There are several opportunities at Walnut Creek UMC for study and learning. In addition to weekly studies, we also do studies based on a book or designed around the pastor’s sermon series. There are also several special seasonal studies throughout the year, including the season of Lent and the season of Advent.
For more information on all of our studies, please contact the front office.
Lenten Study Starting February 21, 2021
Lenten Study
Led by Rev. Colin Kerr-Carpenter
Starting on Sunday, Feb. 21, 2021
2 Classes Scheduled
Sundays at 1:00 p.m.
Mondays at 7:00 p.m.
Via Zoom (please contact the front office for Zoom information)
As the descendant of slaves and the son of a civil rights activist, Bishop Michael Curry’s life illustrates massive changes in our times. Much of the world met Bishop Curry when he delivered his sermon on the redemptive power of love at the royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at Windsor Castle. Here, he expands on his message of hope in an inspirational road map for living the way of love, illuminated with moving lessons from his own life. Through the prism of his faith, ancestry, and personal journey, Love Is the Way shows us how America came this far and, more important, how to go a whole lot further. The way of love is essential for addressing the seemingly insurmountable challenges facing the world today: poverty, racism, selfishness, deep ideological divisions, competing claims to speak for God. This book will lead readers to discover the gifts they need in order to live the way of love: deep reservoirs of hope and resilience, simple wisdom, the discipline of nonviolence, and unshakable regard for human dignity.
Spiritual Formation Class – Will Resume After the Lenten Study
The Spiritual Formation class is currently meeting via Zoom on Sundays at 1:00 p.m. for an hour. The current book study is Virus as a Summons to Faith by Walter Brueggemann. Why bother with the interpretive categories of biblical faith when in fact our energy and interest are focused on more immediate matters? The answer is simple and obvious. We linger because, in the midst of our immediate preoccupation with our felt jeopardy and our hope for relief, our imagination does indeed range beyond the immediate to larger, deeper wonderments. Our free-ranging imagination is not finally or fully contained in the immediacy of our stress, anxiety, and jeopardy. Beyond these demanding immediacies, we have a deep sense that our life is not fully contained in the cause-and-effect reasoning of the Enlightenment that seeks to explain and control. There is more than that and other than that to our life in God’s world!
UMW Book Study – Mondays at 3:00 p.m.
The United Methodist Women of WCUMC sponsor a book study, open to all via Zoom, on Mondays starting at 3:00 p.m. for an hour. We study books of spiritual or social significance.
More about the I Was a Stranger study group
Fifty churches, over twenty-five denominations, spanning sixteen months with one main question in mind: “I was a stranger; did you welcome me?” Based on a verse from Matthew 25, a retired clergy woman set out to discover what it’s like to experience various worship styles and practices. Included are visits to Catholic, Baptist, Presbyterian, Methodist, Lutheran, Episcopal, independent, Jehovah Witness, Latter Day Saints, Evangelicals, Pentecostals, Quakers and many more. What she found will surprise, delight and challenge the reader. During the primary election season and through the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, this book highlights her experience in each church. These anecdotal visits will appeal to church and non-church goers alike. Faith seekers, agnostics, unbelievers and devout believers will learn about the basic faith practices of other Christian denominations. Those in church leadership, and those who plan or participate in worship, will learn what works, and what doesn’t, with first-time visitors.
Susan I. Spieth was ordained in the United Methodist Church in 1996, after earning a Master of Divinity from Ashland Theological Seminary. She served six churches over almost twenty years before retiring to pursue her writing interests. Prior to that, she served in the US Army as a missile maintenance officer and is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point. She and her husband have two adult children and live in New Jersey.
Bead and a Prayer – Fridays at 1:30 p.m.
Come and discover the holiness of your everyday life! Bead and a Prayer Study Group is currently meeting via Zoom on Fridays from 1:30 -3:15 p.m.
More about the Your Spiritual Gifts Inventory study group
Bead and a Prayer will be starting a 2-week study for March 19th and 26th called Your Spiritual Gifts Inventory. A companion to Bryant’s Rediscovering Our Spiritual Gifts, this easy-to-use, 32 page inventory uses 160 questions, a scoring grid, and lists of biblical references to help ascertain spiritual gifts such as hospitality, intercessory prayer, and leadership.