The more specific you can be (i.e. what book you are using, video you are watching, etc.) the more the rest of us can glean from your comment(s). To give you an idea or whet your appetite, here is the parish newsletter announcement from the parish where I serve of what we are up to:
“The Spirit, the Church and the World” ”“ “The Church Afire” ”“ “The Spread of the Gospel” ”“ “The Acts of the Holy Spirit” These are some of the ways the book of Acts is described. The second of the two New Testament books written by St. Luke, the book of Acts is the record of the early church. From the sending of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost Luke records the spread of the Gospel in response to Jesus’s words in Acts 1:8.
This fall the book of ACTS will be the focus of our preaching and home group study. Each week Fr. Craige or Fr. Kendall will preach on some aspect of that week’s Acts reading. Again this year, we will have our own Home Group DVD teaching by Fr. Kendall. Groups will be meeting throughout the parish every other week. These groups are the center of our discipleship program and we encourage every member of the parish to be a part of a group. You can join a group, or gather together others and make your own group. Meet when and wherever it works best for you. I hope you will give it a try this fall!
Yesterday (16 Sep) we began a topical study, discussion and an 8 session DVD series titled “Gospel in Life” by the Rev Dr Tim Keller of Redeemer Church NYC (PCA).
The first session titled the Gospel and the City was encouraging and disturbingly uncomfortable at the same time. I think it will stir our parish to mission in the new neighborhood we have recently been planted.
Book of Job — study guide from the Interpretation Bible Study Series (Presbyterian Publishing House). And then we’ll shift to contemporary things related to Job. We’ll look at a play by Neil Simon, [i]God’s Favorite[/i]. And then, [i]Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People?[/i]
Sunday morning adult study on compassion using a short devotional book by a Catholic priest named Bernard Haring.
We have several different course offerings going on. They can be found at the following link, which is our Fall Program Guide: [url=http://s3.amazonaws.com/mychurchwebsite/c2007/fall_program_guide_2012.pdf]Click Here.[/url]
We’re doing a 26-week course called ‘That Man is You’ , on christian men’s leadership. Our parish is hosting it @ 5:15-6:15 am, so it’s an even further test of resolve 😉
http://www.thatmanisyou.org
We are a large church, so are able to offer a number of courses. Our offerings can be found here (two sided PDF):
http://www.fpchawaii.org/wp-content/uploads/file/downloads/lifetrainingflyer0912_web.pdf
#4–We did a similar men’s course, “Men’s Fraternity,” starting at 5:30 – 7:00 a.m., a couple of years ago.
From here to Easter, Exodus. We do not use a pre-published book (OTHER than Exodus!) but we do have the text printed with discussion guide.
We split the hour between an adress by a rotating crew of speakers, then split into a number of small groups for discussions.
Sunday Morning: Finishing 1 John
Wednesday Nights: Going through the 39 Articles (approx 1 per week)
I have long thought it would be interesting to have a class centered around the Appointed Homilies, structured something like this:
In the second half, a lay class member presents one of the sermons. Next week, the first half of the class is devoted to a discussion of that homily, then the last half is given to the presentation of the next.
Sounds like fun to me!
We are looking at the Challenges Facing the Church, or some such title, but the title isn’t important – it’s all about the teaching. Using only the Bible but the Pastor is very well read and brings a host of material to the table through his lectures. Can’t miss a minute of the class. Happily it is an hour class before service so that we are all ‘ready’ for service, that is, our hearts and minds are centered on the Triune God before that service begins, changes everything. Thank you God for my Church and Pastor!
I am very excited that we are starting an Adult Christian Ed hour at our parish this year. During Lent of last year I offered an adult course on the 39 Articles (yes, I am one of those who still believes the Articles are relevant), and while the initial thoughts from some of the adults were “this is going to be awfully boring” we ended up with solid participation and attendance throughout the entire series.
This year we are looking at the Book of Common Prayer; history, purpose, how to use it (on Sundays and at home), etc.
Adult ed is a new adventure for our parish, but I feel that most of our members realize how important it is to continue learning about our Christian faith.
My church just started it’s Fall program within the last week. Here is the class schedule and descriptions for more information: http://www.saint-peters.net/classes.
We also have a Fall 2012 Program Guide for all ministries: http://www.saint-peters.net/files/8/file/ProgramGuide_Fall2012.pdf
Sunday Morning:
Class One: 39 Articles, Anglican Divines, Prayer Book (Always running)
Class Two: The Gospel-Driven Life (Michael Horton)
Wednesday: Acts (Using: N.T. Wright Acts for Everyone; John Stott The Message of Acts; Why Johnny Can’t Preach (T. David Gordon), and Tactics (Greg Koukl))