SOUTHWEST HARBOR — The Sunday Forum at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Southwest Harbor will feature a discussion of the book “The Great Emergence: How Christianity is Changing and Why” by Phyllis Tickle over three weeks beginning on Jan. 30.

Ms. Tickle, a lay minister in the Episcopal Church, recently received an honorary doctorate from Yale in recognition of the quality of the 20-plus she has written. In “The Great Emergence” she posits a pattern of monumental shifts roughly every 500 years in the history of religious thought and authority. Around AD 1000, she says, western Christendom suffered a great schism; shortly after AD 1500, the great Protestant reformation occurred. now the “Great Emergence,” she says, signals a new spirituality, fresh opportunities for religious commitment without denominational barriers, and a renewed passion for social justice.

On Jan. 30, Sarah Flynn, will lead the discussion on “The Great Emergence: What is it?”

On Feb. 6 the discussion continues with Jennifer Reece, an ordained Episcopal priest, who will lead discussion on the heart of Ms. Tickle’s book, “How we got here.”

The series concludes Feb. 13 with Ted Fletcher, senior warden at St. John’s, who will lead the discussion on “Where we go from here.”

Each session meets at St. John’s, 315 Main St., Southwest Harbor, at 9 a.m. All are welcome.

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