It is November. It is time to wish family members, friends and neighbors near and far a Blessed Thanksgiving, Holiday Cheer and a Joyous Christmas. And we will do all of this here at PVCC! My mind today is looking around the corner to 2014. I hope you will read this, and give me some feedback. I know how busy we all get the last two months of the year. Please let me know if you are interested. Thank you.
I would like to offer an opportunity to study John Shelby Spong’s most recent book, The Fourth Gospel: Tales of a Jewish Mystic in January and February. It is an excellent book, and very readable. The book has 32 chapters and runs 316 pages. I propose we meet for 8 weeks (four weeks in January and four weeks in February) we will read and discuss 4 chapters a week. We will meet twice a week on Sunday. One session will be the Seekers Class on Sunday morning. Those who could not attend the Seekers Class could attend a session on late Sunday afternoon—perhaps sharing a light meal together if people wish. If we order the book in November people can get a jump on reading. The cost for a used book is around $15. If we place one order we can save on shipping.
I would like to ask you to start thinking also about hosting house gatherings during Lent—four weeks in March and the first week in April. For this we need host homes. I would be glad to lead the discussions. Hosts would only be asked to allow us to meet in your home—not serve food. Thanks to Rev. Bill Reece, the founding pastor of PVCC, I have a copy of papers used in the house church when he was here. I propose we would meet once a week and read the following papers: Week 1, “Common Worship in the Life of the Church” by Joseph Matthews; Week 2, “The Crisis of Faith” by Rudolf Bultmann; Week 3, “You Are Accepted” by Paul Tillich; Week 4 “Freedom” by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Week 5: “The Church as Social Pioneer” by H. Richard Niebuhr. The language is not inclusive but the theology is profound. Sharing in this study will get us in touch with the history and theology of PVCC.
Both of these proposals depend on you and your interest. Please let me know if you are interested.
Thank you, David