George MacDonald, Victorian writer who inspired C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolken, challenged gender and racial stereotypes and social hierarchies of his own day. His heroes were women, people with dark skin, those who are poor, houseless, disabled, and uneducated. Because of his love of Jesus, he wrote stories to help us to imagine what it’s like for the last to be first, and the least to be the greatest of all. Our time together will focus primarily on one of his short stories to discuss the way these themes are evident and can help transform our own imaginations. Hopefully participants can come having read “Day Boy and Night Girl,” one of his most enchanting stories, available at this website with reflection questions by Kerry Dearborn appended at the end of the story:
https://www.bethanypc.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Photogen-and-Nycteris-Day-Boy-and-Night-Girl.pdf?mc_cid=69892e6128&mc_eid=9065ff0d83
Kerry Dearborn is married to Tim Dearborn, and they are deeply grateful for their 3 daughters and their delightful families. Kerry earned her PhD at the University of Aberdeen, focused on theology and Imagination, particularly via George MacDonald’s work. She taught theology at SPU for over 20 years, and has been a member of BPC for over 15 years.
Confronting Stereotypes and Social Hierarchies: George MacDonald’s Baptized Imagination
February 7, 2021 • Kerry Dearborn
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.