Adult Sunday Forums
Pastor Kathy generally co-facilitates with a Church member. Sometimes there are special guests that address topics of interest.
Each Sunday during the education hour, 9:30 to 10:30, we have an Adult Forum. All adults are welcome. Come any or every Sunday. Many people must arrive late or leave early so stop in as you can. This can be a very informal way to get to know people and I know we can look forward to some very thought-provoking sessions.
There is a wonderful array of people at Adult Forum. Some are very knowledgeable about the Christian faith and offer a treasury of information. Some come with little background and ask the questions we are probably all thinking, but are afraid to ask. Some are of strong faith and some are wondering if they have any faith at all. Some have been at Peace Church since the dawn of time and some have just walked in the door for the first time.
Try it out. The coffee is always on.
Upcoming Sunday Forums:
January 31: Not Just a Pay Check
Unemployment takes a toll in Michigan, but not in
Sweden.
Sunday, February 7
“Exiled in America” — Rev. Loren McGrail
Discussion with video clip about detention of immigrants in our state and country. We will look at the practice of our current enforcement policies and practices and the detention system set up to hold “unauthorized immigrants”, asylum seekers, legal permanent residents, and US born children. We will examine together ways to respond by standing with those being detained and standing against our oppressive laws and policies.
Rev. Loren McGrail is a member of the United Church of Christ Coordinating Team on Immigration and Chair of the MN UCC Task Force on Immigration. She is a panel moderator for the Latino Voices Project of the Resource Center of the Americas. She is also one of the lead organizers with the Interfaith Coalition on Immigration. Her worship resources and sermons can be found at the UCC website.
Sunday, February 14
DVD “A Family Undertaking”
We will watch part of the video, “A Family Undertaking” and have time for discussion. Elizabeth Westrate's A Family Undertaking uncovers a growing social trend: the home funeral movement. More often, Americans are choosing to do it themselves when it comes to burying loved ones and easing their own grief. Far from being a radical innovation, however, keeping funeral rites in the family or among friends is exactly how death was handled for most of pre-twentieth century America.
Sunday, February 21
Ellen Hufschmidt, a grief counselor with St. Mary’s Hospice and Solvay House, will speak about rituals and their importance around the dying process. She helps families with things such as the washing and dressing of loved ones after death. The early church always included the bathing of bodies as a reminder of baptism, it was an important part in closing the circle of the journey of this life into the next.
Sunday, February 28
Jackie Falk will present the ideas of Bill McKibben, author of Deep Economy. Bill will be in Duluth on March 9th and 10th. There will be time for discussion
Wednesday Evening Bible Study
6-7 pm in the Fireside Room.
In the midst of our busy Wednesdays here at Peace, there is a quiet gathering in the Fireside Room after dinner which offers time for us to connect with God and Scripture. We use the ancient method of Lectio Divina. Pastor Kathy and Paul VanAntwerp facilitate as we read the Gospel lesson for the coming Sunday. All are welcome.
Lectio divina is listening to scripture. We are listening for the still, small voice of God that will speak to us. We read slowly, attentively, gently listening to hear a word or phrase that is God's word for us this day. Once we have found a word or a passage in the Scriptures that speaks to us in a personal way, we must take it in and “ruminate” on it. The image of the ruminant animal quietly chewing its cud was used in antiquity as a symbol of the Christian pondering the Word of God. And then we find what God might have us change or do. We close with prayer, each praying for the person on his or her right. Join us on Wednesdays at 6 pm as we practice this ancient and yet very relevant method of Bible study.