This winter and spring four classes will meet online via the Zoom platform, beginning at 9:30 am and ending between 10:30 and 10:45 am, in time for livestream worship from our Sanctuary at 11:00 am.
Nancy Fox, Parish Associate, teacher
Our culture and background are very different from those who wrote and first read our biblical texts, so we have to work to read and apply Scripture responsibly. In addition, we are part of a diverse and global body of Christ with whom we are called to embody our faith as a single family. How might we hear our biblical story and respond in fresh and more faithful ways by looking at it through the less privileged, less individualistic, non-Western perspectives of African American, Palestinian or lower-income brothers and sisters? Those who are closer to the experiences of the Hebrew slaves who groaned under slavery or the early converts who faced life-threatening persecution and those who have to literally trust God for their daily bread can open our eyes to new depths of understanding. Through our reading and Bible study, we will explore and discuss how these other perspectives may call us to deeper faithfulness in our current context of racial disparity, economic suffering, and global strife.
Our primary text will be Reading While Black: African American Biblical Interpretation as an Exercise in Hope (InterVarsity Press, 2020), by Esau McCaulley, Asst. Prof. of New Testament at Wheaton College; those joining the class should purchase this (click on this link to buy online). We will also look at excerpts of Yohanna Katanacho’s Reading the Gospel of John Through Palestinian Eyes, along with other sources (not necessary to purchase).
Quinn Fox, Associate Pastor for Discipleship, teacher
Join Zoom Meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82751946650?pwd=bUlsbXhuTnord0RkbndWQnJkaXJtZz09
Meeting ID: 827 5194 6650
Passcode: npcgrow
Following an examination of the Scripture passage on which the Sunday sermon is based, we will discuss its importance for our individual lives and the life of the church in our call to be faithful followers of Jesus Christ together in God’s world. This year’s sermon series features the story of the first Christians and their leadership of the church in the initial decades following the resurrection and ascension of Jesus. This winter we will study the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Romans, the most important of his New Testament epistles.
Currie Renwick, NPC Member, Teacher
The church in the first century city of Corinth was active and energetic, just like the city itself! Founded by the Apostle Paul in A.D. 50, this church was filled with powerful personalities with questionable practices to whom Paul wrote a forceful letter. In this class, we will explore that letter, otherwise known as First Corinthians, to hear the message of Jesus that Paul shared with these lively and Spirit-filled Christians. In the process, we also will learn God’s message for us in our own active and energetic world.
We will be using N.T. Wright’s For Everyone Bible Study Guide 1 Corinthians as our guide. It is available for purchase by clicking this link.
R.V. Seep, NPC Member, teacher
Join Zoom Meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89172072656?pwd=NUE5dThDcXFaYWJFd3lvYytsSlovdz09
Meeting ID: 891 7207 2656
Passcode: npcgrow
What a century! Colossal struggles between ideologies. A Cold War and an arms race that left humankind living under the shadow of nuclear annihilation. The launch of movements of international terrorism that transcended national borders or identities. The earth's population increased by four times during the course of the century, with its people increasingly fragmented by race, ethnicity, class, and creed. Scholars spoke of the clash of civilizations.
The Christian faith exploded in areas around the world far removed from its traditional centers even while decline and stagnation descended on those traditional centers. Christians were forced to suffer, to think, and to unite in new ways. Protestant denominations sought to find their feet in the shifting cultural sands. Roman Catholics struggled to update their Church. A “new” Christianity in the Global South seemed destined to remake the faith and to inflame Muslim voices, hearkening both danger and opportunity.
Come join us for the eighth and concluding course in our series on Church History: After the Apostles. This series is born of the deep conviction that history matters, that it is, and must ever continue to be, next to God's Word and Spirit, the richest foundation of wisdom and surest guide to successful practical activity. We, like our predecessors in prior eras, are solemnly called to follow the Lord Jesus in such an age as ours:
The church of Christ in every age, beset by change, but Spirit led,
Must claim and test its heritage, and keep on rising from the dead.
