Classes
Where every book study is a Bible study.“My mind has been challenged and awakened by our time together. I have become so bored with Bible studies. Even thinking I know more than I do! But you have awakened me to dig deeper. It’s not just a story, but a journey of God’s people. I keep discovering pieces that put the puzzle together into a beautiful story of the unconditional love of our God. I can’t wait until next week.”
All classes meet online using Zoom unless otherwise noted in the description. After registration, you will receive confirmation within moments. A couple of weeks prior to the first class, you will receive an email that will provide all the details you will need for the class. You will be sent a Zoom link on the day of the class. Due to generous financial donations that support Wakening Ministry there is no cost for these classes. If you like the experience, consider joining the Giving Circle.
All times are Eastern Time.
Wakening Ministry Community
(and growing)
CURRENT & UPCOMING CLASSES
Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion by Gregory Boyle
Led by Judy Stewart and Linda Zastovnik
Tuesdays (6 Sessions): June 11, 25; July 9, 23; August 6, 20, 2024
7:30 – 9:00 pm ET
On May 3, 2024, President Biden awarded Father Gregory Boyle the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Nation’s highest civilian honor. This summer, find out why. For twenty years, Gregory Boyle has run Homeboy Industries, a gang-intervention program located in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles, the gang capital of the world. In Tattoos on the Heart, he distills his experience working in the ghetto into a breathtaking series of parables inspired by faith. These essays about universal kinship and redemption are moving examples of the power of unconditional love and the importance of fighting despair. Gorgeous and uplifting, Tattoos on the Heart reminds us that no life is less valuable than another.
Judy Stewart is happily retired after an extensive career in banking followed by a successful financial planning practice. She and her husband, Bill, reside in CA. In the summer, they drive to the Oregon coast where Bill volunteers at a Christian rehab facility while Judy kayaks. Judy’s passions are walking at the beach with their rescue dog, Sedona, outdoor yoga with her daughter, reading, volunteering with Soroptimist International, coffee with good friends, and Wakening Ministry.
Benson’s Best
Buechner, Rilke, and Merton
3 Small Books
Read one each month: July, August, September
Meet on the Last Monday to discuss.
July 29, August 26, September 30, 2024
Discussions held online – always free – on the last Monday of each month.
7:00-9:00 pm EST
Robert Benson will discuss with us his 3 most influential books he has read. Come and let’s discover why.
Robert Benson is author of over twenty books about the search for the Holy in the midst of our ordinary lives. As a retreat leader and workshop teacher, Benson speaks on the life of prayer and contemplation, the disciplines and rituals of Christian spiritual practice, and the art and craft of writing. He is an adjunct faculty member for the Academy for Spiritual Formation, was named a Living Spiritual Teacher by Spirituality and Practice, and a member of The Friends of Silence & of the Poor, an ecumenical prayer community.
July 29
The Sacred Journey
Frederick Buechner
“A child takes life as it comes because he has no other way of taking it,” Frederick Buechner writes in this first of his autobiographical books. With this statement he attempts to explore the suicide of his father when he was 10. As with much of Buechner’s work, there is a movement from suffering to grace, a grace that comes in unexpected ways and places.
Frederick Buechner (BEEK-ner) has written 36 books and is praised for his ability to inspire readers to see the grace in their daily lives.
August 26
Letters to a Young Poet
Rainer Maria Rilke
Translated by Stephen Mitchell
“It is a matter of living everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will one distant day simply live your way into the answer.”
The poet Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926) wrote these ten letters starting in 1904 to a young poet who wanted advice, first about his poems, and then about how to live his life. With honesty and a deep understanding of loneliness Rilke’s letters are an endless source of inspiration and comfort. These letters have become one of the great classic texts of modern literature.
September 30
Thoughts in Solitude
Thomas Merton
“The only thing to seek in contemplative prayer is God; and we seek Him successfully when we realize that we cannot find Him unless He shows Himself to us, and yet at the same time that He would not have inspired us to seek Him unless we had already found Him.” Thoughts in Solitude addresses the pleasure of a solitary life, as well as the necessity for quiet reflection in an age when so little is private
Thomas Merton, a Trappist monk, is perhaps the foremost spiritual thinker of the twentieth century. His diaries, social commentary, and spiritual writings continue to be widely read after his untimely death in 1968.
The Screwtape Letters
Monthly, First Thursdays
September 2024 – May 2025
2024: 9/5, 10/3, 11/7, 12/5
2025: 1/2, 2/6, 3/6, 4/3, 5/1
7:30 pm – 9:00 pm ET
The Screwtape Letters is a brilliant and satirical look at spiritual warfare and the dynamics of temptation. Screwtape, a senior demon in the bureaucracy of Hell, writes letters to his incompetent nephew Wormwood, a junior devil. The younger demon’s assignment is to corrupt a young man living in London during the tumultuous days of World War II.
This 12-week Bible study will expand upon C.S. Lewis’s thoughts found in each letter and the unique insight into the battles being waged in the spiritual world. Led by Julie Westhofen, hosted by Linda Zastovnik.
Julie Westhofen is often found surrounded by books, with an insatiable desire to learn. She has a passion for women on their own spiritual quest: Biblical, historical, fictional and living. After being exposed to C. S. Lewis’ Narnia, where animals talk and trees walk, nature became her everyday sanctuary. she loves to share what she learns with others, and to hear how the experience of others can teach her.
