Spring 2021

 
 

“Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents” By Isabel Wilkerson

Wednesdays 7-8:00p beginning March 10

Please join us for an eight-week book discussion of Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents

Signup below – or email karinschurrer@gmail.com with questions. 

Our January through February group chose to continue meeting after reading “Stamped” together. We are sharing leadership for this session but leading a discussion is not a requisite to join us.

Book Discussion of Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents

Wednesday evenings from 7-8:00p

Beginning Wednesday, March 10 and continuing 8 weeks through Wednesday April 28, 2021

Read the Introduction and Chapter 1 for March 10. You can join at any time!

Title: Caste by Isabel Wilkerson. Available to purchase as a hardcover, on audiobooks and ebooks. Note: The book is a 2020 release so it is only available in hardcover. The library system has copies but the waitlist is long for hardcover and audible

A description from Wilkerson’s website: “A book steeped in empathy and insight, Caste explores, through layered analysis and stories of real people, the structure of an unspoken system of human ranking and reveals how our lives are still restricted by what divided us centuries ago.

“Modern-day caste protocols,” Wilkerson writes, “are often less about overt attacks or conscious hostility. They are like the wind, powerful enough to knock you down but invisible as they go about their work.”

Wilkerson rigorously defines eight pillars that underlie caste systems across civilizations, including divine will, heredity, and dehumanization. She documents the parallels with two other hierarchies in history, those of India and of Nazi Germany, and no reader will be left without a greater understanding of the price we all pay in a society torn by artificial divisions.

“The hierarchy of caste is not about feelings or morality,” Wilkerson writes. “It is about power — which groups have it and which do not.”

 

 

“A Black Theology of Liberation” by James Cone

Wednesdays at 3:00p beginning March 10

Facilitated by Umar Williams and Bill Konrardy

James Cone, one of the most theological voices in North America, offers a searing indictment of white theology and society, introducing a radical reappraisal of the Christian message for our time. Joining the spirit of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr., Cone radically reappraised Christianity from the perspective of the oppressed black community in North America. Forty years later, Cone’s work retains its original power, enhanced now by his reflections on the evolution of his own thinking and of black theology. Join us for deep discussion on Liberation for Black and Christian family.

 

EBooks are $9.99 and paperbacks $14.93, please purchase your own book.  Scholarships available.

 
 
 
 

“Finding God in the Waves: How I Lost My Faith and Found It Again Through Science” by Mike McHargue

Sunday mornings at 10:10 beginning March 7

Facilitated by Chris Dozier, Stacey Edwards, and Don McClung

From the host of the popular podcasts, The Liturgists Podcast and Ask Science Mike, a story of having faith, losing it, and finding it again through science—revealing how the latest in neuroscience, physics, and biology help us understand God, faith, and ourselves.

 

Mike McHargue understands the pain of unraveling belief. In Finding God in the Waves, Mike tells the story of how his Evangelical faith dissolved into atheism as he studied the Bible, a crisis that threatened his life, his friendships, and even his marriage. Years later, Mike was standing on the shores of the Pacific Ocean when a bewildering, seemingly mystical moment motivated him to take another look. But this time, it wasn’t theology or scripture that led him back to God—it was science. Among other revelations, we learn what brain scans reveal about what happens when we pray; how fundamentalism affects the psyche; and how God is revealed not only in scripture, but in the night sky, in subatomic particles, and in us.

 

EBooks are $12.99 and paperbacks $15, please purchase your own book. Scholarships available.
 
 
 
 
 

Searching for Answers

Wednesdays 7-8:00p beginning March 3

Facilitated by Julie Konrardy

 

In this study we will grapple with some of the questions of our faith. Searching for Answers is not designed to give pat answers to complex questions. Instead, this study will help us think through the issues with which we may be struggling. It will provide ways for the church to talk openly and honestly about questions of faith. Reading Scripture can raise difficult questions for us. Exploring our faith through these questions can deepen our trust in and strengthen our relationship with God.
 
 
 
 

Topics in this 7-week study include:

Chapter 1: Why Does God Allow Suffering?

Chapter 2: What Should a Christian Believe About Creation?

Chapter 3: How Do We Reconcile the Violence of the Old Testament with the Call to be Peacemakers in the New Testament?

Chapter 4: Is the Bible Trustworthy?

Chapter 5: How Do We Know God’s Will?

Chapter 6: Is Christianity the Only True Religion/Is Christ the Only Way?

Chapter 7: Why Don’t We See More Miraculous Signs in the Church Today?

 

Books for this class are $10. They will be available through the facilitator.  Scholarships available.

 

 

If you are interested in participating, complete the form below and click the submit button.

Questions? Email anne.bauers@gmail.com. 

ALSET is Seeking New Members! Are you interested in supporting ALSET, either as a committee member or a group facilitator?
We’d love to have you! Please reach out to Anne Bauers, co-chair, by clicking here.