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THE NU CLASS The NU CLASS was organized in 1971 with the primary purpose of affording an opportunity for those interested in pursuing contemporary thought in theology to get together and mutually discuss such matters. Recognizing this as a growth process and seizing upon the opportunity for reexamination and strengthening of one's own Christian beliefs and theological perspectives, We come knowing that we do not have all the answers. It is the intention of this class to encourage freedom of expression. Though it is understood that some persons may be, by nature, more inclined to speak up than others, we encourage all to participate and we urge the individual leaders to stimulate participation by as many class members as possible. Some discussions can become intense, but it is hoped that individual members will not consider themselves to have been personally offended when thoughts and beliefs differing from than own are closely held and expressed. Rather, it is hoped that through such discussions we all might find new insights out of which might be realized a strengthening or even changing of our beliefs. Fellowship is also an important element of the enduring success of this class. In addition to the opportunity for fellowship and stimulating interaction in class each Sunday morning, our frequent social functions affirm class "community" and we invite participation in these gatherings. NU CLASS STATEMENT OF PURPOSE "The NU CLASS is organized for persons who are interested in a broad spectrum of biblical, theological, philosophical, social, political and economic issues that are relevant to the interpretation of an enlightened Christianity." Class year 2006 - 2007Curriculum March 19th - Several classes will gather to hear an update on the "Shoe Ministry" supported by our church in the Dominican Republic. March 26th - Liz Jenkins will moderate a class critique of the Theology Weekend, with a participating panel of Ruth Cary, Shirley Scott, Jack Inman, Bob Smith and Charles Stopford. April 2nd - William (Bill) Sublette, member of the Orlando law firm, Sublette, Sanders & Sanders, member of the Florida House of Representatives, 1992-2000, will discuss upcoming issues on gambling in Florida. Sublette is the new Chairman of No Casinos, Inc. an anti-gambling political committee with current plans to fight the introduction of Vegas-style slots in Broward County, urging that more modest, bingo-style slots be approved. April 9th - Palm Sunday will be facilitated by Dr. Jim Cook in a class reflection on the same topic, "Your vision of Christ on Palm Sunday," April 16th - A sharing of Easter hymns, songs and poems. Using contributions from class members that have significance for them in relation to Easter, the focus will be on words, though anyone with the courage and capability to add music will be very welcome to do so. Both traditional and less traditional Easter lyrics will be welcome with the goal of both reminding and refreshing us on Easter morning. This will be as good as we all make it and I think we can make it pretty good! April 23rd - Kim Fischer, Development Liaison of the Central Florida Chapter of Seeds of Peace, will speak on the work of this group, which seeks to promote peace through training young leaders in peace making for areas of conflict in the world. Their web site is www.seedsofpeace.org. Kim will be accompanied by a local Seed graduate and the camp program will be her main focus. April 30th - Jane Horton, Doris Manuel, and Jo Petteway will facilitate a conversation on Jimmy Carter's most recent book, Our Endangered Values: America's Moral Crisis. May 7, 14, 21, 28 - A Series by Dr. Larry Webb
June 4th - Mike Perkins will review the book Finding Darwin's God: A Scientist's Search for Common Ground Between God and Evolution , (Harper Perennial; 1st edition, September 15, 2000) by Dr. Kenneth Raymond Miller, a cell biologist and Professor of Biology at Brown University in Providence, RI. Read about Dr. Miller at his web site, http://www.millerandlevine.com/km/. June 11, 18, 25 - "My Journey Seeking Inner Peace," a series by Raymer Maguire July 2 - C. Reider Howe, the UCF history grad student who worked on the FUMCO history project... how he did it and how we might best access it. July 9 - Theresa Adlam, Victim Services Program Specialist who does Identity Theft training and presentations throughout the state. The McRae Class will meet with us. July 16 - Leon H. Handley, to give his ideas about how "Living Our Faith In Action" may be included in our daily lives. July 23 - James Watson will present a review of the book Exodus: Why Americans are fleeing Liberal Churches for Conservative Christianity (Penguin Group (USA), Inc. 2005) by Dave Shiflett, author of Christianity On Trial, a freelance writer and a member of the White House Writers Group. In his book, Exodus, Shiflett addresses the questions: "Why are conservative churches gaining more and more members while liberal churches are declining? Why, in this age of moral relativism, are millions of people eager to adopt tougher and more traditional religious practices? Why are they fleeing denominations that focus on social justice rather than dogma, such as the Unitarians and Episcopalians? Why are they joining conservative churches like the Southern Baptists in record numbers? Journalist Dave Shiflett reveals why liberal pastors have cast aside tradition and Christian belief