Bible Basics
Mondays, 2 Sessions
September 9, 16, 2024
7:30 – 9:00 pm ET
Whether you are new or experienced with the Bible, you will enjoy this simple overview of “everything you should know but are afraid to ask.” We will learn:
- How to Navigate
- The Big Story
- Timelines and Maps – Why?
- Versions and Translations
- The Family Tree (Patriarchs)
- The Main People
- Purpose of the Prophets
- Exodus and Exile
- The Tabernacle and the Temple
- The Significance of Jerusalem
Wholehearted Faith
by Rachel Held Evans
with Jeff Chu
Tuesdays (4 Sessions): September 3 & 17, 2024; October 1 & 15, 2024
7:30 pm – 9:15 pm ET
Rachel Held Evans is widely recognized for her theologically astute, profoundly honest, and beautifully personal books, which have guided, instructed, edified, and shaped Christians as they seek to live out a just and loving faith.
This book is for the doubter and the dreamer, the seeker and the sojourner, those who long for a sense of spiritual wholeness as well as those who have been hurt by the Church but can’t seem to let go of the story of Jesus. Through theological reflection and personal recollection, Rachel wrestles with God’s grace and love, looks unsparingly at what the Church is and does, and explores universal human questions about becoming and belonging. An unforgettable, moving, and intimate book.
The Chosen: Season 1
Wednesdays (8 Sessions): September 4, 11, 18, 25; October 9, 16, 23, 30 (2024)
7:30 – 9 pm ET
The Chosen is a drama based on the life of Jesus and those who knew him. Set against the backdrop of Roman oppression in first-century Israel, the series shares an authentic look at Jesus’ revolutionary life and teachings. We will view the video on your own during the week and meet together online to dig into a few scenes, side by side with the Bible.
No book required other than the Bible. Any version is welcome.
Wakening Anti-Racism 2024
Monthly, 3rd Mondays
January – August 2024
7:30 pm – 9:00 pm ET
Son of Hamas
Meet Online to Discuss
Monday, Jan. 15, 2024
7:30 – 9:00 pm ET
We are seeking to learn more about the conflict/war in the Middle East. We begin with the book, Son of Hamas. The oldest son of the founding member of Hamas and its most popular leader, young Mosab assisted his father for years in his political activities while being groomed to assume his legacy, politics, status . . . and power. But everything changed when Mosab turned away from terror and violence and embraced instead the teachings of Jesus Christ. Come to one or come to all sessions.
This group commits to meet monthly to learn, explore and engage with one another as we grow in our understanding of racism. We are committed to live as antiracists. White Fragility and So You Want to Talk About Race are books that have helped us start these conversations. This is a safe place to learn about our history which will inform our present struggles.
Our purpose is to grow in knowledge as we move towards action. Living as an antiracist requires us to speak up and step in whenever we witness injustice. We encourage all to take small steps in our current sphere of influence and work to expand our sphere of influence.
Series:
Frontline: Shattered Dreams of Peace: The Road to Oslo
Documentary/PBS
The Pianist
Movie/Prime Video
O, Jerusalem
Movie/DVD or Online
The Lemon Tree
Book/Audiobook
Disturbing the Peace
Documentary/Netflix
1913: Seeds of Conflict
Documentary/PBS
One of Us
Documentary/Netflix
COMING SOON
The Journey
It’s a story you know by heart, but The Journey combines historical information and archaeology with Adam Hamilton’s thoughtful, conversational teaching style to give you a new perspective on the story of Mary and Joseph’s journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem.
Journey to the Holy Land with pastor and best-selling author Adam Hamilton retracing the actual path of Mary and Joseph’s journey to Bethlehem.
Building the Bridge: Part 1
Hailed by many as the best modern book on Christian spirituality, Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster explores the classic spiritual disciplines or practices of the Christian faith. Dividing the disciplines into three movements of the Spirit, Foster shows how each of these areas contribute to a more balanced spiritual life. Part 1 includes the inward disciplines of meditation, prayer, fasting, and study which offer avenues of personal examination and change. We will read & discuss the chapter one week and practice it and meet to share our experiences the next.
The Prayers of Jesus
Come as you are and when you can.
Prayer was the backbone of Jesus’ life and ministry. From his baptism to his crucifixion, the Gospels portray Jesus as a man of prayer who knew and deeply valued intimate communion with his heavenly Father. What can we learn from the prayers he prayed? This study will reveal new insights into prayer and the character of God.
Holy Love: A Biblical Theology for Human Sexuality
5 Sessions
dates coming soon…
The United Methodist Church is facing imminent division as a result of our understanding of human sexuality. Other Christian denominations have weathered the storm that has been brewing in our churches. Join Pastor Linda in a study of the book, Holy Love by Steve Harper. We will examine the biblical texts and grapple with the historical and theological context.
Steve Harper is a retired United Methodist elder (pastor) and a retired seminary dean and professor who taught for 32 years in the disciplines of spiritual formation and Wesley studies. This resource is grounded in biblical, Christian teaching and will show that it is compatible with faithful, covenantal love and intimacy amidst all sexual orientations. Harper is not at war with anyone; rather, he writes with love of the love of God for all people. And as he says, “All means all.” Beginning with an inductive Bible study, Harper examines the biblical sweep to see relationship–both divine-human and human-human–grounded in four values: sacredness, fidelity, permanency, and monogamy. These speak to an understanding that all people have sacred worth.
By the way, you don’t have to agree with the author to participate. All are welcome.
This class is being offered again soon by popular demand. Register your interest to secure your space.
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