2008 ADULT CHRISTIAN EDUCATION CLASSES

January 2008 Charles Ferenbaugh led a study of the book "Challenge of Jesus" by N. T. Wright. We looked at recent scholarship about the 1st century Jewish setting of the gospels and gained new insights about Jesus' life and ministry.

During Lent Laurie Triplett led a video series by Richard Foster's Celebration of Discipline. We focused our attention on those disciplines mentioned in the invitation in the Ash Wednesday service:

“Dear People of God: The first Christians observed with great devotion the days of our Lord’s passion
and resurrection, and it became the custom of the Church to prepare for them by a season of penitence
and fasting. This season of Lent provided a time in which converts to the faith were prepared for Holy
Baptism. It was also a time when those who, because of notorious sins, had been separated from the
body of the faithful were reconciled by penitence and forgiveness, and restored to the fellowship of the
Church. Thereby, the whole congregation was put in mind of the message of pardon and absolution set
forth in the Gospel of our Savior, and of the need which all Christians continually have to renew their repentance
and faith.

I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to the observance of a holy Lent, by self-examination
and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God’s holy
Word.”

Feb 2nd Introduction to Spiritual Disciplines – Ways God has invited us to bring who we are before
God as a living sacrifice to transform our inward character into Christlikeness.
Feb 10th: Meditation – Learning to hear God’s voice and obey His word.
Feb 17th Prayer – Interactive conversation with God about what God and we are doing together.
Feb 24th Fasting – Voluntary denial of an otherwise normal function for the sake of intense spiritual activity.
Mar 2nd Confession – Allows us to enter into the grace and mercy of God in such a way that we experience
the forgiveness and healing of the sins and sorrows of our past.
Mar 9th Submission – Discipline that frees us from the everlasting burden of always needing to get our
own way.
Mar 16th Celebration – A life of “walking and leaping and praising God” (Acts 3:8)

Beginning on March 30 and continuing through April, we studied "James: Real Faith for the Real World." James writes about "growing up," describing in practical terms what Christian maturity is, and how to get there. He teaches that it is not just what you believe that counts - it's your whole life. This class was led by Jennifer Griffin, Susan Sprake, and June Lockhart in addition to Charles and Laurie.

In May, we studied the book "Christianity on Trial: Arguments Against Anti-Religious Bigotry," by Vincent
Carroll. It's become very common for modern culture to portray Christianity in a negative light, to
accuse it of obstructing progress and causing all kinds of evil. Atheists like Dawkins, Harris and Dennett
write best-selling books of their accusations. Even some within the church, like Spong, use the same
kinds of arguments against Christianity to gain support for their new ideas. But as Carroll points out,
these accusations are based on historical illiteracy. The Christian tradition has, time after time, been a
powerful source of enlightenment and human liberation. We'll see many examples of this as we look
through 2000 years of Christian history.

May 4: Is Christianity Opposed to Equality and Human Rights?
May 11: Is Christianity Responsible for Slavery?
May 18: Does Christianity Encourage War and Violence?

For the summer, we are studying the book of Ephesians through a series by Eddie Rasnake (Following God through the Bible). Come join us as we discover the riches of God’s grace that He lavishes upon us.

June 1st – Lesson 1 – Living Out Your Position in Christ (Eph. 1:1-3)
June 8th – Lesson 2 – Bless You! (Eph. 1: 3-14)
June 15th – No Christian Education (Annual Picnic)
June 22nd – No Christian Education (Parish Construction Update Meeting)
June 29th – Lesson 3 – Growing in Your Knowing (Eph 1:15-23)
July 6th – Lesson 4 – From Graveyard to Glory (Eph. 2:1-10)
July 13th – Lesson 5 – Shalom! Peace! (Eph. 2:11-22)
July 20th – Lesson 6 – The Ministry of God’s Mystery (Eph. 3:1-21)
July 27th – Lesson 7 – Walk in a Manner Worthy (Eph. 4:1-16)
Aug 3rd – Lesson 8 – Out of the Darkness (Eph. 4:17-32)
Aug 10th – Lesson 9 – Walking with the Lord (Eph. 5:1-17)
Aug 17th – Lesson 10 – Power for Living (Eph. 5:15-21)
Aug 24th – Lesson 11 – The Mission of Submission (Eph. 5:21-6:9)
Aug 31st – Lesson 12 – Onward Christian Soldiers (Eph. 6:10 – 24)

From Sept 7th to Oct. 12th we had a module on Stewardship.

