NURSERY

Nursery care is available every Sunday. During the program year (Sept. to June) there is nursery care beginning at 9:00 a.m. and continuing through the end of the 10:30 a.m. worship service at about 11:45 a.m. 

The nursery is overseen by Linda Chafin who has provided a loving environment for the youngest among us for many years.

EDUCATIONAL MINISTRIES FOR CHILDREN
 

CHURCH SCHOOL, SUNDAYS, 9:00 A.M.

Elementary Class (grades K-5):
A multiple-intelligences approach to education will utilize literature, art, drama, music, computers, cooking, and other creative approaches to help the biblical stories come alive for children of varied age levels.  This year the class will focus on the prophets.

Youth Class (grades 6-12):
This class is taught by Jim Legg & Jeremy Carroll and offers Bible study enhanced by a combination of discussion, videos, music, and spiritual practices. This year the class is exploring their faith and issues of church and society in a new take on an old practice—Not Your Parents' Confirmation Class.

Godly Play (ages 3-8)

This Program offers a combined class for ages 3-8.

Godly Play is a method of Christian education and spiritual direction for children. The goal is to teach children the art of using religious language — parable, sacred story, silence, and liturgical action — to help them become more fully aware of the mystery of God's present in their lives.

Godly Play meets in a "worship center" which is treated as "sacred space." Each session follows the pattern of the church's service with a time of preparation or getting ready, a time of listening and responding to the Word, sharing a "feast," and a time of saying good-bye and sending forth. Central to the experience is a Bible story told by the storyteller using a sensorimotor technique aided by the use of figures and equipment which engage the children's sense of sight as well as hearing. After the story is told, the storyteller and children use "wondering questions" to reflect on the story. Each child then chooses whether to respond to the story with art materials or "play" with the story materials. The feast is a time of fellowship and thanksgiving, paralleling the celebration of the Eucharist (i.e., Communion).

Normally the children are dismissed to Godly Play from worship following the "Children's Sermon" time (@ approximately 10:45 a.m.).  On Sundays when Communion is being celebrated in worship, the children begin in God;y Play at 10:30 a.m. and then come in to worship at approximately 11:15 a.m. to participate in the sacrament with their patents.  (This replaces the "feast" time in Godly Play.

ADULT EDUCATION, SUNDAYS, 9:00 A.M.

Feb. 26 - April 1 during Lent:   Book Study on Speaking Christian
We’ll be reading and discussing Marcus Borg’s latest book, Speaking Christian: Why Christian Words Have Lost their Meaning and Power—and How They Can Be Restored, in which he seeks to renew and rebuild Christianity by helping people to a new understanding of Christian language.  Borg argues that much of the basic vocabulary of Christianity—words like salvation, saved, sacrifice, redeemer, redemption, righteousness, repentance, mercy, sin, forgiveness, born again, second coming, God, Jesus, and Bible—have acquired meanings that are serious distortions of their biblical and traditional meanings. The misunderstandings are rooted in two major factors that shape the way Christian language is heard:  (1) the literalization of language in the modern world, and (2) the interpretation of Christian language within a common framework Borg calls “heaven and hell” Christianity that overemphasizes punishment and reward in the afterlife.  Borg explores how Christian language is rooted in both metaphor and a real-life, historical context in order to restore its transformative power in our lives.  The class will be led by Eric Anderson and Karen Diaz.

The offerings below were for 2008/2009 and are examples of Adult Education opportunities at IPC.

Oct. 19 & 26 & Nov. 2
Stewardship of Creation (Leader: Greg Hitzhusen)
Responding to environmental degradation has becom a central moral concern for Christians and for people of all faiths.  This series addresses three critical elements that shape Christian engagement with environmental stewardship—first, the origins of religious environmentalism; second, spiritualities of creation care and how they illuminate the hopeful and life-giving traditions of our faith that sustain the work of "tending the garden"; and third, the social-political dimensions of the faith-environment movement.
     — Greg grew up at IPC.  He has a Ph.D. in Environmental Ethics and Natural Resources Policy. He is the Executive Director of Ohio Interfaith Power & Light and a Lecturer in the School of Environment and Natural Resources at OSU.

