ADULT LEARNING

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AHUMC is committed to offering a wide array of opportunities for education and encouragement.  The number of studies and groups that are available can even be a little overwhelming—so please let us help!

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Young Adults
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Courses

The Four Gospel Journey
for Radical Transformation

 

LEADERS:Chris Estus, Ryan Jacobson, Darrell Smith
DAY:Sundays - resuming January 8
TIME:11 a.m.
LOCATION:W100 / 101

Did you know that one of the ways early Christians understood the four Gospels was as the four paths of an epic journey?

 

  • The Gospel of Matthew was the first path—representing a season of great change.
  • The second path—one of the suffering that follows change—was laid out in the Gospel of Mark.
  • The Gospel of John came next as the path of revelation—the new understanding that comes from facing change and suffering.
  • Luke’s Gospel encircled the journey as the path of service—where disciples walk and work their revelation out as they care for others.

 

Past participants have described this journey as communal, experiential, and deeply spiritual.

Common Space:
A Lunchtime Dialogue

 

LEADERS:Chris Estus, Ryan Jacobson, Darrell Smith
DAY:Wednesdays - resuming January 18
TIME:12 p.m.
LOCATION:AHUMC Parlor

Join pastors Chris Estus, Ryan Jacobson, and Darrell Smith for a weekly dialogue and exploration of the biblical stories—both the ones you know and love, and the ones that seem to confound and confuse. This is not a lecture or a book study.  There is no homework or assigned reading.  This is an active and participatory conversation.  We will get to know each other and learn together as we wrestle with the questions that exist on the tips of our tongues and in the depths of our hearts.

 

Lunch is available for purchase from Chef Colin Bryant and Mission Bell.

Luke: Jesus and the Outsiders, Outcasts, and Outlaws

 

LEADER:Donna Strieb
DAY:Tuesdays - beginning January 24 
TIME:10 a.m.
LOCATION:W100 / 101

Jesus came to lift up the lowly. In the Gospel of Luke, a first-century portrait of Jesus, we find stories of Jesus' ministry with ordinary, unexpected people. They weren't perfect. Many of them were struggling and didn't have their acts together. Some of them were outsiders or even outlaws. Whoever they were, Jesus brought the good news of God's kingdom to those who most needed to hear it.

 

Join Donna Strieb for this journey through Adam Hamilton's newest book Luke: Jesus and the Outsiders, Outcasts, and Outlaws in this exploration of the life of Jesus and the care and compassion he lived for those who were considered unimportant.

Love Does: Discover a Secretly Incredible Life in an Ordinary World

 

LEADER:Janet Weatherston
DAY:Wednesdays - beginning March 22
TIME:6 p.m.
LOCATION:AHUMC Parlor

Can a simple concept shift your entire world? What if loving our neighbors looked less like having the "right answers" and more like showing up? Is it even possible to shamelessly show love and grace to those around you?

 

When love does, life gets interesting.

 

Using Bob Goff’s best-selling book Love Does, pastor Janet Weatherston will explore these questions and facilitate a dialogue of practical steps anyone can take to:

 

  • Live a fully engaged life;
  • Stop putting things off until “next time” 
  • Find a place of imagination, whimsy, and wonder

 

Childcare is available by reservation and dinner is available for purchase from Chefs Colin Bryant and Kaitlin Workman of Mission Bell.

Women's Ministry:
Good Boundaries and Goodbyes

 

LEADERS:Priscilla MacDougall, Joanie Thames
DAY:Wednesdays - beginning April 12
TIME:6 p.m.
LOCATION:S107
  • Is it unloving or selfish to set a boundary?

 

  • Are Christians ever called to walk away from a relationship that’s no longer safe or sustainable?

 

Join retired UMC pastor Rev. Priscilla MacDougall and Stephen Minister Joanie Thames in a dialogue that will wrestle with these hard questions we all face in the midst of relational struggles.  Using Lysa TerKeurst's book Good Boundaries and Goodbyes, we will learn:

 

  • Five factors to remember when implementing healthy boundaries
  • Healthy amounts of personal and emotional access to grant someone else
  • To avoid the emotional paralysis that so often accompanies poorly interpreted or weaponized scriptures leaving us stuck in unhealthy relationships
  • To overcome the frustrating cycle of ineffective boundary-setting with realistic scripts and practical strategies to help us communicate, keep, and implement healthier patterns
  • To say goodbye without guilt when a relationship has shifted from difficult to destructive and is no longer sustainable

 

Childcare is available by reservation and dinner is available for purchase from Chefs Colin Bryant and Kaitlin Workman of Mission Bell.

Community Dinner

 

WEEKLY SPECIAL:View Menu
DAY:Wednesdays - beginning January 18
TIME:5 - 7 p.m.
LOCATION:AHUMC Atrium

Join us for this time of connection and, hopefully, convenience—as we share the table together on Wednesday evenings. Whether you are going to one of our Wednesday evening courses, Taizé Worshipchoir practice, or you just want someone else to do the cooking and cleaning, we hope to see you!

 

Each week, Chefs Colin Bryant and Kaitlin Workman will offer a “special” dinner plate at $10 for adults and $5 for children.  They will also offer the entire Mission Bell menu featuring both vegan and gluten-free options just in case you need to change things up.

 

Childcare is available by reservation. As always, all are welcome.

Support Groups
Young Adults
Recovery Groups
Study Groups
Sunday School

 

THE NEW HAPPY on "How We Change"

 

Octavia Butler wrote, “Kindness eases change.” If we look at our transformations from a kinder perspective, it becomes quite clear: there’s no straight and easy path.

Here's what change really looks like: having flashes of insight, forgetting what you just learned, struggling to practice, being tested in challenging circumstances, feeling like you’re taking a massive step back, and wondering what you’re missing. 

You might beat yourself up for this, believing that there is something wrong with you and the way you're approaching your goals. But there’s nothing wrong with you. This is just how it works. It’s how we change, through attempts and setbacks and re-learning. The process in and of itself can be a great and powerful teacher, if we acknowledge it and embrace it for the natural, beautiful unfolding of our growth that it is. 

Embracing it is the kindest option, because the journey of change never ends: life continually gives us new chances to extend and deepen our character, to grow as people in the direction that is deeply meaningful to us.

 

As Rilke said, "The purpose of life is to be defeated by greater and greater things." Once this change is embodied, you dust yourself off and move on to the next one, seeking to express your goodness in greater and greater ways.


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We cannot do life alone.
God is relationship and we come from God. We live within community—we need it and it needs us.