Adult Education
Women’s Weekday Opportunities
Women at the Well Fall Schedule
Women at the Well welcomes women of all ages and stages to join us! The two groups have a different format, time and content.
The weekly group meets Wednesday morning from 9:15-10:30 am and uses a particular book chosen each semester as a guide for shared conversation, reflections, and prayer. The monthly group meets the fourth Thursday evenings. Each group met on Zoom until recently and while current plans are for in person meetings, this may be amended to return to Zoom if the Covid Delta variant continues to spread and local numbers continue to rise.
The weekly group is using Miracles and Other Reasonable Things: A Story of Unlearning and Relearning God by Sarah Bessey. Participants in the morning group typically commit to the entire semester.
The monthly group meets on the fourth Thursday of each month at 6:00 pm (sometimes the third Thursday to avoid holidays etc.) and uses a podcast as the basis for discussion on topics of interest. Both groups are wonderful opportunities for women to get to know each other as we discuss the intersection of culture and faith and our own spiritual journeys. The next meetings will be September 23, October 21, November 18 and December 16. 6 pm by Zoom. Participants can attend regularly or occasionally and will receive the podcast the weekend before our meeting.
For more information for either the daytime or evening groups, please contact Debbie Kirk.
Men’s Weekday Opportunities
Waking Up with the Word
Waking Up with the Word is a long running bible study for men. Two Tuesdays a month it meets by ZOOM and two Tuesdays it meets in-person on the Westminster Hall Patio. The group uses an ancient bible study process called Lectio Divina. We look at the passage that will be preached on the upcoming Sunday. The study revolves around three questions:
What is a word or phrase that stands out to you?
Allow that word or phrase to develop into a memory from your life, a though on the passage or metaphor
What is Christ calling you to through the passage?
No previous bible study experience is needed. It is a great group of guys who are welcoming and wise in their comments. For our in-person meetings coffee and bibles are provided. If you have questions or would like to be added to the email distribution list, please contact Pastor Mac.
Presbyterian Pint
Presbyterian Pint will begin a six session series on Being Reformed: Faith Seeking Understanding, Theology For Presbyterians. This study focuses on what the Reformed and Presbyterian traditions have believed in the past and ways key theological understandings matter in our Christian lives in the church today. Theological issues include the Bible, God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. Being Reformed: Faith Seeking Understanding is a series of biblically based mini-courses that provides adults with a foundational understanding of the Reformed faith. Each six-session study--written by well-known and respected scholars--features Scripture, prayer, in-depth commentary, and questions for reflection. Each study addresses its subject from a Reformed theological perspective.
This series will begin on Thursday, September 23rd at 7 p.m., at Pastor Mac's backyard. Pastor Mac has ordered the study guide. Please let him know if you’d like to participate and he will get you the study guide
Opportunities for All
Brown Bag with Pastor Mac
Brown Bag Lunch will begin a six session series on Being Reformed: Faith Seeking Understanding, Confession of Belhar on Monday, September 13th at noon, location to be determined. The Belhar Confession emerged from South Africa as a witness of Christian faith against the sins of racism and focuses on major themes of unity, reconciliation, and justice in the context of the church’s Trinitarian belief. Explore what it means to be a confessional Church and to meet and confess our faith in the face of racism in its various forms. This confession was added to the PC(USA) Book of Confessions just a few years ago. Mac has ordered the curriculum, please let him know via email if you would like to participate in the study.
Seeing the Word
This monthly small group comes together for bible study and discussion on the third Monday of the month. It is next meeting on Monday, September 20th at noon, via Zoom. This group uses the St. John’s Illuminated Bible to discuss a scripture using a visual image.
The Saint John’s Bible is the first completely handwritten and illuminated Bible commissioned by a Benedictine abbey since the invention of the printing press. Beginning in 1970, master calligrapher Donald Jackson expressed in media interviews his lifelong dream of creating an illuminated Bible. Following a Saint John’s University-sponsored calligraphy presentation at the Newberry Library in Chicago in 1995, Jackson discussed a handwritten Bible with Fr. Eric Hollas, former executive director of the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library at Saint John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota. Between 1996 and 1997, Saint John’s explored the feasibility of the Bible project, Jackson created first samples, and theologians developed the illumination schema. The Saint John’s Bible was officially commissioned in 1998 and funding opportunities were launched. The public was introduced to the project in 1999 and production was completed in 2011, with the final word penned in May 2011 and touch-up work completed by December 2011.The Saint John’s Bible is divided into seven volumes and is two feet tall by three feet wide when open. The Bible is made of vellum, with 160 illuminations.
Pastor Mac has just begun looking at New Testament Illuminations with the group. If new people would like to join the group this fall, all are welcome! Please contact Pastor Mac if you’d like to be added to the distribution list.
Labyrinth Walk
The north end of our property has a seven circuit classical labyrinth for you to walk. Labyrinths have a single pathway to the center and the same pathway out. They can be used for prayer, quiet worship, relaxation, meditation, and more. A simple guide is available at the entrance of the Hudson labyrinth to help you with your journey.
