The Church's Bible

In this course, we will explore the Bible’s central place in Christianity and learn how it came to be and when. Participants will consider what it means for Christians to have sacred, or authoritative, texts. Together, we will explore questions such as:

• How do I choose which Bible to read?
• What is the relationship between the Old and New Testaments?
• How do we read the Bible in a way that honors both faith and reason?
• Are some parts of the Bible more important than others? 

Marilyn Salmon is professor of New Testament theology at United. She is an Episcopal priest and an associate at St. Clement’s Episcopal Church in St. Paul. Her book, Preaching without Contempt: Overcoming Unintended Anti-Judaism, invites Christians to read the New Testament with a more accurate understanding of Judaism.

Dates: Saturdays – February 11 & March 10
Times: 9:30 AM–3:30 PM
Cost (includes lunch): $196.00*
Location: 
First United Church UCC UMC
100 First St SE
Little Falls MN 50345
(320) 632-5468

Course Requirements:

• Participants will need a Study Bible, NRSV translation.
  • Recommended versions: HarperCollins Study Bible, Student Edition; The People’s Bible NRSV with the Apocrypha, Fortress Press; or The New Oxford Annotated Bible, current edition. Available through United’s Cokesbury Bookstore and at other bookstores.
• Participants will need a personal computer and access to e-mail communication.

Register: Download a printable registration form.
You may also contact Renee Flesner at 651.255.6138.

Download a bulletin insert for this class.

*A multiple registrant discount is available for groups of two or more that register at the same time. To receive the discount, contact Renee Flesner at 651.255.6138.

*   *   *

Controversies, Councils, and Creeds: Nicea Then and Now

Controversies, Councils, and Creeds: Nicea Then and Now
We can sometimes approach the Niceo-Constantinopolitan Creed as if it were merely an abstract and highly speculative formulation about the nature of God, difficult to make relevant to the 21st century.

But what if we engage the Nicene Creed as the fruit of the Church’s grassroots encounter of God the Holy Trinity in Bible, life, and worship, and through the Creed seek intimacy with the God who is love, the God who is for the life of the world?

Participants will:

• explore Christian prayer and praxis as the most important context in which our forebears wrought the Creed.
• explore some of the geographical, social, and religious realities of late antiquity that rendered our forebears open to the Church’s relational experience of God.
• reflect on how worshiping the Triune God might make all the difference in how we live and act as the Church now in the world.

William L. Bulson has been an Episcopal priest for 15 years and serves as associate rector at St. David’s Episcopal Church in Minnetonka, Minn. He has served in a variety of congregations, including majority Hmong, Appalachian, urban, and suburban communities. Bulson is a co-translator of the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer into the Hmong language, and he is a vowed oblate in the contemplative Order of Julian of Norwich. Bulson has a B.A., M.A., and two years’ doctoral work in Slavic linguistics and Russian literature. His M.Div. is from Virginia Theological Seminary. His ongoing study includes ecclesiology, politics, and Christian prayer.

Dates: Saturdays – May 5 & June 2
Times: 9:30 AM-3:30 PM
Cost (includes lunch): $196.00*
Location:
St. David’s Episcopal Church
13000 St David Rd
Minnetonka MN 55305
(952) 935-3336

Register: Download a printable registration form.
You may also contact Renee Flesner at 651.255.6138.

Download a bulletin insert for this class.

*A multiple registrant discount is available for groups of two or more that register at the same time. To receive the discount, contact Renee Flesner at 651.255.6138.