Nov. 9 & 16
Spiritual But Not Religious (Leader: Rev. Dr. Linda Mercadante)
Many people call themselves "spiritual but not religious."  In fact, this group now represents one-third of Amaericans, with numbers even higher in the 20-40 year old age group.  We may think of the "SBNRs"as the "unchurched," or even as those "allergic" to religion.  In fact, they are very often the person next to us in the pew, our friend, neighbor, or even our own children.  Dr. Linda Mercadante, professor of theology at The Methodist Theological School of Ohio and an ordained Presbyterian minister, has spent the past year doing in-depth interviews with a wide range of people who identify themselves as "SBNRs."  In session one, we will learn more about the spiritual climate of America today which produces such a growing cohort, as well as what they believe, practice, and promote.  In the second session, Dr. Mercadante will discuss her interviewees, their specific spiritual jurneys and beliefs.  In both sessions, she will discuss why we should care, as well as what this means for the future of our church and society.

Nov. 23 through January 11
The First Christmas (Leaders: Eric Anderson & Jeremy Carroll)
This class will be a book study of The First Christmas: What the Gospels Really Teach about Jesus' Birth by Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan along the lines of the study this past Lent of their book The Last Week.  From the book flyleaf:  "As they did for Easter in their previous book… here they explore the beginning of the life of Christ, peeling away the sentimentalism that has built up over the last two thousand years around this most well-known of all the stories to reveal the truth of what the gospels actually say.  Borg and Crossan help us to see this well-known narrative afresh by answering the questions, 'What do these stories mean?' in the context of both the first century and the twenty first century."  (Books are available from Rev. Skip Jackson for the bargain cost of $10 for hardcover copies.)

January 18 & 25
Living the Questions v.2.0 DVD series (led by Rev. Skip Jackson)
"Taking the Bible Seriously"  &  "Creation Stories"

February 1 & 8
Issues of Darwinian Evolution and Faith (led by Dr. Susan Fisher, Chair, OSU Entymology Dept.)
Dr. Fisher teaches Freshman Biology at OSU.  When she polls her classes, she routinely finds that 50-60% of the students reject Darwinian evolution, believing instead that humanity came into being roughly 10,000 years ago pretty much as it is today.  Dr. Fisher will help us to explore common misunderstandings of Darwin's theory as well as ways evolution is consonant with contemporary understandings of theology.

February 15 & 22
Iraqi Partnership Network Report (led by Emily Schorenstein)
Emily will report on peacemaking efforts in the Middle East.

March 1, 8 & 29 & April 5
Creation Stories in Scripture (led by The Rev. Dr. Mary Shields, IPC Parish Associate)
Creation stories speak to us of meaning in life.  The Bible begins in Genesis with two different creations stories, and there ar emany more scattered throughout scripture.

March 15 & 22
Living the Questions v.2.0 DVD series (led by Rev. Skip Jackson)
     "Creative Transformation"
     "Out into the World: Challenges Facing Progressive Christians"

April 19
"The Gospels from a Jewish Perspective" (led by Rabbi Lenny Sarko)

April 26 - May 17 & May 31
Book Study of "The Misunderstood Jew" (led by Rev. Skip Jackson)
This class will involve reading and discussing the book, The Misunderstood Jew: The Church and the Scandal of the Jewish Jesus, by Amy-Jill Levine.  We hope that late in the study Rabbi Sarko will join the class and help us expand our exploration of the Jewishness of Jesus.

WEEKDAY STUDY GROUPS

All interested women are invited to participate in this biweekly gathering of women which includes prayer, study, discussion, and sharing.  Location: announced in advance.  For more information contact Rev. Susan Warrener Smith, our Assoc. Pastor Emerita.