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Adult Education Offerings Fall 2010
Sunday Classes — 9:30 to 10:30 in the Church Library
January Classes | February | March | April & May
September 19
WILLIAM HOLMES McGUFFEY: PIETY, MORALITY, AND EDUCATION IN NINETEENTH CENTURY AMERICA
Although most Westminster members will have heard of The McGuffey’s Reader, many may be unaware that William Holmes McGuffey, the author of the series, was Professor and Chair of the Department of Moral Philosophy at the University of Virginia from 1845, a position he held until his death in 1873. McGuffey was also a prominent ordained Presbyterian minister, who arguably became the most influential American Presbyterian of the nineteenth century.
Number Two on UVA’s list of “Fabled Professors,” McGuffey is most famous for completing the early series of textbooks that became the standardized reading texts for most schools across the United States during the mid-to-late nineteenth century. First published in1836, McGuffey's Reader, as it became known, eventually consisted of a multi-volume work with six levels of difficulty. Very different from modern-day textbooks, the McGuffey's Reader contained distinctly Calvinistic/Presbyterian religious messages and sought to instill both Christianity and morality in its student readers. Between 1836 and 1890, McGuffey's publisher printed and sold more than one hundred million copies of McGuffey's Reader. Practically every American who attended public schools during the second half of the nineteenth century learned moral and ethical lessons from McGuffey's Reader.
Using extensive visuals, the presentation will review McGuffey’s fascinating biography and the major and lasting impact the McGuffey’s Reader series had on the American character and psyche. The presenter will be Arthur Kroll.
September 26 - MISSION TRIP
Come hear about the next Westminster mission trip set for Haiti during the second week of January 2011. Come and learn about what is going on to rebuild the lives and houses in this land so devastated by the earthquake and by generations of poverty. Perhaps you will be inspired to come on the trip. In any case, you will experience a few of the ways this congregation and other organizations are reaching out and encountering Christ in the faces of our brothers and sisters around the world. Sponsored by the Mission Trip Planning Committee, Anne Hedelt, Chair
October 3, 10, 17 - TESTING THE NATIONAL COVENANT : CONTAINING AMERICAN FEARS AND APPETITES
Last Winter, Bill May began this series with the subject: “Containing Runaway Fears in American Foreign Policy.” However, two impudent snowfalls forced a cancellation of the next two sessions. Not deterred, we have brought back the series and Bill May has extended the theme. The titles for this year’s three classes follow:
October 3: “Curbing Runaway Appetites in American Domestic Policy: Oil and Other Carbons” Time permitting: St. Augustine and the Protestant Reformers will make a short appearance.
October 10: “Taking Cues on Our National Identity: Contractual or Covenantal” Time permitting: John Locke and John Calvin will do a turn.
October 17: The session may well continue with themes presented in the October 10 session, but we may also plunge into “Testing the Covenant of an Immigrant Nation.” William Faulkner’s Intruder in the Dust could help on that subject.
The leader for this class is Bill May.
October 24 - ON THE GROUND IN AFGHANISTAN
Our wonderful nursery worker, Nadira Masoomi, and her grown daughter Marina will help us understand life in Afghanistan “then and now.” Nadira and her two children fled the Taliban over ten years ago, and they are all U.S. citizens now. Marina is a graduate student at the University, specializing in the Middle East. This class is sponsored by the Peace & Justice Committee.
October 31, November 7, and 21 (note: there will be no class November 14 because of the Fair)
STRANGE NEW GOSPELS
Over the past seventy years several works written chiefly in the second century have been discovered in Egypt that purport to be “gospels.” These include The Gospel of Thomas, The Gospel of Mary Magdalene, and The Gospel of Judas. These books throw important new light on developments and tensions in the Christian church after the time of the apostles—a period that saw great diversity of belief about Jesus and his significance. We will examine these books in the context of the story of Christianity immediately following the time of the New Testament. The class will be led by Earle Hilgert.
December 5
ADVENT PLAY READING
Our Advent series begins with the play reading that was cancelled last year because of snow. Beverly May, a former award-winning Broadway actress, has reassembled her team and will lead us in reading selections of “The Business of Good Government” by John Arden. This short Christmas play was written to be performed by members of the congregation of an English village church. The cast includes the classic characters of a nativity story – Joseph and Mary, Herod, the wise men and the shepherds – but is made completely contemporary in Arden’s thought-provoking version.
December 12
LECTIO DIVINA, Latin for “divine reading,” represents a traditional Christian practice of scriptural reading and prayer intended to promote communion with God and to increase a believer’s knowledge and understanding of God’s Word. It is a way of praying meditatively with the Bible that involves stages of reading, reflection, response, and contemplation. As a contemplative tradition, Lectio Divina enables the practitioner to engage with scripture in what is often a calming, yet personally challenging fashion.
Using Advent passages from Scripture, session participants will engage in this simple and natural method of prayer and meditation practiced by the early monastics. The Advent Season provides an opportunity for reflection upon God’s supreme gift of Jesus Christ. Lectio Divina is an easy-to-learn, simple and natural way of approaching the Word of God through prayer. The class will provide both a learning opportunity and a personally enriching approach to entering Advent. Class leaders will be Stephen Pfleiderer and Jim Roche.
December 19
SEASONAL MUSIC FOR ADVENT AND CHRISTMAS
Celebrations of Jesus’ birth through the centuries have given us a large body of sacred music, ranging from the joyfully ebullient to the deeply personal. Winston Barham will lead a listening and discussion session featuring some of the great and small works of devotional music from a range of lands and times.
Sundays, October 3- November 21
Food for the Journey
(Meets in the Chapel Area off Fellowship Hall)
This class is limited to twelve people and requires pre-registration—please call the church office at
293-3133 or e-mail Mickie Elzinga at melzinga@westminsterva.org to register. Please consider whether you can attend most of the sessions before signing up.
This eight-session series is an opportunity to explore ways to develop your relationship with the Spirit more fully in a small group setting on Sunday morning. The summer sermon series examined a number of spiritual disciplines, described once by theologian Henri Nouwen as “ways to create a room where Christ can invite us to feast with him at the table of abundance.” On this journey, we will spend time in prayer, quiet reflection, and discussion around these issues. The key written resource is Soul Feast, a book by Presbyterian minister and Upper Room Ministries leader Marjorie Thompson. The group facilitator is Rozanne Oliver, who joined Westminster in January of this year. Rozanne trained with the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation in their two-year program Leading Contemplative Prayer and Retreats. If you have questions about the class, please contact Rozanne at oliverrz@comcast.net or 434-202-8820.
Wednesday Evening Classes
October 20 – November 17
The 7 Deadly Sins Sampler - 7:30 p.m. in the Lounge
A Latin proverb states that the knowledge of sin is the beginning of salvation. Certainly sin has ever been a subject of endless study, debate, controversy, and prayer. This fall’s Wednesday evening class will take a literary approach to the topic using a book of short stories organized around the list of mortal sins first penned by Pope Gregory I. According to Al Gini, who wrote the book’s introduction, working through tales about the choices people make will “offer a window to the human heart, clues about the moral life.” Join Jim Baker and Judy Gardner for a look at pieces by authors such as William Faulkner, Flannery O’Connor, Margaret Atwood, and D. H. Lawrence, and come prepared to share your ideas.
Registration required. Please call the Church office at 293-3133 or e-mail Mickie Elzinga at melzinga@westminsterva.org to register and to reserve your copies of the book.
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