Connections Café is the place for young adults to come together to connect with others, to connect with the church, to connect with God, and to connect your faith with the world. Come have a cup of coffee and get to know other 20 and 30 year olds in the church.  During the church school hour you are invited to gather with other young adults for a time of fellowship and conversation.  Each week a topic will be presented, participants will break up into small groups for discussion, and then everyone will come back together to share the conversation.  Participants begin gathering at 9:50 and then start up a little after 10:00 AM. 

This dedicated group of biblical scholars and friends who have been together for a long time also uses The Present Word.  This fall, they will encounter the steadfast love of God through the experiences of Moses and the fleeing Hebrews and will come to know God as a refuge, a safe haven, and a sanctuary through the poetry of selected Psalms.  As their name implies, this is a friendly group that enjoys special activities, projects, and fellowship throughout the year.  They welcome visitors and those who wish to join the group at any time.

This dedicated group of men gather each Sunday to sing, pray, and study The Present Word, a quarterly Bible study series based on the Cooperative Uniform Lessons.  The fall study will focus on the nature of God in the Trinity as reflected in Old Testament texts from the Exodus narrative and from the poetry of Psalms.  The first quarter's study will shed a spotlight on the relentless love of God and God's covenantal relationship with Israel.  This class is led by a variety of scholars including class members, pastors, staff, and other guests.

In this class we read scripture, pray together, laugh together, share experiences and encourage one another to discern the Holy Spirit at work in our lives. We believe the Christian spiritual life is grounded in relationship . . . God’s way of relating to us, and our way of responding to God.  Our class will read The Wisdom Jesus by Cynthia Bourneault this fall.  If you put aside what you think you know about Jesus and approach the Gospels as though for the first time, something remarkable happens:  Jesus emerges as a teacher of the transformation of consciousness.  Cynthia Bourgeault is an Episcopal priest, teacher and a masterful guide to Jesus' vision and to the traditional contemplative practices you can use to experience the heart of his teaching for yourself.

Committed to making faith relevant to hearts and minds in today’s world, the Seeking More Light Class studies books that help to deepen our understanding of faith and broaden our minds. The class is discussion-oriented and intentionally inclusive of those with differing opinions, backgrounds, and sexual orientation.  Along with study and discussion, the class also prays for one another and has a good time both inside and outside the class.  All are welcome to come for study and discussion.  The class will continue their discussion of An Alter in the World, by Barbara Brown Taylor for the first few weeks.  Visitors and new members are welcomed and encouraged to join these discussions and be part of deciding what will be studied next!

This class, open to all ages and stages, is designed for study and reflection and to enable adults to make connections and build relationships, share pastoral joys and concerns, enjoy social gatherings, and participate in mission/outreach projects. The book we will read this fall is Writing in the Sand, Jesus and the Soul of the Gospels by Thomas Moore.  Moore is a bestselling writer who is a former Catholic monk and psychotherapist.  In this book, Moore sets out to present a completely new Jesus, a figure any 21st century person could adopt as a focus for a vibrant and intelligent spiritual life.  According to Moore, "having good friends, treating people well, operating in every instance from a rule of love rather than judgment - this is the soul of the Gospels.  Living from the heart, enjoying life, seeking the deep and ordinary pleasures, eating in such a way that everyone is invited to your table - these are the soulful rules of conduct demonstrated in the Gospels."  Come join the members of this class as they walk a spiritual path together in study and fellowship.

If you feel a little too old for the Young Adult class, if you are looking for a Sunday School home and want to gather with folks in your age range and life stage on Sunday mornings, if you want a smaller community within a large church family with whom to study, play, and serve . . . this class is for you!  Fall study:  Putting Faith to Work:  A Study of James, selected to complement Steve Hancock's sermon series Being Doers of the Word based on the book of James. 

We all live in conflicts, whether amid inner struggles, disagreements with others, or entanglements in warring factions.  Conflicts mark the signposts of our journey. How, then, can we so tap our spiritual resources as to travel through our struggles with a better sense of harmony and balance? 

We begin by considering a spiritual/psychological model for facing conflicts creatively. How, for instance, does Jesus’ way of confronting conflicts inform and empower us for dealing with our struggles? We then apply that model to three dimensions of conflict: inner challenges, clashes with individuals, and rising international tensions.