Spirituality Book Club
Wednesdays, 9:30-11:00 a.m. OR 6:30-8:00 p.m.
Facilitator: Kelly Lemens
Donation: Varies (See selection below)
This group provides encouragement and fellowship for anyone looking to delve deeper into different areas of Spirituality. Join other seekers in studying a faith topic using a variety of genres followed by reflection, discussion and prayer. For more information, contact Kelly Lemens: kelly.aplacetobesc@gmail.com.
Wednesdays, 9:30-11:00 a.m. OR 6:30-8:00 p.m.
Facilitator: Kelly Lemens
Donation: Varies (See selection below)
This group provides encouragement and fellowship for anyone looking to delve deeper into different areas of Spirituality. Join other seekers in studying a faith topic using a variety of genres followed by reflection, discussion and prayer. For more information, contact Kelly Lemens: kelly.aplacetobesc@gmail.com.
Holy Envy: Finding God in the Faith of Others
by Barbara Brown Taylor
Beginning Wednesday, January 4 (times listed above)
Facilitator: Kelly Lemens
Suggested Donation: $25
In Holy Envy, bestselling author Barbara Brown Taylor contemplates the myriad ways other people and traditions encounter the Transcendent, both by digging deeper into those traditions herself and by seeing them through her students’ eyes as she sets off with them on field trips to monasteries, temples, and mosques.
Troubled and inspired by what she learns, Taylor returns to her own tradition for guidance, finding new meaning in old teachings that have too often been used to exclude religious strangers instead of embracing the divine challenges they present. Re-imagining some central stories from the religion she knows best, she takes heart in how often God chooses outsiders to teach insiders how out-of-bounds God really is.
Throughout Holy Envy, Taylor weaves together stories from the classroom with reflections on how her own spiritual journey has been complicated and renewed by connecting with people of other traditions—even those whose truths are quite different from hers. The one constant in her odyssey is the sense that God is the one calling her to disown her version of God—a change that ultimately enriches her faith in other human beings and in God.
Please register here.
by Barbara Brown Taylor
Beginning Wednesday, January 4 (times listed above)
Facilitator: Kelly Lemens
Suggested Donation: $25
In Holy Envy, bestselling author Barbara Brown Taylor contemplates the myriad ways other people and traditions encounter the Transcendent, both by digging deeper into those traditions herself and by seeing them through her students’ eyes as she sets off with them on field trips to monasteries, temples, and mosques.
Troubled and inspired by what she learns, Taylor returns to her own tradition for guidance, finding new meaning in old teachings that have too often been used to exclude religious strangers instead of embracing the divine challenges they present. Re-imagining some central stories from the religion she knows best, she takes heart in how often God chooses outsiders to teach insiders how out-of-bounds God really is.
Throughout Holy Envy, Taylor weaves together stories from the classroom with reflections on how her own spiritual journey has been complicated and renewed by connecting with people of other traditions—even those whose truths are quite different from hers. The one constant in her odyssey is the sense that God is the one calling her to disown her version of God—a change that ultimately enriches her faith in other human beings and in God.
Please register here.
Social Justice Book Series (via Zoom)
Mondays, 6:30-8:00 p.m.
Facilitator: Kelly Lemens
Donation: Varies (see selections below)
Join others in reading, learning and discussion spanning a variety of social justice topics.
Mondays, 6:30-8:00 p.m.
Facilitator: Kelly Lemens
Donation: Varies (see selections below)
Join others in reading, learning and discussion spanning a variety of social justice topics.
Compassionate Conversations: How to Speak and Listen from the Heart
by Diane Musho Hamilton & Kimbery Loh
Mondays, beginning January 30 via Zoom (Session time listed above)
Donation: $25
When a conversation takes a turn into the sometimes uncomfortable and often contentious topics of race, religion, gender, sexuality, and politics, it can be difficult to know what to say or how to respond to someone you disagree with. Compassionate Conversations empowers us to transform these conversations into opportunities to bridge divides and mend relationships by providing the basic set of conflict resolution skills we need to be successful, including listening, reframing, and dealing with strong emotions. Exploring topics like social privilege, power dynamics, and, political correctness, the authors offer practices and reflections to help us feel more prepared to talk through polarizing issues, ultimately encouraging us to take risks, to understand and recognize our deep commonalities, to be willing to make mistakes, and to become more intimate with expressing our truths, as well as listening to those of others.
