The Society of St. Simeon was the brainchild of the Senior Pastor of our church (at the time) John Ogden, along with Sheila and Jeff Campbell and Nell Sogard in 1992. They envisioned a church that dug deeper together—deeper in prayer, deeper in study, deeper in relationship. Inspired by the story of Simeon from Luke 2:25-35, small groups were formed to accomplish this goal.
For many years, several St. Simeon groups thrived within FUMC. For one reason or another, participation declined and, one by one, the groups consolidated. The last St. Simeon group dissolved in 2019—until the Fall of 2023.
For several years, Kim English, Children’s Ministry Director, had been teaching short term adult Bible studies at FUMC. She recalls, “In a study I taught about Moses in the Spring of 2023, one of the participants mentioned how much she missed St. Simeon groups. Another participant who is newer to the church inquired, What is St. Simeon?”
It can be challenging to describe the Society of St. Simeon because it is a group that is “more than.” Kim explains, “It is more than a Bible study, but it includes a study portion. It is more than a prayer circle, but we do pray for each other and the church. It is more than a fellowship group, but we do intentionally seek to know one another and spend some of our time just visiting (and eating dessert!). It is more than a communion service, but we always end our meetings with communion. And, St. Simeon is more than just a guide for individual spiritual growth, but it lays out a weekly plan for Bible readings and prayer that each member does on his or her own.”
Being a more relationship-based group, a core of committed participants is needed for St. Simeon to thrive. Because of this, the first step was canvassing the church to see if there was an interest in a renewed St. Simeon.
“I was shocked at the outpouring of initial interest in participating in a new group! There was a hunger for St. Simeon to return.” Kim said. Recognizing that, FUMC opened sign-ups for a new group that began in August of 2023. Inevitably, when finding the best night for the greatest number of people, the group winnowed slightly, but had robust and meaningful participation in its first year.
When considering relaunching St. Simeon, Kim reached out to Troy Sims who served as the Minister of Education at FUMC before Georgia Harrison. Troy had taken The Society of St. Simeon to his next church, Capitol Hill UMC in Washington DC. He had subtly updated the companion guide for the group and happily shared it with us. Olivia Zamora then took his updated version of the book and created something modern and attractive.
While it can sound intimidating to take on so much, the St. Simeon plan is intentional and manageable. While there are weekly Bible readings for all year, they are not lengthy. The group meets only once per month August through April and that time is spent reading one book, meaning just a couple of chapters per month. St. Simeon gently engages each participant in opportunities to grow spiritually, both as an individual and as a church member.
Trudy Wilcox, a participant of both past and this most recent St. Simeon, shared that her favorite thing about St. Simeon is the fellowship. “I enjoy listening to other’s points of view, even when they differ from mine. St. Simeon is a safe place to share your doubts and struggles without fear of judgement. I look forward to selecting a new book to study and, hopefully, adding new friends to our group.”
The Society of St. Simeon will kick-off again in August of 2024. This group will meet monthly on the fourth Tuesday to fellowship, pray, read scripture, discuss one to two chapters of a book, and share communion. At the first meeting of the year, a variety of books will be presented for the group to vote for which they’d like to study. For more information or to sign up to join St. Simeon beginning in August, contact Georgia Harrison or Kim English.