"Stewardship is life-size... As good stewards, no part of our lives can be untouched. Talents, time, attitudes, actions, resources, relationships, mission, suffering, work, leisure -- the list goes on and on...." - C. Neil Strait

When we hear the word "stewardship," we usually think "money." But for Adult Christian Education in September, we'll used the book "Stewardship is More than Time, Talent, and Things" by C. Neil Strait as a starting point for discussion. We talked about what it means to be a steward of God's gifts to us, and how that applies to many different areas of our lives. On Sept. 21st we celebrated Stewardship with the youth by joining them for Fall Fast. On Oct. 5th we celebrated stewardship with a presentation on the theological and practical aspects of Planned Giving by Father Kelly and Lynn Finnegan.

On Oct. 19th we started a new module on Outreach and Social Justice. We had a rousing and very interesting discussion on Outreach, Social Justice, and the difference between the two. We especially discussed what is the difference Social Justice that Jesus preached versus the way the word is being used in politics nowadays. See below if you are interested in knowing the difference between Outreach and Social Justice.

On Oct. 26th we discussed why God is calling us to outreach and social justice. Why is there such an emphasis on "loving on another" and "loving your neighbor"? What does God want us to learn about Him by loving one another?

On Nov. 2nd we broke up into small groups and each group discussed one (or more) of four questions:

• Discuss the scripture on your table (Romans 12:1-21, Isaiah 58:6-12, Ps. 34, Isaiah 61:1-3/Luke 4:14-20, Matthew 20:1-16, Matthew 25:31-46)
• Describe a time where you got to know God in a deeper or different way by ministering to others.
• Is helping others within your church different than outreach? If so, how is it different?
• Daydream about how you would like to reach out to others (or how you would like this church to reach out to others).
  

on Nov. 9th we listened to audio of Mike Kinman's lecture/sermons from the Matthew 25 conference. Click here for audio of the sermon and a pdf of his Friday keynote speech.

On Nov. 16th, Bishop Frey will be here for confirmation and will be leading Christian Education.

On Nov. 23rd we will end our module of having talked about the theological and scriptural call to outreach by having a discussion of the pros and cons of free trade coffee and teas and continue the discussion of where God is calling us to participate in outreach and/or social justice.

More on Outreach and Social Justice:

One day in a small village someone found a person floating down the river. The villagers had compassion and nursed the person back to health. As time went on, more and more people floated down the river. The villagers built a hospital devoted to those that needed care, an adoption program for kids who needed parents, and a funeral home for those that died. That is Outreach. One day one of the villagers started wondering why so many bodies were coming down the river and walked up stream to discover why. That is Social Justice.

Outreach is feeding those who hunger; Social Justice is helping to eliminate hunger. Outreach is something that one person might be able to do by him/herself (although many people choose to do this within a group). Social Justice is something that requires the world to change the way they think and act, and this typically requires a larger body of people to make a difference (and thus where the Body of Christ can make a unique difference).

The United Nations has set 8 Millennium Development Goals (MDG) that aim at Social Justice and the Episcopal Church voted to ask Dioceses and churches to support those goals. See the following websites for more information:

United Nations Website: http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/

A website for Episcopalians to support the MDG: http://www.globalgood.org/

Episcopal Relief and Development: http://www.er-d.org/

A website for the ONE campaign (mentioned at our summer book club finale) for Episcopalians:
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/ONE/