Adult Faith Formation - Fall 2023

ADULT FAITH FORMATION

Faith Formation

Faith Formation is an intentional time for learning and growing in our faith. Adult Faith Formation classes are held on Sunday mornings and offer multiple new and returning interactive learning opportunities, including bible study, worship dialogue, and discussion groups. Attend a gathering that catches your interest on any given Sunday, or join a group for a multi-week study.

There are also several small groups that gather throughout the week for fellowship, conversation, learning, and mutual support. Some groups are formed by age or life stage, others by focus or format. There is a place for everyone.

EXPLORING THE FAITH Bringing More Awe Into Our Lives

September 10 - 30

Lewis Room

Class Host: Jane Dutton

September 10 - Bringing More Awe Into Our Lives

Led by Jane Dutton, Adult Faith Formation Chairperson

First Pres member Jane Dutton will lead us as we explore the experience of awe, its amazing benefits, and how to cultivate it in our lives.

September 17 - Bringing More Awe Into Our Lives Through Music

Led by Dave VanderMeer, Minister of Music and Fine Arts.

We will gather in the Sanctuary and explore how music engages both the heart and mind in ways that are awe inspiring!

September 24 - Bringing More Awe Into Our Lives Through Art

Led by Hannah Garrity, guest artist

Join us in the Sanctuary where guest artist Hannah Garrity gives an introspective meditation on the awe-inspiring power of visual prayer.

Saturday, September 30 - Awe Walk

All walkers are welcome to gather on Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon for an “awe walk” at Bird Hills Park in Ann Arbor. Park at the lot at Huron River Drive.

Health and Wellness

October 1 - 29

Lewis Room

October 1 - Health and Spiritual Wellness

Led by Rev. Melissa Anne Rogers, Associate Pastor

By keeping a healthy spiritual life, we can better manage our physical health. Some of the benefits of spiritual wellness include having compassion, the capacity for love and forgiveness, altruism, joy, and fulfillment. Spiritual wellness has the power and capability to make our decisions and choices easier, ground us during periods of change, and give us the resiliency to survive with grace and inner peace in the face of adversity.

October 8 - Health and Mental Wellness

Led by Heidi Butz, LMSW, Clinical Social Worker

Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, and act. It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make healthy choices. Mental health is important at every stage of life, from childhood and adolescence through adulthood.

October 15 & 22 - Health and Body Wellness

Led by Janet Neice - Co-Founder and Lead Trainer of Bold Fit

Janet will share a personalized plan for aging well including balance, strength training, stretching, and mobility tips. Her passion is helping all ages learn to move well. By moving, we build more durable, denser bones and strengthen our muscles, which improves stability, balance, and coordination. Don’t forget, stretching helps maintain our muscle health as well.

October 29 - Health and Complete Wellness

Led by Stacey Pakela and Barb DeLancey, Parish Nurses

In the final session, the parish nurses will talk about the components of a healthy life discussed in the previous weeks and offer resources to tap into these healthy living components. Living a healthy life is multifaceted, and with knowledge and understanding, it can be something that all of us can work towards.

Women in the Bible

November 5 & 12

Lewis Room

Host: Beth Gerwig

November 5 - New Lenses of Viewing Women in the Bible

Led by Kate Silbert, PH.D. in History and Women’s Studies, University of Michigan

In this session, we’ll examine what we know about women in Scripture, where those ideas come from, and new lenses for thinking about gender and the Bible.

November 12 - Roles of Women in the New Testament

Led by Deborah Forger, PH.D., Middle Eastern Studies, University of Michigan

The majority of ancient evidence for women and gender was produced by men, for men. So, what can be said about women in antiquity? Together we’ll explore what we can know about women, and Jesus’ relationship to women, in light of evidence from the New Testament and other ancient sources.

EXPLORING THE FAITH

Parent Burnout: Finding Rest in the Midst of the Chaos

November 19

Lewis Room

Join us for a parent conversation as we create intentional time to rest and share about ways we find restoration in the midst of “all the things.” Youth and children will have an intergenerational workshop together during this time. Childcare is available.

Adult Formation Classes will not meet Thanksgiving weekend, November 26.

Encountering Advent Scripture in a Whole New Way

December 3-17

Lewis Room

Class Facilitator: Rev. Mark Mares, Associate Pastor

This three-part series will create space to dig deeper into the weeds of scripture. We’ll do so by engaging in the important acts of scripture memorization, voice and delivery of a text, and ‘reclaiming the plays’ of the Bible, as we see and hear the stories come to life. We’ll also explore how engaging in the Bible in this way helps us understand, question, and experience the sacred stories of scripture that still speak to us today.

December 3 - Biblical Storytelling and the Drama of the Bible

Join us for a session that explores the art of biblical storytelling and how each ‘reading/telling’ of scripture is an act of interpretation.

