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Learners and Teachers

The Learners and Teachers Mission Group is called to invite and enable people to take part in learning and sharing opportunities that help inform and support a life of faith. Learners and Teachers lives out this call through its sponsorship of the Seekers Church School of Christian Living and through sharing its approach to Christian education with other congregations. See our lists of Course Offerings.

Guide of September 2002: Teaching in the School of Christian Living

The SCL uses a relational model, which assumes that each participant brings some form of wisdom from his or her life experiences in connection with the subject to the class, and that each person will make discoveries about the subject. A relational model does not assume that the teacher is the sole or even primary repository of knowledge about the subject matter.

Syllabus of Fall 1999 class led by David Lloyd and Steve Marcus: Genesis Stories Class 

The stories in Genesis ask questions that still resonate today: why do we feel a divine spark within ourselves, why do we feel estranged from God, why do we murder our brothers and sisters, how does God work through us for larger purposes? We invite you to engage with these and other questions raised by the familiar stories of creation, the Garden of Eden, Cain and Abel, Noah, Abraham, Jacob and Esau, and Joseph.

Discussion Paper of September 1997 by Ronald Arms: Leadership: A Discussion Paper 

Teamwork provides a basis for authority. The authority flows from what the team is doing. This is not power that comes from above or from position, rather it is power that is granted by those with whom it is exercised. The community is the source of authority.

Discussion Paper of July 1997 by Ronald Arms: Decision Making: A Discussion Paper 

It would be fascinating to have a record of how Jesus and the disciples made decisions. Did he command and they simply obey? Did they struggle to reach consensus? Did the majority rule? A group that included a tax collector and a zealot is not likely to have come to easy agreement. Dealing with a traitor required some hard decisions. Judas, as treasurer, questioned the use of resources on at least one occasion. Unfortunately, the New Testament does not contain simple, clear and sufficient instructions on decision making.

Discussion Paper of June 1997 by Ronald Arms: Belonging: A Discussion Paper 

The preferred term for followers of Jesus is disciple. It comes from the Greek word mathetes meaning to learn. "Disciple" is not, in the NT, a designation for one of the Twelve. Of over 230 instances of the term in the gospels, about 90 percent either are not limited to the Twelve at all, or do not make clear whether these or some larger group is intended. Matthew is the only book to speak of the twelve disciples. In this spirit, I would like to suggest that Seekers consider the subject of belonging from the perspective of learning.

Discussion Paper of March, 1997 by Ronald Arms: Money: A Window On The Sacred 

Jesus talked a lot about money. He did so because money has the potential to provide us with a first hand experience of the Sacred. While it is important to recognize his criticism of wealth, it is less common to understand his appreciation of money. Many are ready to dismiss it as evil, but the Zaccheus story shows its capacity to display God in action. "Today salvation has come to this house!" Neither criticism nor the appreciation by itself is enough. Both are necessary.

Seekers mourns the death of Mary Youry who passed away 13 October 1996.

Liturgy and Tributes by Rachel Halterman and Anne Cadman-Walker 

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