Bible Study Groups
Contact the church office to connect with one of our women's weekly study groups.
"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
and with all your soul, and with all your mind."
- Matthew 22:37
2026 Lenten Book Discussion
|
Naked Spirituality: A Life with God in 12 Simple Words, by Brian McLaren
When: Wednesdays, February 25-April 1, 6:00pm - 7:00pm
Where: Fireside Room In Naked Spirituality, Brian McLaren confronts how the lack of a simple, doable, durable spirituality undermines the very transformation God is calling us to undergo. As a result, our religious structures become tools to maintain the status quo and not catalysts for personal and social change. McLaren presents a four-stage framework for understanding the spiritual life, and he unfolds spiritual practices appropriate to each stage. Each practice is rooted in a simple word: here, thanks, O, sorry, help, please, when, no, why, behold, yes, and silence. Naked Spirituality offers accessible, practical wisdom for living a truly spiritual life. Staying true to Jesus's core message while engaging faithfully with our postmodern world, McLaren presents a proven spiritual program for engaging in and sustaining a meaningful relationship with God.
All are invited to our Lenten Suppers starting at 5:30, and the book discussion starting at 6:00. We hope you will join us and make this a meaningful part of your Lenten journey. Reading Schedule
February 18 (no book discussion) Ash Wednesday service (7pm) February 25 Introduction—chapter 5 March 4 Chapters 6—9 March 11 Chapters 10—13 March 18 Chapters 14—17 March 25 Chapters 18—21 April 1 Chapters 22—Afterward |
|
Previous Adult Education Opportunities
Deep Dive into the Divine: For the Sake of the World
A Five-Part Class with Scott Quinn
Sanctuary, First Presbyterian Church of Petaluma, 939 B Street
Thursdays - October 2, 9, 16, 23, 30, 2025
Time: 1:30 - 3:00pm
When we take a deep dive into the Divine, we risk authentic intimacy with God and our truest self. It’s a courageous dive because along the way we encounter all that impedes the free-flowing divine love, such as our outgrown images of God and places within us that have not yet believed or received unconditional love.
Join us for a five-week journey of spiritual practice, meditation, discussion, scripture, poetry, and reflection. Each class builds upon the previous one as we go deeper into the divine Mystery, guided by signposts to divine intimacy within Christianity and other faith traditions. Between classes you will have a spiritual practice to practice and will be invited to have one 15-minute conversation with a fellow participant to share experiences, questions, and reflections.
How do you know if this class might be for you?
Suggested donation: $100 for the five week session. Scholarships available. Contact Jeannette Anglin (Info in church directory) or through the church office.
Registration is required: Email the church office at [email protected] or phone 707-762-8269.
If you have questions about the class or need help discerning if the class is a fit for you, please contact Scott Quinn: [email protected].
Scott Quinn is an ordained Lutheran minister and Interfaith minister, and was an educator and spiritual director at an interfaith spirituality center in Austin. He serves as faculty and as a student supervisor for the spiritual direction programs at The Chaplaincy Institute and San Francisco Theological Seminary and has also served as Executive Director of the Marin Interfaith Council. Scott lives in San Rafael where he has a spiritual direction/supervision practice, and where he and his partner tend many pets and a large garden. His website is: www.scottquinn.net.
Sanctuary, First Presbyterian Church of Petaluma, 939 B Street
Thursdays - October 2, 9, 16, 23, 30, 2025
Time: 1:30 - 3:00pm
When we take a deep dive into the Divine, we risk authentic intimacy with God and our truest self. It’s a courageous dive because along the way we encounter all that impedes the free-flowing divine love, such as our outgrown images of God and places within us that have not yet believed or received unconditional love.
Join us for a five-week journey of spiritual practice, meditation, discussion, scripture, poetry, and reflection. Each class builds upon the previous one as we go deeper into the divine Mystery, guided by signposts to divine intimacy within Christianity and other faith traditions. Between classes you will have a spiritual practice to practice and will be invited to have one 15-minute conversation with a fellow participant to share experiences, questions, and reflections.
How do you know if this class might be for you?
- Do you seek a freer, more honest relationship with God and wish to release old beliefs about God and yourself that are untrue and no longer serve you? (1 Corinthians 13:8-13)
- Are you ready to bring God your doubts, uncensored truth, pain, flaws, burdens and find not only relief, but in the process also become more intimate? (Matthew 11:25-28)
- Do you want to attune yourself to recognize God’s presence, the Everywhere-Sacred, in the ordinary moments of your life? (Luke 24:30-35)
- Are you passionately curious to know who you really, ultimately are - to know deep within that you, God, and all life are not separate, but One? (John 17:11)
Suggested donation: $100 for the five week session. Scholarships available. Contact Jeannette Anglin (Info in church directory) or through the church office.
Registration is required: Email the church office at [email protected] or phone 707-762-8269.
If you have questions about the class or need help discerning if the class is a fit for you, please contact Scott Quinn: [email protected].
