Pastor's Forum: Bethany and Racial Justice Update

Bethany Presbyterian Church

Pastor's Forum: Bethany and Racial Justice Update

March 20, 2022 • Michelle McFarland, Gena Morgan, Marisa Gronholz

In this special forum, we heard a report about our Historical Audit on Bethany and Systemic Racism; Marisa Gronholz, our Director of Formation and Outreach, shared about her work with the Roadmap to Reconciliation Steering Committee, and we learned about our hopes for formulating the next steps in our racial justice and reconciliation journey at Bethany.

You will find links below to the documents that were referenced during our time together.

Listening, Learning, Loving: Empathy as a Practice

January 28, 2024 • Lynne Baab

Empathy is a listening skill that can be learned. Lynne Baab will draw on communication research about empathy to give an overview of what empathy is and how to grow in empathy. Lynne is a former Bethany associate pastor with a Ph.D. in communication.

Ecotheology

May 7, 2023 • Eric Long

In Genesis, we're told repeatedly that creation is good. But by the time we get to Paul's writings in Romans, we find that creation is groaning. What's gone wrong? And what's our role in God's plan for creation? In this forum, we'll explore the idea creation was intended as God's temple, and humans were (and are!) called to be priests of God's good creation. Registration will be required for this class, so we can plan numbers for lunch (look for more details and link to register coming in a dedicated E-News next week).

Acts 15: Living as Christians in a Pagan Society

June 4, 2023 • Bob Drovdahl • Acts 15

Seattle is a great city, but also a pagan one (or at least not very religious!). How do we live out our Christian faith in such an environment? That's a tough question, but not the first time Christians have faced such a challenge. This class will examine how Christians in Antioch answered this question 2000+ years ago... and what we might learn from their effort.