CALDWELL Faith Quest 2013, an Adult Spirituality Forum, will be held from 7:30 to 9 p.m. on Wednesdays, Feb. 27 through March 20, at St. Aloysius Church, 219 Bloomfield Ave.

Faith Quest began in 2007 as part of the Archdiocese of Newarks New Energies Initiative, in which the four cluster parishes of West Essex St. Aloysius, Caldwell; Notre Dame, North Caldwell; Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament, Roseland; and St. Thomas More, Fairfield collaborated to develop an adult education and information program during the Lenten season.Major topics are Prayer and Spirituality, Understanding Sacred Scripture, and Faith in Practice.

The presenters for Prayer and Spirituality are:

Feb. 27SisterVivien Jennings, Order of Preachers (OP). Former Prioress of the Congregation, president of Caldwell College and holding a doctoratefrom Fordham University, Sister Jennings will present Dominican Spirituality and reflect on the global influence of the Dominican Order history, social justice and unique spirituality); a spirituality that has influenced the Church and the world since the early thirteenth century.

March 6: The Rev. Thomas A. Dente, director , Office of Divine Worship, with advance degrees in Divinity and Liturgical Studies from Immaculate Conception Seminary and Notre Dame University. Author, professor and editor of the Work on Worship newsletter, he will present Vatican II, Fiftieth Anniversary of the Constitution of the Sacred Liturgy. Hear how in some ways this first document revolutionized how Catholics worship while restoring ancient ways of praying. Father Tom will explore some of the notable points of the document.

March 13: Zeni Fox, recipient of the Wisdom and Service Award, St. Johns University, and the Servant Leader Award from the College of St. Elizabeth. Author of New Ecclesial Ministry: Lay Professionals Serving the Church, and with a masters in religious education and doctoratein Theology from Fordham University, will presentFull and Active Participation: Catholic Laity Today. The history of the laity in the church in the last 50 years, since Vatican II, could be told as a summary of developments throughout the church and in the parishes. This evening will provide an opportunity to look back, to assess the present, and to dream the future.

March 20: Father James Manos, pastor of St. Thomas More. Born into the Greek Orthodox Tradition, taught by the Caldwell Dominicans and the Jesuits, he became a Roman Catholic in 1980 and was ordained in1996, serving as parochial vicar in Newark, Union and Ramsey and as prior pastor of St. Vincent de Paul in Bayonne. He will present, The History of the Eucharist in the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Traditions Are They the Same? This presentation will try to sketch the Catholic/Orthodox Tradition of the Eucharist, to describe how we keep the Lords supper in His memory.

Presenters for Understanding Sacred Scripture are:

Feb. 27: Dr. Catherine Martin, professor of Theology, College of St. Elizabeth. She is author of A Conspiracy to Create Joy: Circus Spirituality Beyond the Center Ring; is parishioner and catechist in Notre Dame Parish and has 21 years of ministry in religious formation in St. Raphael, Livingston. She will present, How Did the Bible Come to Be the Bible? How did the ancient sacred writings come into being and become part of our Bible? How do the Jewish Scriptures and New Testament connect to one another?

March 6: Mary Bertani, pastoral minister, licensed therapist, experienced presenter on adult spirituality and formation, with advance degrees in ministry and therapy from Fordham and Seton Hall, will present, Parables: The Most Familiar Part of the Scripture, or Are They? We may discover that for all our familiarity with the parables, we have never really heard or understood them. Jesus told these seemingly simple stories to change his hearers basic assumptions about self, neighbors, the world and God.

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Churches offer ‘spirituality forum’ in Caldwell during Lent