Reading the Bible in a Progressive Community
I have updated the presentation from this morning’s class (September 22, 2019). You can view it by going to the class schedule page and clicking on the word “Presentation” to the right of today’s date, or by clicking here.
On September 11, 2019, the Washington Post published a video about the new policy to return asylum seekers to Mexico while they wait for a judgment on their asylum claims. Many see this as a clear violation of US law, and court challenges are ongoing.
We will discuss this issue in class on October 6 in the session entitled “Welcoming the Stranger”.
I have posted the presentation from this morning’s class to the website. You can view it here. You will be able to get the presentation from each week’s class by going to the class schedule after class. Look in the right hand column for the word “Presentation”.
If you would like to read the testimony of Stacey Farley, one of the people who helped stop ICE from capturing her neighbors in the video we saw this morning, you can find her account here. She narrated her experience to Celia Darrough who wrote it up as an article at Bustle.com: “I Joined A Human Chain To Stop ICE From Taking My Neighbors & I’d Do It Again.”
On September 8, 2019 people interested in adult classes at Binkley will meet together in the sanctuary to hear about the class choices. Our class will not meet that day, but information about it will be provided for all who attend the event in the sanctuary.
I have just posted a page describing the class I will be teaching this fall at Binkley Church, Chapel Hill, NC. If you are in the area, we would love to have you join us.
I will be posting a class schedule later, and throughout the semester I will post related materials to support what the class is doing.
Added Aug. 31, 2019: The class schedule is now live.
On October 16 Jim Sommerville, pastor of Richmond’s First Baptist Church, published a blog post entitled, “My Political Agenda.” He may as well have called it “My Ethical Agenda” because the thrust of the post is a justification of preaching the ethics of the gospel, acknowledging current ethical issues yet not endorsing any particular political party. This is a pressing issue in our current political environment. What should the role of local pastors be in political debate? How does one distinguish between political commentary and preaching the requirements of the gospel?
I recommend Pastor Sommerville’s blog for any who are concerned about this issue.
Read the post from Jim Sommerville’s blog.
Pastor Sommerville’s blog post was one of the documents discussed in this morning’s class at Binkley. I regret that I was unable to attend that discussion. If you did attend, please feel free to comment here.
The following video was shot at Olin T. Binkley Memorial Baptist Church, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, in 2014. Rev. Barber was the keynote speaker at Binkley’s Seymour Symposium that year, and the video presents roughly seven minutes from his much more in-depth discussion. Story of America has called this short clip Rev. Dr. Barber’s most compelling seven minutes to date.
Here you can witness a few minutes of well informed expository preaching based on a close reading a biblical text.
Enjoy this instrumental version of “What Child Is This?” arranged by Stephanie Jackson.
The church newsletter this week lists our class as meeting one more time this Sunday. We ended the class last Sunday, so this was a surprise to me. Still, there may be some who see the note in the newsletter and assume we are meeting, so I will be there at 9:30 for informal conversation with any who choose to come.
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