December 3: Last day on the Song of Songs

Hi everyone - I hope you've all had a Happy Thanksgiving!  Looking forward to our next meeting, which is THIS TUESDAY, December 3 from 7-9 at the Johnsons'. 

After a fascinating conversation with Rabbi Ita, I think we're ready to return to the beautiful poem that comes at the end of Song of Songs 8: 6-14 and reflect together about what this study is teaching us about the story of Scripture and the love of God.  I say a little about this in a blog I've posted on Episcopal cafe.  and will probably put up on my own poetproph blog, too.   But I'm hoping that we can look again at the poetry we've been reading over the course of this fall and also make some connections to the season of Advent and Christmas that we are moving into now.   

Joel is cooking  (Thanks Joel).  Hope to see everyone Tuesday night.

A couple of reminders about upcoming matters:  December 17 will be our Christmas potluck and party, and our last meeting at the Johnsons' home.

Then, beginning after the New Year, we will be meeting, not at the Johnsons' but at Vienna Baptist church,  on first and third MONDAY nights. More on this soon, but please mark your calendars and spread the word! 

KATHY

November 19 Meeting features Rabbi Ita Paskind on "The Song of Songs"

Hi everyone! We've talked a little about Rabbi Akiba who used the phrase "Song of Songs" for the book of the Bible we've been studying -- with the same kind of implication we would have if we said "this is the book of all books,  or the "Lord of Lords".  To my delight, Rabbi Ita Paskind of Congregation Olam Tikvah in Vienna has agreed to come to our next meeting to talk about the text of the Song of Songs and its importance in Judaism.   Rabbi Paskind was with us several years ago and we had a great time learning from her and talking with her.  I am really looking forward to this and hope you'll make a point of coming if you can.  It should be a real treat. 

Next meeting this Tuesday, October 15

Hi everyone -- we'll be meeting again this Tuesday, and pressing on to chapter 4 and possibly chapter 5 of the Song of Songs.  Chapter 4 uses a traditional form of love poetry that in the Arabic tradition is called the wasf -- in the western tradition it's called a "blason", and was popular in the medieval and Renaissance period.  If you want to get a look at examples of this tradition in English, you can find a couple at http://www.units.muohio.edu/visualrhetoric/blason.html  .  Reading this might help give us a feel for how this poetry might have sounded to the original audience of the Song of Songs and we can talk about how it might relate to the deeper themes of the Scriptural story we've been telling about, as well as our own experiences of love and relationship.   As usual, we'll be seeing how many places this poetry can take us.  I hope to see many of you on Tuesday!

Meeting Tuesday October 1: Chapter 3 of Song of Songs/Song of Solomon

Hi everyone - Great to see new faces and to be together last time.  I look forward to seeing everyone, and to welcoming some more newcomers, this Tuesday night at 7 at the Johnsons'.  As always if you are new and need directions feel free to email me at kathleen.staudt@gmail.com.  

This week in our study time we'll be looking at Chapter 3 of the Song of Songs, and especially on that theme of the absence of the Beloved -- and how readers of this text have interpreted this to help us understand those times when we are seeking God and God seems "absent."  It is fascinating to see how this text works on many different levels, and we'll be looking at that as well as our own experience of what this seems to be saying.  Bring a Bible if you have one (we have some too) and join the conversation. 

Lindsey is cooking -- I'll have the signup sheet to make sure we're covered on cooking for the rest of our meetings this fall. 

See you all Tuesday!

Next meeting this Tuesday September 17 - the Song of Songs

"Let him kiss me with the kiss of his mouth" -- so begins this love poem from the Bible! Bring your Bible, whichever translation you like - we'll look at various translations of the first few poems in chapter 1-2 and reflect on how we react to finding this  fairly explicit romantic love poem in the Bible.  How were you taught to think about sex, God and marriage in the Bible?  How do you respond to the images in this poem?   We'll talk about the various ways these chapters have been read in Jewish and Christian tradition and explore how we feel about those readings.  There is much to talk about, and much to hear, in this text and I look forward to beginning our discussion - great to see everyone and begin the conversation last week. This week we'll really get into the text during our study time.