December 10 - Speaking and Acting out the Bible

Join us for a session that puts into practice, ‘the art of biblical storytelling,’ as we engage in the creating of a scripture tableau.

December 17 - Music and the Bible

Join us for the final session in our Advent series, which will explore the intimate connection between music and scripture, in the hearing, reading, and encountering of biblical stories.

FIRST FRIENDS

Simon Peter: Flawed but Faithful

September 10 - October 15

Curtis Room and Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89503587438

Class Host: Carol Pawloski

He left everything to follow his teacher and possessed a passion that would change the world. That’s one way to describe Peter. Here’s another: poor, uneducated, quick-tempered, and full of doubts and fears. Doesn’t even sound like the same man. And that’s the point of “Simon Peter: Flawed but Faithful,” a six-week adult Bible study by Adam Hamilton. Peter was just an ordinary guy who heard and followed God’s extraordinary call. Discover how you, too, have special gifts, talents, and abilities that God can use to make a difference today.

New Pastoral Staff’s Faith Journeys

October 22 - November 5

Curtis Room

October 22 - Tommy Langejans

Resident minister Tommy Langejans will talk about his faith journey.

October 29 - David Prentice-Hyers

Rev. David Prentice-Hyers will reflect on his first year as First’s Lead Pastor and share his hopes for the future of the church.

November 5 - Nathaniel Fryer

Resident minister Nathaniel Fryer will talk about his faith journey.

Neuroscience, Mental Health and the Church

November 12 & 19

Curtis Room

We will listen to the podcast that breaks down what exactly mental illness and mental health are, what is happening in the brain, and how the church can respond in ways that help us all to be healthier individuals and begin to build a more understanding, empathetic and healthy community.

First Friends will join the Exploring the Faith class in December.

BIBLE AT 11 O’CLOCK

New Testament Epistles: 1 & 2 Peter; 1, 2, & 3 John

September 10 - December 17 (No class on November 26)

French Room and Zoom

Class Host: Ed Koster

Join us for a study through some shorter New Testament epistles this fall as we dig deep into scripture. This year we will be reading the Catholic Epistles, those letters not written by Paul, and identified by the writer not the recipient. Throughout the study, we will learn about the various issues of language and history and interpretation. Any questions are fair and get the full attention of the class members. Ed Koster, a retired Presbyterian minister, leads the class.

SPECIAL EVENT

Singing Justice

Sunday, October 1 5:30 to 8:00 p.m.

The Adult Faith Formation and Worship and Music Ministries are pleased to present the seminar recital, “Singing Justice: Recovering the African American Voice in Song.” Centered on the creative contributions of Black musicians, poets, singers, and composers through song (words and music), “Singing Justice” is is an initiative of the Humanities Collaboratory of the University of Michigan. This team of renowned performers and scholars aspire to “disrupt” longstanding and limited narratives in musicology and involve listeners as collaborative participants.

Childcare is available. A reception in the Social Hall will follow the performance.

Small Groups

There are several small groups that gather throughout the week for fellowship, conversation, learning, and mutual support. Some groups are formed by age or life stage, others by focus or format. There is a place for everyone.

KERYGMA

Sundays, twice a month

4:00 p.m.

Lewis Room

Contact: Bill McPherson, 734-604-2504 or wbmcpherson@comcast.net

The Kerygma Bible Study Group is a discussion group. This fall the group will study the life and writings of the Apostle Paul. Discussions will use ten lectures from the Yale University Open Lecture Series on the History of the New Testament as the core study material. The online lectures will be supplemented with readings and videos by noted biblical historians and scholars.

T2A2 (TWENTIES AND THIRTIES OF ANN ARBOR)

Sundays 7:00 p.m.

Off site (email for location)

Contact: Chris Wahl, cgwahl@umich.edu

T2A2 meets most Sunday evenings at 7 p.m. for Bible study, discussion fellowship, and prayer. This fall, we will be studying Paul’s letter to the Philippians together. All young adults are welcome to join! Contact Chris Wahl to join the email list and receive more information.

JOURNEYS BIBLE STUDY

1st and 3rd Thursday

1:00 - 2:30 p.m.

Curtis Room and Zoom

Contact: Beth Gerwig, bgerwig@comcast.net

Journeys Bible Study meets twice a month for a look at scripture in a new light. Gatherings incorporate art, poetry, music, and maybe even a bit of creative writing. Resident Minister Tommy Langejans will facilitate. Though Journeys has historically been a women’s group, this fall it opens to people of all genders.

CHRISTIAN MEDITATION

1st and 3rd Saturday 9 – 10 a.m.

Monteith Hall

Contact: Jeanette Kibler, jeanette.kibler@gmail.com or 734-646-9795

Jeanette Kibler leads this gathering — welcoming you to spend a time of silence together, then listening to a reading from Scripture, meditating on the text and a time to journal and share from what we have written, moments of quiet and deep fellowship in the presence of Christ together.

SMALL GROUPS