BUMC is looking forward to resuming our Sunday School programs for all ages. Adults have three options to choose from on Sunday mornings (see below for more info). Please note that while Beyond and Faith-Filled Parenting follow the same schedule as our children’s and youth classes, the PTR class gets a slightly earlier start (9:45 am).

Faith-Filled Parenting

Join facilitators Dennis Williams, Sue Owen, Lance Leverenz & Rev. HiRho for the opportunity to gather with other parents as we navigate the sometimes challenging task of raising children from a faith-filled perspective. This class is conversation-based and a great opportunity to connect with other parents in our faith community. We’ll be starting out the fall by getting to know each other a bit and also by sharing our back to school experiences as we continue to navigate the pandemic. 10:00 – 10: 45 a.m. in Room 207 and online. Email Shaw Brewer at shaw@washmorefeet.org, for more information or the zoom link.

Beyond

The Beyond Sunday School class looks to take us beyond what we know, beyond Sunday morning worship, and beyond the church building. We’ll begin the year by looking at the UMC Social Creed and then discuss a different aspect of Social Justice each week along with the scriptures that guide our Methodist understanding of these issues. Join us for some thoughtful discussion that will hopefully lead you to consider how you might live differently beyond the walls of BUMC. 10:00 – 10:45 a.m. in Room 205, For more information, or the Zoom link, please contact Shaw at shaw@washmorefeet.org.

PTR

Ready to stretch your mind? The PTR class will begin its 2022-2023 academic year with a series led by various members of the BUMC congregation addressing the question, “Why I Am a Christian?”  The intent is to stimulate thought-provoking discussion of the basis of religious belief.  The atmosphere is guaranteed to be rigorously non-threatening:  no one will be judged on the basis of what he or she believes or doesn’t believe.  Listening to the religious journeys of thoughtful people should furnish an opportunity for growth on the part of both the witnessers and the listeners.

After the “Why I Am a Christian” series, PTR will focus on the Roman world in which the Christian religion originated, examining two aspects of that world.  The first will be an exploration of the arguments of the earliest critics of Christianity.  We will examine three of them–Celsus (a second-century philosopher), Porphyry (the third-century disciple and biographer of Plotinus), and Julian (“the apostate,” emperor 361-363).  The second aspect of the world into which Christianity was born will be the various rival mystery religions–the Greek mysteries of Demeter and Dionysus, the Anatolian mysteries of the Great Mother, the Egyptian mysteries of Isis and Osiris, and the Roman mysteries of Mithras.  The relationships between all these movements and Christianity in its formative period will be explored.

Finally (if there is any time left over at the end of the year), we will resume our survey of the Documentary Hypothesis.  The Documentary Hypothesis is the theory that the Pentateuch was woven together from four major sources.  Several years ago, we delved into the so-called “J” source, using Richard Elliott Friedman’s The Hidden Book in the Bible as our text.  We never got to the equally ancient “E” source, however.  Since it has now been a few years, we will review the major characteristics of the J source and then explore the E source, contrasting it with J.

9:45-10:40 a.m. in Room 209 and online. For more information or the Zoom link, email bethesdaumc@washmorefeet.org.