Adult Sunday School Classes

Classes Begin Sunday, January 8, 2012 at 9:30 a.m.

Toward the Common Good     This course is a perfect follow-up to Dr. Amy Jill Levine's book and lectures: The prophetic messages of Jewish prophets such as Isaiah and Jesus for our times.

     "The great crisis among us is the crisis of 'the common good,' the sense of community solidarity that binds all in a common destiny--have and have-nots, the rich and the poor." With this opening line, Walter Brueggemann's book, Journey to the Common Good, draws on the experiences of Eighth Century BCE Isrealites and First Century CE Christians as guidance for dealing with our 21st Century's multiple crises.

     This is Bible study with a scholarly twist: Scriptures' relevance for today's tough economic, social and political issues. Brueggemann makes a strong case for God's politics and civil ethics. Sunday school class discussions will openly and objectively probe his case for scriptural relevance for our times.

     Text: Journey to the Common Good, Walter Brueggemann, 2010 ($12, available at the first class and in the church office). Course Coordinators: Phyllis Albritton-Webb, Tom Howard and Bob Stuart. This class meets in Hatcher Conference Room.

 

Love Wins "May you experience this vast, expansive, infinite, indestructible love that has been yours all along...And may you know, deep in your bones, that love wins." This is the last line of Rob Bell's book Love Wins. His provocative book wrestles with questions of heaven and hell and God's power-the same questions people have been talking about for millennia. So in the end, do some people go to heaven and some to hell? How does God choose? By living good lives, can we make it into heaven? Bell wrestles with theses questions and more and so will we as we read the book together, study scripture, and ask each other questions. This class is facilitated by Pastor Susan Verbrugge. We will meet the on Sunday mornings in Fellowship Hall. Book are available in class or the church office for $16.

 

BPC Cafe’
The BPC Café will continue this fall in the Gathering Space during the Sunday School hour (9:30 – 10:30 a.m.) Join us each week during the Sunday School hour in the gathering space for coffee and fellowship. We will have opportunities to talk, to read and learn, to view art, to listen to music, and just enjoy time with our church family. Contact Arlice Banks, Connie Cummings, or Kirby Deater-Deckard if you would like to volunteer to “host” one of the Sunday café’s. All are welcome.

 

Other Adult Opportunities Tuesday Morning Bible Study
We study the Bible to grown in our faith and to uncover old and new meaning in God’s word. Join us on Tuesday mornings at 7:30 a.m. to study the week’s lectionary texts together, to grow in faith, and to support one another in love. This class is facilitated by Susan Verbrugge and sources of caffeine are provided.

Becoming Disciples Through Bible Study

Join Catherine Taylor on Sunday evening for a back-to-basics study of the Bible using the renowned United Methodist Disciple curriculum. If you have never studied the Bible before, or haven’t in some time, this class is a great place to begin. It is a commitment: the evening class is 2 to 2½ hours, with three to four hours of preparation on your own with the study manual during the week. Yet the manual provides exactly the structure needed for those who have “always wanted” to read and study the Bible in a way that is meaningful–and potentially life changing. Having never worked with this curriculum herself, Catherine is “very excited about the bonds that will be created as we deepen our discipleship together.” Study manuals are available for $40.00 in the office or during class.