Please join us between the Sunday services at 10:10am in Sharp Hall as we explore topics relevant to our faith, community, and world. Past topics include the church history, care giving and elderly care, financial stress, the environment, stewardship, and more!
We are currently working on scheduling the next round of topics.
Last Year's Schedule
January 5th
This is first of three Adult Options sessions about peace and community building.
The first session will be presented by Dr. Michael Franch on "It's Not All Bigotry: What the 19th Century Tells Us About 21st Century Pluralism." There was a lot of anti-Catholic bigotry in 19th century Baltimore, but also reason why people of good will were concerned about “the other.” Every period is unique, but there are similarities to today's America with its growing Islamic population. Dr. Franch earned his Ph.D. in history from the University of Maryland foccusing on 19th century Baltimore urban and religious growth, and is a former president of the Baltimore City Historical Society. An Ethical Culture leader (minister), he is affiliate minister at Baltimore's First Unitarian Church.
January 12th
Our own Shelly and Matt Clay-Robison will discuss memorials, monuments, conflict, and peace. Memorials of a violent historical conflict or "heroes" summarize how viewers will remember and even what they will feel about the event. Matt and Shelly will argue that most such memorials leave viewers with a sanitized idea of what originally happened and contribute to the belief that violence should be celebrated or is a necessary part of our historical and cultural narrative. We rarely question how and why it perpetuates violence. Beginning with local memorials, we'll focus on how the visual language of public art can either encourage violence or foster peace. What do these pieces of public art encourage us to think and feel? How can they teach and encourage peaceful interaction and which memorials are effective? Shelly is an adjunct lecturer of peace and conflict studies at York College of Pennsylvania and Matt is the Director of the York College Art Galleries.
January 19th
There is not Adult Options and there will be a single combined service on this day at 11:00am with the congregation from New Huntington Baptist Church. Following the service there will be a potluck luncheon
January 26th
The Rev. Kate Foster Connors will visit to tell us about The Center, one of the Presbytery's 3 mission partnerships. The Center equips congregations in the Presbytery to become involved in their communities. The Center hosts groups from around the country who come to Baltimore for mission trips, matching them with local congregations for neighborhood-based work. Last spring, The Center completed the renovation of a 40-bed dormitory facility in the Mount Vernon neighborhood. Ordained in 2001, Rev. Foster Connors served as Associate Pastor for Idlewild Presbyterian Church in Memphis, TN, and as Youth Pastor at Brown Memorial Park Avenue prior to becoming Director of The Center in 2011.
February 2nd
No Adult Options. We will have our Annual Congregational Meeting after a 10:00am combined service.
February 9th
Our first Govans Sunday Book Club!
March 2nd
Aaron S. Merki, Esq., Executive Director of the FreeState Legal Project will visit to tell us about this new organization and its mission to provide free legal services to low-income members of Maryland's LGBT community.
April 27
"Respect the Earth: Up Cycle Fair", sponsored by Woodberry Farm and the Peace Center. We will have stations with different projects, like hummingbird feeders from plastic bottles, wool dryer balls -- so many useful things and fun projects can be made from natural and recycled items. Volunteers to help supervise young hands (and older as well!) are needed, please contact Beth Bryant.
May 4
This is a Book Club Preview Sunday: Julie McDill and Ben Hobbs will show some brief video interviews with Peter Rollins, who is the author of the book for Pastor Tom's May 11 book club (see below). No doubt the usual vigorous discussion will ensue!
May 11
The next Govans Book Club will meet to discuss "Insurrection" by Peter Rollins. The subtitle is "To believe is human. To doubt is divine". This is a very readable look at modern faith. Author and scholar, Barbara Brown Taylor writes, "While others labor to save the Church as they know it, Peter Rollins takes an ax to the roots of the tree. Those who have enjoyed its shade will want to stop him, but his strokes are so clean and true that his motive soon becomes clear: this man trusts the way of death and resurrection so much that he has become fearless of religion. He is a dangerous theologian--and I mean that as a compliment" You may hear echos from Pastor's Tom's sermon series on taking up the cross. Rollins was the inspiration for this series.
