Christian Formation (Education)

Rebecca Circle

On 10:00 a.m. at the church, the first Thursday of every month, all women of LCOS and your friends and neighbors are invited to study the bible.

Jesus expect his disciples to pray. We pray so we might connect with God through speaking - especially through listening. Our Bible Study for the next three monthes entitled "Pray Always" which will explore three aspect of prayer.

June 3rd Session - 10am at church

"Persistence"

July 1st Session - 10am at church

"Waiting with Patience and Hope"

Sunday School

9:45am - 10:45am.

Our Theme is: My word: the Bible for Everyone.

We will be studying the bible for everyone for age's Pre-K to Adult classes. We encourage all to have a bible. We may be ordering some bibles available for purchase.

Adult Sunday School Opportunities for May & June:

Adult Forum – Glen Dewire will begin a series on the ELCA Social Statements (excluding the one on Human Sexuality).  The schedule will be as follows and copies of all social statements can be found on the ELCA website.  Participants are encouraged to check out the website and read each statement before its particular session.

      Sunday, May 2nd – Policies and Procedures of the ELCA for Addressing Social Concerns

      Sunday, May 9th – Current Events by Helen Weaver and Valerie Thorpe

      Sunday, May 16th - Church In Society & Abortion

      Sunday, May 23rd - Death Penalty & Economic Life

      Sunday, May 30th – Education & Environment

      Sunday, June 6th – Health & Health Care; Race Ethnicity & Culture; & Peace 

Adult Bible Study – As we finish up our study on 1st John we will transition into the study of A Gardener, Two Travelers, and a Cheat.  (Adam, Abraham, Sarah, and Jacob), People of Faith.  

Summer Sunday School Opportunities:

As we move to our single Worship service on June 6th, we are offering the following Sunday School Opportunities.

For Adults – An adult Bible study class beginning at 9am.  We will be using the Augsburg Adult Bible Study program as our text.

For Children (K-5) – An informal Sunday school opportunity will be offered using storybooks, arts and crafts, video and DVD’s, plus reading of Words of Scripture and discussion of the reading.  This also begins at 9am.  We will need parent volunteers and high school students to help with this import ministry.  Please look for sign-up forms in the Narthex. 

Bible Buddies: 

Bible Buddies meets this month on Friday, May 21st (a week earlier because of Memorial Day weekend).  We also hope to expand Bible Buddies over the summer to one day a week and in age range from 5 years old to 12 years old.  We will meet on Wednesday mornings from 10:30am to 12 noon.  Look for registration forms soon in the Narthex.  We would also like to have plenty of parents and high school students involved in this important children’s ministry.  Stay tuned for details.  

Power In the Spirit:

The annual synod conference will be held July 8-10, 2010 at Roanoke College in Salem, Virginia.  See bulletin board #5 for the brochure and information or check out the ELCA Virginia Synod website for information and registration forms.  Keynote speaker is The Rev. Susan R. Briehl, the Bible leader for the event is Dr. Diane Jacobson, and the musician is Marty Haugen. 

Adult Vacation Bible School:

Adult VBS will run concurrently with the children’s VBS this year July 19 through July 23.  This year we are going to be offering two studies and hope you will prayerfully consider joining us for one of them.  Adult VBS as are all other activities sponsored by the Christian Formation/Education ministry team is open not only to members of LCOS, but to the entire community of believers and non-believers.  So, if you have a friend, relative, or neighbor you would like to invite we would welcome their presence among us.  Look for registration forms in the Narthex beginning Sunday, April 18. 

The first study offered is The Bibles’ Importance for the Church Today by Ritva H. Williams.  The description of the book as provided by Augsburg Fortress is as follows:  Biblical authority and interpretation are frequently described as polarized between the voices of the right and the left, between conservative and liberal perspectives, between traditional and contextual ways of interpretation.  While laying out the contours of these positions, The Bible’s Importance for the Church Today argues for an alternative: a perspective that is neither conservative nor liberal, that isn’t hung up on claims about the supernatural origins of Scripture but still insists that the Bible is more than an historically and culturally conditioned human product. 

The Bible’s Importance for the Church Today articulates a distinctive Lutheran approach to Scripture that stands in faithful and critical continuity with the nature of the Bible as embodied memories of Jews and Christians in the formative centuries.  Understanding how these texts function to shape personal and communal identity is crucial for mature faith formation and moral deliberation consistent with the Lutheran theological heritage. 

The second book, Holy Spirit: Creative Power in Our Lives by Lois Malcolm is described by Augsburg as follows:  Who is the Spirit?  How does the Spirit work in our lives as individuals, families, communities, and the world at large?  What would happen if we claimed the promise of our baptism-that the Spirit truly is with us, creating within our bodies the new life we have in Jesus Christ?  Drawing on Scripture, Luther’s writings, and contemporary theology, Lois Malcolm invites the reader to experience the Spirit’s creative life and power-precisely within the complexity of our everyday lives. 

Both books are offered in paperback (96 pages) and at no cost to the participant.  You need only to register so we know how many books to order. 

Crossways International Seminar – Bringing the Living Word to You:

See bulletin board #5 for brochure and registration information or check out the Crossways International website www.crossways.org.  
 

Coming this Fall to a Small Book Group Near You!:

The Rapture Exposed The Message of Hope in the Book of Revelation by Barbara R. Rossing.  Message from the book jacket cover:  The idea of “The Rapture” – the return of Christ to snatch born-again Christians off the earth – is an extremely popular interpretation of the Book of Revelation in the Bible and a jumping-off point for the best selling Left Behind series of books.  However, most Christians churches and biblical scholars condemn rapture theology as a distortion of Christian faith with little biblical basis.  Yet this interpretation, based on a psychology of fear and destruction, guides the daily acts of thousands if not millions of North Americans and people worldwide. 

In The Rapture Exposed, professor of theology and ordained minister Barbara Rossing argues that the Left Behind novels’ script for the world’s future distorts the Bible, is disingenuous, and flat out wrong.  There is neither “rapture” of Christians off the earth, nor does Revelation predict a seven-year tribulation culminating in war in Israel and the Middle East.  Rather, Rossing argues, Revelation offers a vision of God’s healing love for the world-a love that will not be left behind.  The Rapture Exposed makes the case for reclaiming Christianity from fundamentalists’ destructive reading of the biblical story and back into God’s beloved community.

Have we “wet your appetite” enough?  Looking forward to hearing more about this exciting study as we approach the fall.  The book is available from Augsburg Fortress in paperback for $15.00, hard cover is $24.00. 

The Ambassadors Community for Theological Study (ACTS)

Invites you for German Reformation Tour in 2010. The trip begins on August 4, 2010 and cost $2888* from New York. Check out the information package on the Christian Formation (Educational) bulletin board #5. The trip is open to anyone and you don't have to be an ACTS member to go.

* Represents price of trip from New York only (price does not include price of travel from Richmond to New York).