scripture study

This past week we gathered first to hear the Letter to the Colossians read aloud, for that was what was always intended, that we would hear the good news, rather than read the good news, since it offers additional opportunities to engage with the sacred text. Often we find when we read the entirety of a book of the Bible, we gather a larger message, rather than hearing only a snippet of the text on Sunday mornings.

This past week we delved into this letter, which is attributed to Paul, but generally believed not to be Paul’s authorship. Several of the topics considered were: 1) prayer for spiritual wisdom, 2) exploration of the Hymn of Christ, 3) proper meaning of the crucifixion, and 4) maturing in Christ.

To download the study guide prepared by Mother Barbara, please click below.

Letter-to-the-Colossians Download

Our conversations are designed to know the scripture at depth, to explore how they interact with our lives today, and to see the larger arc of the development of Christian thought. All are welcome to participate!

Learning the sacred stories

Today our young people gathered to learn more about our sacred stories which ground and shape our faith, as they will do on the second Sunday of each month.

We are using the curriculum Teen Text which takes one of the scriptures heard in church that morning and then pulls it apart — offering context, explaining the story and drawing from our young people the importance of the story.

One of the most powerful parts of the time together was when they were asked to reflect upon whether they know of people who have been disregarded or “cast aside” due to a physical problem. This was the situation in the scripture story – of King Naaman having leprosy and being asked to bathe in the river 7 times to be cured. Several of our young people had stories of friends who had been made fun of or excluded due to their physical illness so they could understand the pain which Naaman felt and the desire to be made well.

The class also discussed the idea of bathing in the river 7 times (which is what Naaman was directed to do to be cured) as an origin for our current practices of baptism.

Having faith in God, as King Naaman was invited to do, is a good lesson for us all, in knowing, as our gospel story shared today, “our faith can make us well”.

Children and youth of all ages are invited and encouraged to come to scripture study. It is an important part of their faith formation and we are delighted to be able to offer it– plus they have fun together!

Approaching the Gospels Together

On the first Sunday of the month we gather to explore the gospels together, using a Contemplative Dialogue approach which encourages everyone’s participation and which understands that wisdom is found in the hearts of everyone gathered. Today was no exception. We compared the texts of Mark, Matthew, and Luke and many unsettling topics settled into our hearts. Sometimes the path toward knowledge and truth lead us into difficult places first. We traveled a bit into what unclean spirits mean to us today, how do we name evil, how does evil divide us, what happened to the evil spirits when they were cast aside, and perhaps most importantly, why did the forces of evil recognize Jesus as the Son of God but the goodness within people didn’t. What’s that about? Good questions, right? No easy answers, that’s for sure. But good soulful conversation. Please join us next month for our next exploration.