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.
Spiritual Formation Class
The Spiritual Formation class is currently meeting via Zoom on Sundays at 1:00 p.m. for an hour. It’s a new Adult Sunday School Book Study beginning April 11 at 1pm via Zoom. Hope and Other Superpowers. https://www.cokesbury.com/9781501179655-Hope-and-Other-Superpowers
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
This enthralling story of the making of an American is a timely meditation on being Muslim in America today. Threading My Prayer Rug is a richly textured reflection. It is also the luminous story of many journeys: from Pakistan to the United States in an arranged marriage that becomes a love match lasting forty-five years; from secular Muslim in an Islamic society to devout Muslim in a society ignorant of Islam, and from liberal to conservative to American Muslim; from bride to mother; and from an immigrant intending to stay two years to an American citizen, business executive, grandmother, and tireless advocate for interfaith understanding.
Beginning with a sweetly funny, moving account of her arranged marriage, the author undercuts stereotypes and offers the refreshing view of an American life through Muslim eyes. Sabeeha was doing interfaith work for Imam Feisal A. Rauf, the driving force behind the Muslim community center near Ground Zero, when the backlash began. She recounts what that experience revealed about American society and in a new preface discusses Islam in America in the time of Trump.