Adult Formation Forums

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.

Welcome, Hospitality, and Belonging in the Bible and at Bethany

November 13, 2022 • Marisa Gronholz

Jesus’ Weird Words: The Parable of the Dishonest Manager

October 9, 2022 • Matt Miller

Traveling Justice

September 11, 2022 • Suzzanne Lacey

Intercessory Prayer

July 7, 2022 • Jean Fandl Kelly

Faithful Interpreters of Scripture

June 19, 2022 • JJ Leese

Streams of Living Water at Bethany - Part 3

May 8, 2022 • Jeff Van Duzer, Margie Van Duzer

Drawing heavily on Richard Foster’s “Streams of Living Water,” this class will explore six “streams” of Christian traditions: the charismatic, contemplative, evangelical, social justice, incarnational and holiness traditions. For each such “stream,” the class will explore its roots and its related strengths and dangers. And in each case, we will look at examples of ways that the specific tradition has been expressed at Bethany and has helped shape Bethany’s history and identity.

Streams of Living Water at Bethany - Part 2

May 1, 2022 • Margie Van Duzer, Jeff Van Duzer

Drawing heavily on Richard Foster’s “Streams of Living Water,” this class will explore six “streams” of Christian traditions: the charismatic, contemplative, evangelical, social justice, incarnational and holiness traditions. For each such “stream,” the class will explore its roots and its related strengths and dangers. And in each case, we will look at examples of ways that the specific tradition has been expressed at Bethany and has helped shape Bethany’s history and identity.

Streams of Living Water at Bethany - Part 1

April 24, 2022 • Jeff Van Duzer, Margie Van Duzer

Drawing heavily on Richard Foster’s “Streams of Living Water,” this class will explore six “streams” of Christian traditions: the charismatic, contemplative, evangelical, social justice, incarnational and holiness traditions. For each such “stream,” the class will explore its roots and its related strengths and dangers. And in each case, we will look at examples of ways that the specific tradition has been expressed at Bethany and has helped shape Bethany’s history and identity. We apologize that the first few minutes of this class were cut off - we lost audio during the introduction.

Lessons from the Dying: Reflections from a Hospice Chaplain

April 3, 2022 • Kevin Henne

Kevin Henne was the presenter for our April gathering on "Lessons from the Dying: Reflections from a Hospice Chaplain." We heard from Kevin about lessons he's learned from the dying on life, coping, and God’s amazing faithfulness to our wellbeing in all circumstances. We also touched on the clinical role of chaplain in a hospice team, as well as some brief pastoral theology and psychology to set up a framework for understanding the lessons we can learn from the terminally ill. Mostly, however, we heard and reflected on lessons and stories about hope, transcendence, love & truth (genuineness and immediacy), inner and outer landscapes, control, and grace-filled responses. Kevin and his wife Deb live in South Seattle and have been blessed to be Bethany members since 1995. They are on a parenting odyssey with two high school-aged boys, William and Andrew. For the past 22 years, Kevin has served in ministry as Hospice Chaplain with Franciscan Hospice in King County.

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.

Bethany Presbyterian Church