Fall 2008 Book Study
What do you say when a family member, friend or newcomer asks you what our church believes? Do you have a hard time coming up with much beyond the negative fact that we are not a fundamentalist church and the vacuous fact that our members have many beliefs?
Of course, those two things are true; but they don’t convey any positive information about the many common beliefs that are an important part of our identity. To say the least, this is not a great draw. Who wants to join an “identity-less” church??
Wouldn’t it be great if there was a good, basic resource that we all could study and discuss, which would give us lots and lots of positive things to say about our congregation’s theological beliefs—things that almost all of us can affirm in our own ways? It is a great draw when newcomers get very similar responses to their questions about our identity from a good cross section of us. They know that we know “who we are” in significant ways and are acting out of that identity.
Good news! Keith Thompson has found such a resource for us, and he is going to be leading a church-wide study/discussion of it. It is What Does a Progressive Christian Believe? A Guide for the Searching, the Open and the Curious by Delwin Brown (2008). This will provide a common basis for our own better understanding as well as our sharing with others what it means to say in our FUMC Vision Statement that we are “an inclusive, progressive Christian community.” Keith will also be using resources that will help distinguish this from being a “fundamentalist” or an “evangelical” Christian church and how all three of these terms are going through some
dramatic changes in our postmodern age.
If you prefer an evening class, one session will be on six Monday evenings, September 29-November 3, 7:00-8:30 pm in the Parlor. For those preferring a day session, it will be on each following Thursday afternoons, 1:00-2:30 pm in the same location. Keith will be leading an overview of the entire book during the Adult Forum, Sunday, September 28, 9:00 am in the Parlor. See the “From Our Co-Pastors” column in the June/July newsletter for more information about the author of this book and the titles of the chapters.
Registration and books (a discounted $12) will be available in early September in the church office and after worship on Sundays. Invite your family and friends to attend the study or at
least read the book; it’s sure to be a basis for great ongoing conversations. If you will not be able to attend either session, read the book and be a part of an open dialogue we hope to have on our website during the six weeks of the class.
New blog devoted to the fall class can be found here: http://fumceducation.blogspot.com/