as they remake their churches. He shows why there are so many refugees from the mainline denominations. (Review excerpt from Strang Communications) July 30 - Dutch Anderson, from the New Covenant Class will be our presenter on the topic "Theology: The Ultimate Hubris, or Why we should use our hearts to understand God NOT our minds. August 6, 13, 20, 27 - "Decoding the Gospel of John." Even a casual reader of the Gospels will see that John stands alone in its language, construction and most of all its portrayal of Jesus. Charles Stopford will be our presenter in a brief study of the Gospel of John, known by the Church Fathers as "The Spiritual Gospel," reviewing key words, theological ideas, literary devices, purpose and the general background situations of the community out of which it took shape and the final version was edited. Prizes will be offered for those lasting past the first week. September 3 - An open discussion on the topic "Living our faith in the presence of Islamic terrorism." September 10 - Living our faith in Youth culture, presented by Skip Wagner. September 17 - Living our faith in a mission culture, presented by Alan Jewell. September 24 - Living our faith as a Lay person, presented by Shawn Walker. October 1- Gene Zimmerman will add to our understanding of the diverse ways in which we live our faith speaking from his own experience of "Living your faith in a theologically diverse church: looking for some common grouind where Christians can meet without quarreling over their doctrines and opinions. October 8, 15 - Dr. Larry Webb will lead us in two sessions based on the 2006 book, The Politics of Jesus: Rediscovering the True Revolutionary Nature of Jesus' Teachings and How They Have Been Corrupted (Doubleday, August 29, 2006), by Dr. Obery M. Hendricks, Jr. Hendricks is professor of Biblical Interpretation at New York Theological Seminary. He is a minister in the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME). He has been professor at Drew University, visiting scholar at Princeton Theological Seminary, and President of Payne Theological Seminary.
According to Dr. Webb, "I believe this book to be extremely timely and well grounded. It is soul shaking in its message and a profound corrective for the prevalent religious/political messages. I encourage all to read it and wrestle with its message for us. I am confident that these two session will not do the work justice, but that those who read the book will be immensely challenged." October 22 - Ryder Howe, First Church Archivist will talk about his ongoing project of collecting, sorter and cataloging the church's historical material. October 29 - Michael Perkins and Rob Evans will present a review of the book Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community and War by Nathaniel Philbrick (Viking Adult, May 9, 2006). Mr Philbrick, an avid sailor, holds degrees from Brown University and Duke University. He is also the author of In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex; Sea of Glory: America’s Voyage of Discovery, The U.S. Exploring Expedition and other books related to the sea . November 5, 12, 19, 29 - Dr. Gene Zimmerman will review the Book of Revelation, with an emphasis on its lessons for modern day Christianity, beyond the mythological apocalyptic language. Decemer 3 - "Living Our Faith as a Clergy Person" - Fr. Vernon Quigley, Presenter December 10 - "Meet the New Evangelicals" - Mark Pinsky, Religion Writer for the Orlando Sentinel will be with us. December 17 - Annual Christmas Music Program - Arranged by Ethna Bergstrom December 24 - There will be only one worship service this morning, at 10:30 a.m. The NU Class will not meet. December 31 - Larry Webb will facilitate our end-of-the-year wrangle dealing with the Christian side of what may be in store for the nation and the world as we go into a new year from the perspective of the political events/changes. (Remember, The Politics Of Jesus?) January 2007 - John Richard's topic for January is "The Kingdom Of God and Eschatology" ("The Last Things"). As reading background John suggests chapters 14 - 18 of The Birth of Christianity (Harper San Francisco 1998) by John Dominick Crossan. These chapters cover the topics "Kingdom and Eschatology" (14-16) and "Healers and Itinerants" (17-18).
February 4 - Raymer Magure and our First Church High School group will lead the debate: "Separation of Church and State." February 11 - Raymer Magure and our First Church High School group will lead the debate: "Should our February 18 - Liz Jenkins will lead the class in a discussion on "Living Our Faith from the Beginning: Reflections on the liturgy for baptism." (See the UMC Statement on Baptism) February 25 - Led by Liz Jenkins - Living Our Faith as We Guide Children: Presentation on Dr. Rebecca Anne Bailey's book, Conscious Discipline, (Loving Guidance Press, 2001 revised edition) and how it relates to New Testament teachings. March 4 -The presenter is Theresa Ronnebaum, speaking on Identity Theft. she's a Victim Services Program Specialist with the office of the Attorney General. She will do a power point presentation. March 11 -Britt Gilmore will be leading the class, telling us about his experience as a student of Bishop Storey at Duke.
page updated
March 16, 2007
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| First United Methodist Church of Orlando 142 East Jackson Street Orlando, FL 32801 407.849.6080 :Voice E-mail: fumco@fumc-orl.org |