Please register here.
by Diane Musho Hamilton & Kimbery Loh
Mondays, beginning January 30 via Zoom (Session time listed above)
Donation: $25
When a conversation takes a turn into the sometimes uncomfortable and often contentious topics of race, religion, gender, sexuality, and politics, it can be difficult to know what to say or how to respond to someone you disagree with. Compassionate Conversations empowers us to transform these conversations into opportunities to bridge divides and mend relationships by providing the basic set of conflict resolution skills we need to be successful, including listening, reframing, and dealing with strong emotions. Exploring topics like social privilege, power dynamics, and, political correctness, the authors offer practices and reflections to help us feel more prepared to talk through polarizing issues, ultimately encouraging us to take risks, to understand and recognize our deep commonalities, to be willing to make mistakes, and to become more intimate with expressing our truths, as well as listening to those of others.
Please register here.
New Seeds of Contemplation by Thomas Merton (Zoom Only)
Saturdays, 9 am – 10 am; 39 weeks beginning January 7
Facilitator: Kelly Lemens
Suggested donation: $25
New Seeds of Contemplation, one of Thomas Merton's most widely read and best-loved books, seeks to awaken the dormant inner depths of the spirit so long neglected by Western man, to nurture a deeply contemplative and mystical dimension in our lives. For Merton, "Every moment and every event of every man's life on earth plants something in his soul. For just as the wind carries thousands of winged seeds, so each moment brings with it germs of spiritual vitality that come to rest imperceptibly in the minds and wills of men. Most of these unnumbered seeds perish and are lost, because men are not prepared to receive them: for such seeds as these cannot spring up anywhere except in the soil of freedom, spontaneity and love."
Please register here.
Saturdays, 9 am – 10 am; 39 weeks beginning January 7
Facilitator: Kelly Lemens
Suggested donation: $25
New Seeds of Contemplation, one of Thomas Merton's most widely read and best-loved books, seeks to awaken the dormant inner depths of the spirit so long neglected by Western man, to nurture a deeply contemplative and mystical dimension in our lives. For Merton, "Every moment and every event of every man's life on earth plants something in his soul. For just as the wind carries thousands of winged seeds, so each moment brings with it germs of spiritual vitality that come to rest imperceptibly in the minds and wills of men. Most of these unnumbered seeds perish and are lost, because men are not prepared to receive them: for such seeds as these cannot spring up anywhere except in the soil of freedom, spontaneity and love."
Please register here.
Stories of Our Homecoming (via Zoom)
Thursdays, 4 sessions, beginning March 2 through March 23
6:30 pm – 8:00 pm
Facilitator: Marilyn Hildreth
Recommended but not required: Prodigal God: Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith, by Timothy Keller
Suggested donation: $40 (includes book)
Please join us for “Stories of Our Homecoming”, a renewed study of the popular biblical story of the Prodigal Son. Marilyn Hildreth, spiritual director and educator from Brookings, South Dakota, will take us through an in-depth exploration of the story of the Prodigal Son and how it relates to each of us in 2023. We will take a fresh look at the younger brother, older brother, and the father (i.e. prodigal God) as well as take the role of the observer. Challenged to look at different ways we can be alienated from God, we explore how we can seek a different way of acceptance into the kingdom of heaven. Drawing from The Prodigal God, Marilyn will lead us with a presentation before inviting us into individual reflection time then small group sharing.
Please register here.
Thursdays, 4 sessions, beginning March 2 through March 23
6:30 pm – 8:00 pm
Facilitator: Marilyn Hildreth
Recommended but not required: Prodigal God: Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith, by Timothy Keller
Suggested donation: $40 (includes book)
Please join us for “Stories of Our Homecoming”, a renewed study of the popular biblical story of the Prodigal Son. Marilyn Hildreth, spiritual director and educator from Brookings, South Dakota, will take us through an in-depth exploration of the story of the Prodigal Son and how it relates to each of us in 2023. We will take a fresh look at the younger brother, older brother, and the father (i.e. prodigal God) as well as take the role of the observer. Challenged to look at different ways we can be alienated from God, we explore how we can seek a different way of acceptance into the kingdom of heaven. Drawing from The Prodigal God, Marilyn will lead us with a presentation before inviting us into individual reflection time then small group sharing.
Please register here.
Bible Study: Paul’s Letters (via Zoom)
Paul’s Letter to 1 Thessalonians
2nd & 4th Tuesdays, 6:30 – 8:00 pm
Beginning October 25 (Join anytime)
Facilitator: Kelly Lemens
Donation: $25
Please register here.
Paul’s Letter to 1 Thessalonians
2nd & 4th Tuesdays, 6:30 – 8:00 pm
Beginning October 25 (Join anytime)
Facilitator: Kelly Lemens
Donation: $25
Please register here.