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Short Course Community Study Groups
Browse the following groups that will meet for four to eight weeks beginning the week of September 20th. Most of the groups will read a book and use the book as a launching pad for conversation and spiritual growth. Complete the registration to let us know that you will participate. We ask that you commit to coming each week and to reading the book. Participants are responsible for purchasing a copy of the book for the group study. Look for purchase information in your registration confirmation email.
Addressing Poverty and Human Suffering: Millennium Development Goals (MDG) Study Group “Poverty has always been a part of human experience. And Jesus told us, poverty will always be with us” (Matt 26:11). But is it inevitable that extreme poverty – the kind of poverty that kills – must persist? If you were to learn today, that for the first time in human history, we have the tools, knowledge and wealth to end extreme poverty, would you help take the necessary steps to do it? The Millennium Development Goals, adopted by the United Nations in 2000, are this road map that can lead us to the end of extreme poverty. Join us at Christ Church as we become more socially active and globally conscious. We will pray, study and reflect together as we grow to understand the MDGs – then dive deeper as we put our faith into action and decide which “action steps” to take weekly. (Class may have light reading prior to session and will include potential ministry, prayer, and advocacy opportunities each week.)
Led by Angie Sink, this is a six-week group open to adults who have lost a loved one during the past thirteen months. Topics discussed during the group include what to expect during the grieving process and ways to cope. People who have attended similar groups share that it is helpful and comforting to meet others who understand and who share experiences similar to their own.
Do you ever wonder how you and your family can really bloom where you are planted? In the midst of our outward bliss, we hunger for a true spirituality. We will use David Goetz’s book as an anchor for discussion around our typically busy and hurried lives and discover ways to grow spiritually in the midst of raising a family. We will look at the challenges and focus on creating a “richer life” looking beyond the comfort and predictably of suburban rhythms for a sense of mystery and deeper experience.
What is the connection between our experience on earth and faith? Can our faith be enriched by our connection to the gift of creation? In these four, one-hour classes, we will experience through God’s Creation the blessings that Jesus spoke of during his brief ministry. We will use our God given senses to perceive, and our emotional wisdom to discover hidden meanings of scriptural references in the New Testament.
Christ Church will offer a class to continue supporting and building community for those who are separated or divorced. Whether you have experienced divorce recently or in the past, this group will provide understanding and care for your continued journey of recovery and healing. This workshop is open to our parish members and all others. It will be lead by Wendy Pocock, Christ Church member and therapist. Please contact Lisa Saunders to register and pay tuition of $150.
Are you broken or whole... parched or flourishing... dry bones or dancing? Is the landscape of your spirit all too desert-like? Then it’s time for a change. God’s people are not meant to dwell in a lifeless valley. But if we are to embrace pure joy and rich passion once again, God requires a humble heart. “Dry Bones Dancing” is a study focused on spiritual nourishment, based on the story of Ezekiel’s vision, where God transformed a valley full of dry bones. God initiated a miraculous change in the lives of his people in Ezekiel’s time, and he can do amazing things to breathe new life and bring about positive change in our lives today. Reading the book is recommended, but not required for participation and enjoyment of this group.
Hot off the press, this newly released book from Joe Gibbs, three time Super Bowl champion and three time NASCAR champion, is filled with the basics and challenges of living a Christian life. Topics include: The Coach, The Creation, Sin and Addiction, Salvation and Relationships.
This four week free course will introduce you to the game of bridge, where you will learn the two parts of the game: ‘bidding’ and ‘card play.’ Singles and couples may participate.
Our group will read and discuss Godwin’s novel, “Father Melancholy’s Daughter.” Set in eastern, small-town Virginia, this novel spans the first two decades in the life of an Episcopalian minister’s daughter. The story starts in the early 1970’s. The daughter, Margaret, narrates. The family confronts two tragedies early in Margaret’s life and early in the novel. She grows up in the shadow of these events and other challenges to her father’s parish-new and the old tangle, culminating in struggles between her father’s church and local politics. The story focuses on the father-daughter relationship, but we also get to know many eccentric and humorous townspeople.
Faith and Work We will draw on several sources including “Church on Sunday, Work on Monday: The Challenge of Fusing Christian Values with Business Life,” by Laura Nash and Scotty McLennan. As we focus on building a sound bridge for connecting individual faith and workplace realities, our group will explore and struggle with the ways we bring our faith to work. We will discuss the intersection of faith and the business world and draw on the Nash and McLennon book as a resource and guide.
Participants are invited to learn more about the Hebrew Scriptures by hearing the story of God and God’s calling of the people of Israel through the many “voices” of the biblical text. Narrative, poem, history, and prophetic utterance all have their own distinctive characteristics and purpose, arising out of a particular historical, social, and cultural setting. We will explore what it means to be God’s chosen people. How does the story of Israel’s covenant with God inform our own identity as heirs of that covenant?
Not yet an empty nester, however, you can see it coming? This group is designed for the dual purposes of supporting our teens as they begin to take flight in late high school and college, as well as supporting parents as they discover the wonders of the empty nest. Through the book study, we will focus primarily on encouraging our young adults to soar. The fellowship in this group should be of great comfort to each parent who seeks to fill the void left behind when their children move away.
Take this opportunity to get to know ten to fifteen young adults at Christ Church while reading this thought provoking and touching book about “A Modern-Day Slave, an International Art Dealer, and the Unlikely Woman Who Bound Them Together.” Each week will provide a much needed pause in the flurry of our lives, and participants can expect the occasional field trip for further fellowship. This group will hold its first meeting at Christ Church and will then choose an offsite location to meet on a regular basis.
 
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