2011-2012 Schedule

Parenting and Faith, Room A103**
Teacher:  Holly Tickle, Andy Acton
Being a parent is a joy and challenge but parenting children in their later elementary-teenage years is its own unique experience. Sometimes you might want to scream into a pillow, pull out all your hair or bang your head into a wall. Before you resort to those tactics, we recommend grabbing a cup of coffee and a snack from the fellowship table on your way to Parenting & Faith. Together we'll tackle parent-child relationship issues like money, sex, drugs, alcohol, serving others, spirituality, resilience, school, forgiveness, calling/meaning of life, decision-making and boundaries. Through studies, readings, popular TV-movie clips, and scripture, we'll explore how parents and children/youth can engage one another on these topics in healthy, faithful, grace-filled and loving ways.

Bible Discovery, Room A102**
Teacher:  Dave Fry
We study the Bible.  If you put five people in the room, you’ll have eight different interpretations of the Bible.  So we don’t read the Bible like a rule book or the code of law.  We study it so we can drink form the well that quenches our thirst.  We read it because it helps sustain our relationship with God.  It confronts us, challenges us, and often puzzles us, but we read it anyway.  We’ll read the weird parts (This fall we’re into Revelation.); the inspiring parts (In December we’ll cover passages about Christmas.); and the emotional parts (The Psalms.)  On our good Sundays, we’ll realize that the Bible reads us more than we read the Bible.

Connecting Faith With Life, Room A91 (West Wing)
Teachers: Jim Brown, Bill Holman
The Connecting Faith with Everyday Life class draws a straight line between the beliefs we articulate on Sundays and our daily activities we experience the rest of the week.  This year, we'll use curriculum such as "The Apostles' Creed for Today", "The Ten Commandments for Today," "A Down and Dirty Guide to Theology" and "Recognizing God's Grace" to focus class discussions on the tensions, struggles and rewards of being Christian in 21st century America

Explorations, Room A94 (West Wing)
Teacher: Jerry Weber
What did Paul really say?  Was he a radical or a reactionary?  This fall we will read and discuss Marcus Borg’s and John Dominic Crossan’s new book, The First Paul.  Come discover or rediscover what Paul said.  Books will be available for purchase in the class for about $12.

Shade Tree Bible Study, Room A92 (West Wing)
Teacher: David Ashley, Doug Langdon
In the Shade Tree Bible Study, we attempt to understand the message that the Bible can teach us and how we can live this out in our everyday lives.  The class is a question and answer discussion format aimed at helping each of us to learn from the views of each other. This year we will begin the year by looking at the scriptural basis for the way we live out our faith.  We will be studying the foundation of why we worship, reach out to others, care for the poor, and live out our faith the way we do.

A Cappella, Choir Room
Teachers: Laura Huffman, Greg Veal
The A Cappella Class explores any question of interest about faith.  Last year, some of the questions we asked were, “Why doesn’t everyone believe what we believe?” and “Who wrote the Bible and how did we end up with the scriptures as we have them today?”  One question leads to another, and we always run out of time before we run out of stimulating discussion.  This fall, we’ll begin with “The Hole in Our Gospel,” a book by Richard Stearns about connecting faith with everyday life—sound familiar?  Class meets from 9:40 to 10:30 (subject to rehearsal schedule) in the choir room behind the sanctuary.   If you want more out of your music at PHPC, join us at 9:40 in the Choir Room.

New Members, Dave Fry’s Office
Teacher: Dave Fry
The New Member Class meets for two consecutive Sundays quarterly.  People who are interested in joining PHPC will meet each other, so that they will begin to feel connected to folks here; consider how being part of a church affects their personal experiences of God; tour the facilities; and ask anything about Pleasant Hill.  Those who wish will be received into membership during worship on the second Sunday of the class.

**New room location

Check with the church office for answers to any questions you may have.