Scott Quinn is an ordained Lutheran minister and Interfaith minister, and was an educator and spiritual director at an interfaith spirituality center in Austin. He serves as faculty and as a student supervisor for the spiritual direction programs at The Chaplaincy Institute and San Francisco Theological Seminary and has also served as Executive Director of the Marin Interfaith Council. Scott lives in San Rafael where he has a spiritual direction/supervision practice, and where he and his partner tend many pets and a large garden. His website is: www.scottquinn.net.
2025 World Communion Sunday
Immigration Stories
On World Communion Sunday (for us, the last Sunday of September every year) we focus on the issue of immigration. Some folks are invited to share their immigration stories of how they traveled to and arrived in the United States. On that day, everyone is invited to wear something that represents a place in the world that represents their cultural heritage, or a place in the world that is particularly meaningful to them. Some years, following the service, there is a reception in the fellowship hall, when everyone is invited to bring a food dish to share, one that represents their cultural heritage. Around tables, sharing a meal, people are encouraged to share personal stories of how their ancestors immigrated from one place to another. Below is a reading list of fiction and non-fiction accounts of modern immigration stories.
Reading List: Modern Immigration Stories
THE SYMPATHIZER by VietThanh Nguyen
AMERICANAH by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
WHAT IS THE WHAT by Dave Eggers
DEAR AMERICA by Jose Antonio Vargas
SOLITO by Javier Zamora
THIS LAND IS OUR LAND, AN IMMIGRANTS MANIFESTO by Suketu Mehta
Pastor John is reading these three, perhaps you’d like to join him:
HEALING HAUNTED HISTORIES: A SETTLER DISCIPLESHIP OF COLONIZATION by Elaine Enns Ched Myers
FINDING JESUS AT THE BORDER by Julia Lambert Fogg
OUR GOD IS UNDOCUMENTED: BIBLICAL FAITH AND IMMIGRANT JUSTICE by Ched Myers and Matthew Colwell
And this from the former Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service:
Click here for a fascinating list of both books and movies
Don’t forget to use our wonderful Sonoma County Public Libraries. The Petaluma branch is being renovated, but is still accessible in the smaller cinder block building just adjacent. HOOPLA and LIBBY are both on-line apps for downloading many books and movies.
AMERICANAH by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
WHAT IS THE WHAT by Dave Eggers
DEAR AMERICA by Jose Antonio Vargas
SOLITO by Javier Zamora
THIS LAND IS OUR LAND, AN IMMIGRANTS MANIFESTO by Suketu Mehta
Pastor John is reading these three, perhaps you’d like to join him:
HEALING HAUNTED HISTORIES: A SETTLER DISCIPLESHIP OF COLONIZATION by Elaine Enns Ched Myers
FINDING JESUS AT THE BORDER by Julia Lambert Fogg
OUR GOD IS UNDOCUMENTED: BIBLICAL FAITH AND IMMIGRANT JUSTICE by Ched Myers and Matthew Colwell
And this from the former Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service:
Click here for a fascinating list of both books and movies
Don’t forget to use our wonderful Sonoma County Public Libraries. The Petaluma branch is being renovated, but is still accessible in the smaller cinder block building just adjacent. HOOPLA and LIBBY are both on-line apps for downloading many books and movies.
2025 Lenten Book Discussion
Freeing Jesus, by Diana Butler Bass
|
When: Wednesdays, March 5-April 16, 6:00pm - 7:00pm
Where: Fireside Room Nearly a decade ago, Diana Butler Bass had a unique encounter with Jesus while in the National Cathedral. For the first time in her life, she heard Jesus speaking directly to her, using five powerful words: “Get me out of here.” In Freeing Jesus, Bass challenges the idea that Jesus can only be understood in static, one-dimensional ways and asks us to instead consider a life where Jesus grows with us and helps us through life’s challenges in several capacities: as Friend, Teacher, Savior, Lord, Way, and Presence. Freeing Jesus is an invitation to rediscover Jesus beyond the narrow confines we have built around him. It renews our hope in faith and worship at a time when we need it most. All are invited to our suppers starting at 5:30, and the book discussion starting at 6:00. How have you experienced Jesus in your life? And how is he encountering you today? We hope you will join us and make this a meaningful part of your Lenten journey. |
|
2024 Lenten Book Discussion
Keys to Bonhoeffer's Haus, by Laura M. Fabrycky
|
When: Sunday, March 17, 11:00am - 12:15pm
Where: Fireside Room Pastor John will be traveling to Germany this year to follow in the footsteps of one of his heroes in the faith, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a pastor and theologian who lost his life in WWII because of his Christian faith and opposition to the Nazi regime. One of John's stops will be the Bonhoeffer Haus in Berlin, where Dietrich's family lived and where he was arrested by the Gestapo. In Keys to Bonhoeffer's Haus, Laura M. Fabrycky, an American guide of the Bonhoeffer-Haus in Berlin, takes readers on a tour of Dietrich Bonhoeffer's home, city, and world. Join us for a conversation about this fascinating, inspirational, and very human follower of Jesus. What might befriending Bonhoeffer mean for us and the ways we live our lives today? |
|