Then let the servant church arise, a caring church that longs to be
A partner in Christ’s sacrifice, and clothed with Christ’s humility
Please click here to visit our speaker archives and hear these fantastic speakers!
Please use this link to join us: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84971749555
Webinar ID: 849 7174 9555
Modern telescopes and space probes are revealing an awe-inspiring universe of beauty, activity, mystery, and inspiration. This presentation will show how current and upcoming telescopes and probes are gearing up for a decade of incredible new discovery that can expand our sense of wonder, praise, and gratitude.
Dr. Jennifer Wiseman is an astrophysicist and speaker who studies star and planet formation in our galaxy using radio, infrared, and optical telescopes. She also directs the Dialogue on Science, Ethics, and Religion (DoSER) program of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Please use this link to join us: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84971749555
Webinar ID: 849 7174 9555
This PDF is designed to accompany the presentation, and is explained therein.
2020 will be known as the year of the coronavirus. But for Dr. Mark Denison, coronaviruses have been his focus for more than 30 years. Dr. Denison was the first to discover the virus’ ability to “proofread” itself for mutations, a groundbreaking revelation for the field and his driving force to research antiviral treatments that could defeat it. His presentation will provide some essential background on the nature of coronaviruses as a basis for understanding how they develop and evolve, the origin of COVID-19, and an explanation on how mRNA vaccines—such as those by Pfizer and Moderna—work. There will be ample time for questions from those attending.
Dr. Mark Denison is a world-renowned researcher of coronaviruses at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. The Denison Lab at Vanderbilt also conducted trials on the drug Remdesivir. He is a professor of pediatrics, and director of the Division of Pediatric Infectious Disease, as well as a Presbyterian elder and member of Second Presbyterian Church, Nashville, TN.
Please use this link to join us: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84971749555
Webinar ID: 849 7174 9555
The Decadent Society: How We Became the Victims of Our Own Success
Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, the Western world was in crisis. The frenzy of social media frenzy and reality television politics is only the surface. There is a deeper reality: one of drift, repetition, and dead ends. In his recent book, The Decadent Society Douthat explains what happens when a rich and powerful society ceases advancing—how the combination of wealth and technological proficiency with economic stagnation, political stalemates, cultural exhaustion, and demographic decline creates a strange kind of “sustainable decadence,” a civilizational languor that could endure for longer than we think.
Ross Douthat is a columnist for the New York Times op-ed page. He is the author of To Change the Church, Bad Religion, and Privilege, and coauthor of Grand New Party. Before joining the New York Times, he was a senior editor for the Atlantic. He is the film critic for National Review, and he cohosts the New York Times’s weekly op-ed podcast, The Argument. He lives in New Haven with his wife and three children.
Please use this link to join us: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84971749555
Webinar ID: 849 7174 9555
Rev. Dr. Margaret Kibben is the new Chaplain to the House of Representatives. She is a dynamic spiritual leader and strategic-level consultant with more than thirty years of experience in enhancing the resiliency and well-being of the organizations she serves. Prior to this new position, Margaret served as Lecturer in the School of Engineering at The Catholic University of America.
As Chief of Chaplains for the U.S. Navy, she served as a trusted advisor to senior military officers on leadership development, providing a unique, pragmatic perspective in how personal and professional value systems translate both within their command and throughout the world. She holds a deep belief that the integrity of each leader affects the health, welfare, and capability an organization and guides executives on instilling a culture in their organizations that supports enterprise goals.
Please use this link to join us: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84971749555
Webinar ID: 849 7174 9555
While the Middle East is often on the world’s mind, the Middle Eastern Church is not. Yet there has been a faithful community that has had an uninterrupted presence in Egypt since Pentecost.
Anne Emile Zaki is Assistant Professor of Practical Theology at the Evangelical Theological Seminary, Cairo Egypt. She is a graduate of Calvin College (BA, Psychology and Sociology), Calvin Theological Seminary (M.Div.), and the American University in Cairo (MA, Sociology and Anthropology). She is currently a Ph.D. student in practical theology at Fuller Theological Seminary.
Our preaching and teaching follows Jesus' life as told in the Gospel of Luke.