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Fall Theme: Belong
Unit 1. Outside In (September 2021)
Sociologists
studying the story of the early church often attribute the growth of
the church to the sense of belonging that it offered people in a world
where belonging was limited to those with things such as property, high
status, and/or birthright. This unit looks at the various ways that the
Bible makes clear how we belong to God’s people even when we appear to
be outsiders. Several of the sessions point out where we as human beings
insert distinctions that restrict membership within the community of
Christ.
Unit 2. Into the Future (October 2021)
After over 2000 years of existence as an institution, we can easily take for granted that we know what the church is. This unit invites readers to look at it from the view of the community living into the future. The Greek word for church, ekklesia, is not a word that the first members of the church associated with a religious activity. The
world signifies the assembly of the people of God. It is instructive to
look at what their understanding of the purpose of assembling as a
group signified, how it has shaped our understanding of church, and how
reading these texts might renew and expand our understanding.
Unit 3. The Fellowship of the Table (November 2021)
The
opening of God’s people to both Jews and Greeks, men and women, masters
and slaves required people previously unaccustomed to eating together
to sit down at a common table. When we look at the Gospel narratives, we
see Jesus modeling open table fellowship. In this unit, we will look at
the significance of the practice of open table fellowship in the church
as a sign of God’s shared abundance, ministry of reconciliation, and
celebration.
