Lloyd Geering -- The Last Western Heretic

Last Sunday, John referenced Lloyd Geering in his sermon. His description of Geering was correct. At age 93 Geering is yet publishing. His latest book "Such Is Life!: A Close Encounter With Ecclesiastes" is being reviewed by Rebecca Hilton. He's a fascinating person. Here's a modified version of his entry on Wikipedia:

Geering was born in New Zealand in 1918. He holds a master's degree in Mathematics and a Doctor of Divinity from the University of Otago. Following his ministry in the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand (PCANZ), he began teaching theology in 1956. In 1967 Geering became famous when he was charged with "doctrinal error" and "disturbing the peace and unity of the (Presbyterian) church". The case was brought before the 1967 General Assembly of the PCANZ, and dismissed without being much discussed. The charges were brought by a group of conservative laymen and a conservative minister. During his church trial he claimed that the remains of Jesus lay somewhere in Palestine and that the resurrection had been wrongfully interpreted by churches as a resuscitation of the body of Jesus. He also rejects the notion that God is a supernatural being who created and continues to look over the world.
Geering is a member of the Jesus Seminar and a participant in the Living the Questions program

He was honoured in 1988 as a Commander of the Order of the British Empire and in 2001 as Principal Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit. In the 2007 New Year Honours List he was made a Member of the Order of New Zealand.


This coming Sunday and the next, we'll view a documentary of his career entitled "the Last Western Heretic." If you'd like a preview, click here for the link. we'll leave plenty of time for discussion.

Please join us. We'll enjoy seeing you. And as ever, tender loving childcare is provided.

More Kilowatt Ours

Last Sunday we started viewing the video, "Kilowatt Ours," and this week we will finish the view. This video is very good in that it not only points out the problems with our energy consumption, it happily points to easy things we can all do to save energy and money. We'ver got some great advocates in the group. Please join us as we continue the discussion.
As always, excellent and loving childcare is provided.

Kilowatt Ours

This coming Sunday, June 26th, we're going to view the film "Kilowatts Ours: A Plan to Re-Energize America." This compelling documentary Jeff Barrie was produced in Nashville and filmed in southern Appalachia. It takes a careful look at the cost of producing electricity at the expense mountain-top removal. The subject is topical given the recent state legislative issuance of licenses to remove mountain tops in Tennessee. The cost of a kilowatt is much more than dollars we send in to the Power board. The cost hits our environmental, aesthetic and ecological pocketbooks in both the near and far-reaching future. Alternatives are possible-- we don't have to go this way.

See the press release, here: http://www.kilowattours.org/mediakit/KilowattOursPR042309.pdf

Visit the website, here: http://www.kilowattours.org/

Please join us at 9:45 for a thoughtful viewing. We'll be delighted to see you, and as ever, loving childcare is provided.

Taneem Aziz

This Sunday we have as our special guest, Mr. Taneem Aziz, a local leader of the Muslim Community of Northeast Tennessee. Mr. Aziz will provide his perspective on current events related to the local, national and international Muslim Community. Please join us for Mr. Aziz's return to our FPCe Adult Forum. We'll be delighted to see you. Excellent childcare is provided.

The Roots of Religion -- JS Spong

This coming Sunday, June 5, we will view and discuss a compressed version of John Shelby Spong's talk on "God in the 21st Century." The compressed version is edited for the salient points Spong makes on "tribal" religion in it's many forms. If you want a preview, here's the link: "Roots of Religion".

Please join us at 9:45. We'll be delighted to see you, and as ever, loving childcare is provided.

Jonathan Miller and Colin McGinn

This week we'll continue viewing Jonathan Miller's interview of British philosopher Colin McGinn. The interview is part of Miller's BBC series, "The Atheism Tapes." We started into this last week and had so much discussion that we ran out of time. This coming Sunday we'll finish up. If you want to preview the entire interview, click here.
Please join us. We'll be happy to see you. As usual, loving childcare is provided.

Back from the Jesus Seminar

This coming Sunday, our very own John Shuck will report to the Adult Forum with news from his recent trip to the 2011 Jesus Seminar in Salem, Oregon.

In 1985, the Jesus Seminar grew out of the efforts of Robert Funk and the Westar Institute whose stated "twofold mission is to foster collaborative research in religious studies and to communicate the results of the scholarship of religion to a broad, non-specialist public." The Jesus Seminar's main goal has been to identify a clearer picture of who Jesus really was. In their words, the Jesus Seminar has sought to "discover and report a scholarly consensus on the historical authenticity of the sayings (phase 1) and events (phase 2) attributed to Jesus in the gospels." The members, a mix of well-known schlolars and unfamiliar names, vote on lines of biblical scripture as being historically accurate, may accurate, not so accurate and definitey not accurate. The results have been both highly lauded and strongly condemned.

Please join us as John brings us up to date on the latest happenings. We'll be delighted to see you, and as ever, warm and loving childcare is provided.