are Working to Protect the Earth’s Climate, and the author of numerous articles on food, faith, and ecology. He works to live the good life in partnership with his wife, Emily, and daughter, Lillian.
Joshua Daniel is a Senior Associate Rector at St. Columba’s Episcopal Church, Washington, D.C. Born and raised in Bentonville, AR, Joshua studied philosophy and theology at Greenville College, Oxford University, and graduated with a Ph.D. in Philosophy (2015) from the University of Arkansas, writing a dissertation on Wittgenstein and Religion. While at VTS, Joshua co-edited Reasonable Radical? (Pickwick 2018) with the Dean and President of the seminary, the Very Rev. Dr. Ian Markham.
Individual Study (recommended books)
- The plays used in this project have benefited from the work of New Testament scholar Ched Myers for its “interpretive frame.” Though the plays feature no verbal commentary, how the play was staged and produced reflects a considerable amount of thought and scholarship.
- A great introduction to Mark can be found in Ched Myers’ Say To This Mountain (Orbis Books, 1996); for a more complex and nuanced account see Ched Myers’ Binding the Strongman (Orbis Books, 1988).
- Rowan Williams (former Archbishop of Canterbury) has written a wonderful, short Lenten reflection on Mark: Meeting God in Mark.