This June, Amy Durfee-West will be leading a four week exploration of mission at People's Academy. The course will consider how to use our mission budget, and how to develop a "filter" for deciding how to invest our time, talent and treasure in mission.
For more information, contact Rev. Hynicka at 215-498 3718 or via email at robin@archstreetumc.org We meet at Arch Street UMC in the second floor conference room.
Books and topics that we have discussed in the past at the People's Academy:
SABBATH ECONOMICS: BIBLICAL ECONOMICS AND OUR WORLD
In a world economy dominated by globalization, consumerism, and corporate capitalism are there any meaningful alternatives? Does our christian faith have any resources to help us respond? This series will explore the various economic values, teachings, and practices thoughout the Bible, including the Mosaic covenant, the vision of Jubilee, the prophets, Jesus and the early church. Group members will reflect on how these biblical economic values seel to nurture a human community of reverence, abundance, equity and care for creation. Participants will discern the implications of these biblical teachings for our own economic practices - as individuals, as communities, as congregations and as citizens of the global economy.
Understanding ‘Power’ - Spring 2008
All are welcome to enroll in a new study exploring the nature of ‘power.’ Drawing on the perceptive scholarship of diverse theorists such as Antonio Gramsci, Pierre Bourdieu, Edward Said, Michel Foucault, Walter Wink, Mark Lewis Taylor, Martin Luther King, Jr., Traci West and Paolo Freire, we will discuss what ‘power’ is and how it operates in religious, educational, cultural and other social systems. Some questions we will address:
What does it mean to 'speak truth to power'? - MLK, Jr. Why are prisons, schools and medical clinics so similar? - Foucault
Why does education so often reproduce unjust power arrangements? - Freire
To what degree is there a 'spiritual' quality to systems of power? - Wink
How can Christian ethics be more 'disruptive'? - West In what ways are imperialist values embedded in modern literature? - Said
This course provided insights and practical tools for how Christians can effectivelypursue peace and justice in a world that so often resists it.
Discussions was lead by Rev. Dave Krueger, a scholar in field of Religion, Society and Ethics at Temple University.
Practicing Our Faith: A Way of Life for a Searching People edited by Dorothy C. Bass, published by John Wiley and Sons Inc, 1997. This volume is an excellent collection of essays covering a variety of topics relevant to Christian living. As a group, we read the essays, Hospitality: How do we become welcoming people? Dying Well: Embracing love while facing death. Discernment: How to make difficult decisions with spiritual integrity. Singing Our Lives: the power of song to change the world. Other essays include 'Honoring the Body', 'Household Economics', 'Saying Yes and Saying No', 'Keeping Sabbath', 'Testimony', 'Shaping Communities', 'Forgiveness', and 'Healing.'
Lost Prophet: The Life and Times of Bayard Rustin by John D'Emilio - U of Chicago Press, 2003. Bayard Rustin,a Quaker born in West Chester, PA, was one of the most important figures of the American civil rights movement. He taught Martin Luther King, Jr. the methods of Gandhi, spearheaded the 1963 March on Washington, and helped bring the struggle of African Americans to the forefront of the nation's consciousness. Despite his integral role in the movement, the openly gay Rustin is not the household name that many of his activist contemporaries are. Acclaimed historian John D'Emilio explains why Rustin's influence was minimized by his peers and why his brilliant strategies were only followed by those he never meant to help. As a pacifist, he also spent time in prison for refusing the draft during WWII. Rustin is a compelling figure and his story will stimulate important conversation about Christian faith, social activism and questions of ual and racial identity.
How Much is Enough: Hungering for God in an Affluent Culture by Arthur Simon - Baker Books, 2003
Author Art Simon (founder of Bread for the World) asks the question, “Why, in the face of unprecedented affluence do so many feel discontented?” He argues that “possessions may capture the heart, but they cannot nourish the soul.” Written in very simple language, this book is geared toward Christians who seek ultimate fulfillment in their relationship to God as well as practical transformation of their daily lives.
Book study: Myths Americans Live By - Richard T. Hughes
Book study: Democracy Matters - Cornel West
Book study: Peace Not Apartheid - Jimmy Carter
PBS Video Series - the Question of God: C.S. Lewis and Sigmund Freud
The Politics of Bible Making - How the Bible came to be
Crash Course in World Religions: Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism and Religions of China