We're having chicken and I'm bringing a hearty and vegetarian rice side dish and some dessert (probably cookies).  Kendra is bringing a salad.  We'll get a signup list going for cooking the rest of this semester when we gather on Tuesday. If you're new please feel free to email me at kathleen.staudt@gmail.com for directions to the Johnsons'. We meet from 7-9 for dinner and fellowship, study and prayers.  Looking forward to seeing everyone!

Song of Songs/ Song of Solomon - Our Fall Bible Study

Hi again everyone (2 posts in one day after months of silence: do scroll down to see my other post)

Just to say that I am looking forward to seeing everyone again on Tuesday September 3 to begin our year together.  By popular demand we'll be reading the Song of Solomon - also known as the "Song of Songs" .  This is a book of poetry, and belongs to the "Wisdom" tradition of books of the Bible - more about that when we gather.  We'll be reflecting in many ways about the importance of Love, both human love and divine love in the Biblical tradition. 

I am hoping we'll be welcoming some newcomers to this first meeting -- do come and get acquainted. We gather at 7 for dinner and fellowship, followed by Bible study and a time of prayer.  If you're new, please get in touch with me at the email address provided in the header, so I can send you directions or arrange to get you picked up at the Vienna metro.  See you all soon! 

Catching Up - and Looking Ahead to Fall

Hi Everyone -- as we move into August I am realizing that by this time next month we'll have already started meeting again. I am looking forward to it -- missing you all.  It was great to see those who could make it for the party at my place the week after Jamila's baptism, and I am looking forward to a report on the game night at Heidi and Kunal's.  I never posted any photos from the retreat in May at Lost River but am putting up here a few that Heidi took. 
 You can find more on the shutterfly site she has set up at https://youngadults.shutterfly.com/18  Enjoy!

Practicing Our Faith: A Retreat for Young Adults (20s and 30s) at Lost River, May 17-19 2013

drawing by Joel Winstead

  What practices, prayers and traditions help to enrich and deepen our daily lives and make us more open to the work of the Spirit in the world around us?  Come away and relax with other Young Adults (20s and 30s) in a beautiful setting as we learn from each other about what makes for a lively and grounded life of faith.  The retreat is held at the Lost River Retreat Center in West Virginia, May 17-19, 2013.  Leader will be Kathy Staudt.  Contact her at kathleen.staudt@gmail.com for more information or to register. 

 

Here's a tentative schedule of the weekend: 

Friday Night:

Dinner on your own

Arrive between 6:30-9

9:00 Opening Gathering

Saturday:

8-9 Breakfast

9-10:15 Gather for Session I

10:15-10:30 Break

10:30-12 Session II

12:30 Lunch, followed by free time all afternoon

7:00-9:00 Session III

9:00 Saturday Evening -- relaxation (bonfire?)

 Sunday

8:30 Breakfast, followed by closing session

10:00 morning worship

11:00 Brunch and departure

Post about last year's retreat:

http://youngadultpathfinders.blogspot.com/2012/05/thanks-for-great-retreat.html

Pictures from past retreats:

 http://youngadults.shutterfly.com/

More info about the retreat center:

http://www.vbc-va.org/lrrc/

Reflecting on our Mission: Generous, Open-hearted, "Out of the Box"

       I've now been facilitating this group for over 3 1/2 years, taking over from the previous leader, Bill Sykes, who led the group for 9 years before me.   I'm posting these reflections partly in  gratitude to our sponsoring congregations, Vienna Baptist Church (VBC)  and Little River United  Church of Christ (LRUCC)  who have had the vision to think "out of the box" to sponsor a group like this -- and partly just to kind of put out there my sense of what this group is about and has become. 

            I was drawn to this ministry because of its creative vision and structure.  The idea was that two congregations from different denominations would co-sponsor a gathering of 20's and 30's that would be open to  an ecumenical, inclusive  and progressive vision of the Christian life.  The hope was that other congregations might join in over time and that may yet happen.    We meet biweekly (on the first and third Tuesdays of the month) at the home of Tom and Mary Johnson, members of Vienna Baptist who have generously opened their lovely home to the group.    Young adult members take turns bringing dinner, and we enjoy fellowship and conversation over dinner before moving to an hour of Bible study.  From the beginning, the group members have been  eager to focus on Bible Study, and I have been delighted and energized, myself, at the invitations to look at Scripture through traditions of interpretation that emphasize a generous, open-hearted Christianity, rooted in relationship with God and turned toward the needs of the world.   We end each evening with prayers and we pray for one another between sessions.

