Paul Whitted will be leading discussions of video tours of the Holy Land of the Old Testament by Ray Vander Laan, who is a historian, archeologist and Bible teacher. Ray has always believed that to better understand and appreciate the Bible, you have to have a sense of the land and the culture from which it sprang.

For people who have not been to the Holy Lands, these lessons provide a way to see the places talked about in the Bible. For people who have already been to the Holy Lands, these lessons can provide additional information and
also allow them to share their impressions of this part of the world.

These classes meet weekly on Sundays after Coffee Hour in the Genesis Room. Please feel free to join us at any time!

The fall sessions of Adult Education will resume on September 18. Classes will be held on Sunday mornings at 11:00am in the Genesis Room. This fall, Rev. David Beck is presenting the following classes – please join us whenever you can:

• Sept 18 – (1) ”How I became a New Testament Scholar” (Epistle of James)
• Sept 25 – (2) ”Taking the Modern World Seriously While Showing an Early Basis for the Christian Faith” (1st Corinthians 15:1-5)
• Oct 2 – (3) ”The Apostle Paul as the First Historian of the Church” (Galatians and Corinthians)
• Oct 8 —–Sabbath (no class)
• Oct 16 – (4) “The Evangelist Luke as the First Theologian of Church History” (Acts)
• Oct 23 – (5) “Introduction to the Synoptic Tradition” (Mark, Matthew, Luke)
• Oct 30 – (6) “Introduction to the Johanine Tradition” (John, 1st John, Revelations)
• Nov 6 – (7) “John the Baptist and Jesus” (Mark, Matthew, Luke, John)
• Nov 12 —Sabbath (no class)
• Nov 20 –  (8) “The Birth of Jesus-Part 1” (Luke, Matthew)
• Nov 27 – (9) “The Birth of Jesus-Part 2” (Luke, Matthew)
• Dec 4 – (10) “A Biblical Miracle and the American Midwest”
• Dec 10 —Sabbath (no class)
• Dec 18 – (11)”The Christmas Story in Modern Garments”

The Southminster Book Club starts up again on September 1st.  This is a zoom meeting that is held at 7pm on the first Thursday of every month.  Anyone is WELCOME to join us – just contact the church office to be added to the Book Club mailing list.

Our selection for September is “Black, White, and the Grey” by Mashama Bailey and John O. Morisano. The story is about a Black chef from Queens and a White media entrepreneur who partner up, relocate to the South, and build a relationship and a restaurant (in a dilapidated Greyhound bus station) to get people talking about race, gender, class, and culture. In October we will be discussing “Searching for Sunday” by Rachel Held Evans. Hope you can join us!