Formation Opportunities in our Diocese

Explore a variety of formation programs designed to nurture spiritual growth, foster lifelong learning, and strengthen your commitment to service within the Church. Our offerings include workshops, retreats, seminar series, ongoing programs, and special events—hosted in diverse parish and ministry settings across the diocese.

Programs are available for adults, ministry leaders, youth, and families. Each listing includes when and where the program takes place along with the hosting church or ministry team, helping you find opportunities suited to your spiritual journey or leadership role. Formats and topics vary to reflect the unique gifts of each facilitator and the needs of our local congregations.

We invite you to discover new ways of deepening your faith, building connections with others, and serving both the Church and the broader community through meaningful formation, prayer, and service.

Incarnation as Salvation: An Advent Adventure into how God Became Human so that Humans Might Become Like God

Tuesdays in December at 12pm MST (on Zoom)

Contact: For more information about the course, contact Cindy Geppert at ethicdoc@comcast.net or 505-934-0475

Registration: Click here to register  Registrants will receive an email prior to the first class with zoom link, as well as an email following each session with necessary credentials to view class recording asynchronously. 

Course Schedule:

Session 1 December 2nd : We Need to Figure this out: Early Christian Understandings of the Incarnation and Salvation
Session 2 December 9th : Who is a Heretic? It Depends on the Emperor
Session 3 December 16th : Let’s all settle down at Chalcedon
Session 4: December 23rd : Athanasius brings it all together

Course Description: Most Christians have been taught that we are saved through Christ’s death and resurrection. While that is a true article of faith, Christ first had to come to us as a human being: the creche is the necessary prerequisite for the cross. Some patristic theologians even speculated that the Incarnation alone was sufficient for salvation. In this short course we will accompany the fathers of the church as they struggle to work out Christological and Soteriological doctrines and their relationship and how their ancient insights can help deepen the meaning of Advent and Christmas for our spiritual  lives today.

No preparation needed, no background required, no homework assigned: just bring a curious mind and open heart.

All sessions online via ZOOM link and will last approximately 50 minutes. Each session will include a 15–20-minute presentation from the instructor followed by questions and discussion. Participants are welcome to join at any point and since all sessions will be recorded, can catch up when and if they want to later.

About the Instructor:  Dr. Cynthia Geppert majored in religion in college and studied the History of ChristianThought at the University of Chicago Divinity School and Vanderbilt University with the intention to become an academic theologian until an encounter with a sick parishioner changed that trajectory toward medicine and ethics. Along the way Cindy was ordained as a priest in the Independent Catholic Church and for nearly 25-years her ministry was serving as a consultation psychiatrist, palliative care physician, and medical ethicist for the Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care System. Cindy has had a long career in professional and graduate education and scholarship as Professor of Psychiatry and Internal Medicine at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine and as adjunct

Professor of Bioethics at the Alden March Bioethics Institute, Albany Medical College where she teaches religion and bioethics. No stranger to religious teaching, she served for several years as the Associate Director of Religious Studies at UNM. In preparation for a return to her religious roots, she earned a doctorate in theological ethics at the Charles Sturt University/St. Marks Theological Centre in 2024. It was during her doctoral studies that Dr. Geppert learned about theologians-in-residence and the work of public and contextual theology that she is honored to develop at St. Marks. When not reading or writing about patristic theology, Cindy likes to listen to her wife Dr. Karen Cardon play the cello and hike their two huskies in the foothills.  

To learn more about Dr. Geeppert, check out this 20 minute video interview with Dr. Geppert, in which Mother Sylvia introduces their new Theologian in Residence to the people of St. Mark's. 

Walking the Mourner's Path Facilitator Training

February 26-28, 2026

St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Albuquerque, NM will be hosting a Walking the Mourner's Path Facilitator Training, February 26-28, 2026. For more information about the training and how to register, please visit: https://www.mournerspath.com/grief-facilitator-training.html

Weekly Lectionary Bible Study  

This Bible study explores the scripture readings from the church’s lectionary, helping participants engage with the biblical texts assigned for each week of the liturgical year. Through reflection and discussion, the class deepens understanding of Scripture’s themes and their connection to the seasons of faith, inspiring faithful living and worship.

We gather on Google Meet on Tuesdays 8:30am - 9:15am MT. All are welcome to join.

Contact Father Jeremiah Griffin for more information 

study of Life in Christ Jesus, Romans 5-8

Following our study of the primordial history in Genesis 1-11, we take up the examination of Paul’s response to the fall of Adam and the alienation of the world from God in original and actual sin. This study covers several short chapters, 5 through 8, in Paul’s letter to the church in Rome. These chapters form a fairly distinct unit within Paul’s letter. While they are brief, they constitute a serious and successful attempt to describe life in Christ and the role of Christ as the new Adam.

In his letter to the Galatians, Paul encouraged his converts to “walk in the Spirit”.  Now, in Romans, Paul explains exactly what he means by that and what it means to be “in Christ”. If people are justified through Christ, Paul insists, they are now reconciled to God. This reconciliation brings many benefits: peace with God, hope of sharing God's glory, and an outpouring of God's love. The description of how Christ's death accomplishes justification, salvation, and reconciliation is one of the great New Testament explanations of what is involved in divine love: a willingness to die for ungodly sinners who do not deserve such graciousness.

As always, we will consult leading scholars of the present and past in our examination. 

On Wednesday, October 22nd at 7:00 p.m. we will begin our study of Life in Christ Jesus, Romans 5-8.  Everyone is welcome to join us! No prior background in biblical studies is required. Email holyfamilysantafe@gmail.com to register and receive the Zoom link and study guide.  Our instructor will be the Reverend Dr. Kenneth Kochbeck.

Education for Ministry Groups (EfM)

Listing of Education for Ministry (EfM) groups currently meeting in the Diocese of the Rio Grande: