March 2010 Adult RE

ADULT RE CONTACTS:
Gene Stuckey, VP for Religious Education

A Novel Approach to Theology. We will meet on the fourth Tuesday of March, April and May to continue reading carefully selected works that stimulate discussion around values and beliefs. In March we'll read Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks, with discussion on March 23 at 7:15 PM in Rm. 2. The April selection is Everything Matters by Ron Currie, Jr. We are considering 36 Arguments for the Existence of God as our May selection.

On-Going Opportunities

Adult Forum. Meets Sundays 9:45-10:45 AM, Rm L. Open to all. Contact: Gene Stuckey

Upcoming forums:

Mar. 7 - Dick Leinberry presents about Greg Mortenson of Three Cups of Tea fame (his book) and his great work building schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Mar. 14 - View episode of “The Atheism Tapes” where Christian theologian Denys Turner defends the case for God as the answer to the most important questions.

Mar. 21 - Echoes of the Great Spirit. Gene Stuckey presents a multimedia exploration and discussion of North American indigenous spirituality.

Mar. 28 - "From the Bible to Bullets - The Yemen Arab Republic.” Jim Dawson shares his slides and remembrances of working in one of the world's most under-developed countries, recently one of the front-line states for exporting terrorism.

Freethinkers' Forum. Thursdays, 7:00 - 8:30 PM in Rm L. Open to all. Contact: Ron Crowe

Mar. 4 & 11 - Gary Whittenberger: Lecture and discussion on the book God is Back by Patrick Fowler, Parts I & II.

Mar. 18 - Ernie Rehder: Who Wrote Shakespeare?

Mar. 25 - Field trip to hear Tallahassee Scientific Society lecture by Eugenie Scott on "The Evolution of Creationism."

Christian Spirituality Group
by Alan Stuart-Tilley

Our most recent Bible Study was also the most well attended so far. Thanks to all for the refreshment: physical, intellectual and spiritual. We looked at the Book of Esther, the story which explains the Jewish festival of Purim. There is a long tradition of believing the story to be historical fact. However, there are many good reasons to think of it as sacred fiction. In this light, we also read the Apocryphal detective tales of Daniel in the cases of Suzannah, Bel and the Dragon. Next two Bible Study sessions explore the Passion narratives of the New Testament.

Questions we consider as we study: How do Bible stories function for Christians, UUs or others? What meanings from a given text should be given prominence over others? In what subtle and not so subtle ways might they influence us?

Worship: Good Friday (Tenebrae), 4/2, Sunset (8:00 PM) in the sanctuary and Sun., 4/4, Sunrise (7:00 AM) in the Memorial garden.

Bible Study: Mon., 3/1,and 3/15, 7:00 PM, Rm L.

All are welcome!