            What makes the vision unusual is that it is an ecumenical group -.  We have 5 or 6 different denominations represented in the 6-8 Young Adults who attend regularly, but they share a desire to claim and explore Christian identity at a formative time of life.  Part the group’s mission is to be open to whoever comes along, and we have had several young adults join us because they have found us online, either at here our website or on facebook. 

            At a time when an increasing number of Americans are listing their religion as “none,” I am excited to be convening a  flexible and ecumenical Young Adult ministry.  I think it  offers a fresh way for people explore and embrace the traditions of Christian faith and discipleship and to invent and rediscover new ways of being Christian community.  If you're a young adult in your 20s and 30s,  reading this and new to the group and its concept , I hope you'll think about joining us at our biweekly meetings (the first and third Tuesdays of the month, 7-9) or at our spring retreat, now scheduled for May 17-19.  Watch this space for more information!    And feel free to contact me at any time at kathleen.staudt@gmail.com

Next Meeting Tuesday February 5 at 7

Hi everyone.
We will be meeting next Tuesday, February 5 at the Johnsons -- back on our every first and third Tuesday schedule.  And we'll continue our wrestling with Romans by looking especially at Romans 3: 21-31, and probably into Romans 4.  These ten verses of Romans 3 pack a lot of familiar but sometimes puzzling Christian theological language and this will be our chance to talk about what is really meant by "law" v. "faith," and how do we understand anything about who God is through the ideas expressed by "justification," "redemption" and "atonement."   And what does it mean for our understanding of how to live our lives, if we identify ourselves as followers of Jesus?  Bring your thoughts and your questions and yourselves.  And bring a friend if you like! Heidi is cooking.  See you all on Tuesday. 

Jumping into "Romans"

Hi everyone -- I'm looking forward to seeing you this Tuesday night from 7-9 at the Johnsons'.  Having had a bit of introduction last week to Paul, etc., we will continue our reading of the first 3 chapters of Romans.  If you dip in ahead of time, you'll find much there that is disturbing and may seem harsh.  Paul is contrasting what he calls "the righteousness of God" to the world that he and the early Christians lived in, dominated by imperial Rome and by the attitudes and habits of Roman culture.   To get ourselves into his context it might be interesting to think about our own time:  what are the things about the world we live in that you just know are "all wrong" .  That are not supposed to be this way.  Thinking about this may help get us closer to what Paul meant by "the gospel of God" and "the righteousness of God".   But you don't have to prepare anything -- as usual, just come.  It's always interesting!

Lindsey is cooking, if I remember correctly -- hope to see you all Tuesday!

January Meetings Jan 8 and Jan 22: Introducing Paul!

Hi everyone! Happy New Year

Because of New Year’s Day I suggested we flip to Tuesday January 8 this month, and since we have 5 Tuesdays in January it works well to just make our next meeting January 22.  After that we’ll revert to 1^st and 3^rd Tuesdays for the rest of the spring.  I’m looking forward to being with you.

We agreed that we would spend the spring with the book of Romans -- Paul’s letter to the church in Rome.  This is a challenging and beautiful book of the Bible with lots to engage, disturb, puzzle and enlighten us.  I am going to be using a guide to Romans by my VTS colleague Katherine Grieb -- The Story of Romans (Westminster John Knox Press).  It is scholarly in its approach but it is geared toward bringing Romans to a wider audience within the church and I will be using her chapters to guide my teaching. If you want to commit to a pretty in-depth study of Romans in between our sessions I do recommend her book. I’ll also have some ideas for other commentaries but mostly we’ll do what we usually do:  Bring our questions to the text, and try to sort out what we can learn from reading deeply and carefully.

At our first session I will spend some time just introducing Paul.  You might think about what you know/think/have heard about Paul/ St. Paul and the new testament.  It is the case that the letters of Paul are actually the earliest books of the New Testament, written before the gospels.  So coming to understand Paul can really help us to understand even more fully who Jesus was to his early followers, and what the gospel story means - meant for them, and means for us.

I’m looking forward to our study this spring.  Bring yourselves, your prayers and your questions and we’ll begin - As always, if you’re new and want to join us feel free to email me at kathleen.staudt@gmail.com for directions and further information.