Adult Religious Education

Adult Religious Education

Kendyl Gibbons, our Senior Minister, is teaching three classes for adults throughout the 2010-2011 program year. 

Fall Term: Grieving as Growth

To be human is to experience loss and sorrow; that much is inevitable. However, there are many ways to respond to the various bereavements of our lives.  Some responses trap us in destructive cycles, while others add meaning and guide us eventually to greater wholeness.  Grief can help us to deepen the preciousness of life, if we learn to move through it with integrity and wisdom.  This class will be useful if you have recently experienced a loss, or if you want to do some homework so that when tragedies come, you feel prepared.

Classes meet on Thursdays at 7:00, October 7 through October 28.

 Winter Term: How Christianity Took Over

The fall of the classic Roman Empire and the rise of the Catholic hegemony in western Europe is a fascinating story.  Religious liberals often trace our origins to the 16th century, at the time of the Reformation, but the church as we know it owes much of its shape to the forces that were at work in the centuries between the death of Jesus and the rise of Martin Luther.  We will pick up where our exploration of the New Testament last year left off.

Classes meet on Thursdays at 7:00,  January 6 through Februrary 5.

 Spring Term: Constructing a Personal World View

This class provides an opportunity to articulate and examine the basic beliefs that you now hold, and how those ideas give shape to your life. We will explore how your answers reflect the existing structures of philosophy and theology, and the advantages and limitations of various options. This process of readings, exercises, and conversation is a great way to get to know your classmates, as well as yourself, better.

Classes meet on Thursdays, March 10 through May 12.

To sign up, contact the office.