Community United Methodist Church
We offer a variety of exciting opportunities for you
to progress on your spiritual journey!
Come join in the fellowship,
the fun and the learning!
*NEW*
ADULT BIBLE STUDY
Sundays at 9 am
Home Office
Join Pam Bishop for
Biblically-based study
and contemplative prayer
on Sundays at 9 am in the Home Office!
This class meets Sundays at 9:00 am in the Home Office, and reads and discusses books dealing with contemporary religious and social issues. Past studies have included Eckhart Tolle's The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment, Bruce Feiler's Abraham: A Journey Into The Heart of Three Faiths, Judy Cannato's Radical Amazement: Contemplative Lessons from Black Holes, Supernovas, And Other Wonders of the Universe. Rabbi Michael Lerner's The Left Hand of God, and Bishop John Shelby Spong's The Sins of Scripture. Participants take turns leading the weekly discussions. Feel free to drop in even if you haven't had a chance to read the current selection. Come join us for thought-provoking and stimulating conversations!
Back to top
PASTOR'S STUDY CLASS
"The Path of Descent"
Wednesdays in March and April
6 pm - Home Office
What Richard Rohr calls "the language of descent" is the "theme of themes" of the Bible. Call it powerlessness, the bias from the bottom, the way of the cross or vulnerability, human beings have to be taught how to win by losing. Life itself is a series of necessary losses. Religion has tended to prefer the way of "ascent," attainment, which is much more to the liking of the human ego, even though it always defeats us.
The Jewish prophets and self-critical thinking are represented most fully in Jesus, who tries to train his disciples in a path of descent and ego stripping instead of ego attainment. Jesus tells us to love more, rather than to idealize anything except God. It is in suffering and the mystery of contradictions, our own and the world's, that we move to consciousness and holiness.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
