Sunday School Classes for Adults

May classes

Sunday with Jim Rigby (Sanctuary):
Each Sunday morning at 9:30 a.m., Jim Rigby teaches a lesson on a topic of interest. Currently the class is exploring the Gospel of John. The class meets in the Sanctuary.

Exploring the Old Testament through Professor Amy-Jill Levine’s series of DVD Lectures with Babs Miller (May 5 &19 in the Welcome Room)
The method of the course is to discuss especially interesting or prominent passages from a cross-section of all the genres the Old Testament contains, using each passage as an example of how to apply a particular method of interpretation to the Bible. Often Professor Levine uses representative figures or episodes as a highway into Biblical meaning. Whether it’s the story of Adam and Eve from Genesis, David and Bathsheba from II Samuel, or the apocalyptic imagery found in the book of Daniel, she brings Biblical characters and passages to life and vividly reveals the magnificent artistry of the Old Testament.

As Professor Amy-Jill Levine observes: “The Old Testament is endlessly fascinating because it offers everything to explore: myth, saga, and history; tragedy, comedy, and farce; economics and politics; literature and poetry of surpassing beauty; court intrigue and prophetic morality; heavenly miracles and sometimes heavenly silence; questions of theodicy; answers that satisfy and answers that may not; destruction and rebuilding; despair and hope.”

Dr. Amy-Jill Levine is a University Professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies, the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Professor of New Testament Studies, and a Professor of Jewish Studies at Vanderbilt University Divinity School and the College of Arts and Sciences. She is also an Affiliated Professor at the Woolf Institute, Centre for the Study of Jewish-Christian Relations, at Cambridge University in the United Kingdom. Dr. Levine earned her B.A. with high honors in English and Religion at Smith College, where she graduated magna cum laude. She went on to earn her M.A. and Ph.D. in Religion from Duke University.

The Garden of Eden and the Tree of Death: Did Adam and Eve make the right choice? with Terry Dowdy. (May 12 in the Welcome Room)
What was really happening in chapter 3 of Genesis and how do we do the same thing every day? Where would we be if we were unable to reject our instincts and make our own conscious decisions?

The Parable of the Lost Sheep: A Story of the Necessity of Wholeness with Terry Dowdy (May 26 in  the Welcome Room)
It just doesn’t make sense for the shepherd to leave the 99 sheep alone, unprotected from thieves and predators, and search for the one that was lost.  Or does it? What is this story really about and how do we neglect to seek the lost one in order to retain our security?

Exploring our new Library through themes of our Congregational Introit with Carla Harringer. (May 26 and continues on June 30 in the Library)
Please join Carla Harringer for an exploration of our new Library through themes of our Congregational Introit. Each class will examine one of the themes in our Congregational Introit: Compassion, Peace, Different and the Same, and Naming Holy Many Names. We will read both children’s and adult literature that inspire by sharing books we have read and learning about books we have not read. A lively discussion is sure to develop.