First Church

In February, we will have the opportunity to study and learn about faith and the actions for justice that faith calls for as people respond to their spiritual commitments.  We begin with our “All Church Read: Three Cups of Tea,” by Greg Mortensen, whose faith led him to begin working with the people of Pakistan and later Afghanistan to build schools.  Join us Monday evening, February 8th for dinner and discussion from 5-7pm.  Children will discuss Listen to the Wind and make collages afterwards.  The group will be led by the Ott-Hill family.  Young readers will discuss the young readers’ version of the book and learn a song about the book.  Adults will have table discussions of the saga of Mortensen as he seeks to understand and know the people of the land and then work together with them to build schools and other necessities.  Some may also have read his second volume, Stones Into Schools, and can share stories of his progress.  

Our second opportunity will be the Adult Forum on February 14th whose topic is Global Christianity, led by James Ehrman, the Executive Director of the World Christianity Initiative at Yale.  Prior to that, he served 13 years as an international service worker with the Evangelical Christian Church before being named the denomination’s Director of Global Ministries.  He will examine the growth of the church outside the West and the “Global South” movement.  Christianity stands as the foremost multicultural religion.  He will identify the 5 streams of Christianity: holiness, pentecostal, social justice, evangelical, and contemplative, with their various biblical bases and denominational embodiments.

Finally, at the end of the month, Omer Bajwa, coordinator of Muslim life at Yale University will present Islam and the World: Present Situation, Future Directions in the Adult Forum February 28th.  He was born in Pakistan and grew up in Binghamton, NY.  He has a Masters in Communications and Near East Studies from Cornell University, where he felt called to ministry. He is currently completing a Graduate Certificate in Islam Chaplaincy at Hartford Seminary.  He has made a significant impact at Yale, where there are over 200 Muslim students and faculty. He will share with us what it is like to be a Muslim in today’s America.  He will deal with such issues as Sharia law, the status of women and homosexuals in Muslim countries and what the Koran has to say about war and peace.