The Heart of the Matter
Grab this summer opportunity to reflect on our role as Christians in a world of uncertainty, change, and anxiety. Come looking to claim your hope, Christian resilience, and the gifts God bestows for the work our times call us to do.
Coffee and bagels served at every class
For a look at the entire Summer offerings, download the brochure: AE Summer-2017 bro.
Justice for Our Children Matters
Shannon Daley-Harris
August 6, 11:15AM
Assembly Room
Most of us are aware of children who who don’t experience the love and justice God intends. And so we yearn for more inspiration, guidance, and sustenance from our faith so we can begin to close this gap between the world God intends and the one we know, between our Sunday worship and our weekday world in which children suffer injustice. What is God’s word to us in the tension between the vision and the reality? How can we draw on Scripture, story, and statistic to put our faith into action? What lessons can we take from biblical times, historic justice movements, and our own day to fuel our work for justice? Come for a time of learning, sharing, and taking action.
Shannon Daley-Harris is the Senior Religious Advisor and Proctor Institute Director for the Children’s Defense Fund (CDF). During her more than 26 years with CDF, she has created the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Institute for Child Advocacy Ministry and the National Observance of Children’s Sabbaths. Her work includes speaking, preaching, leading retreats and workshops, and consulting with religious groups from the national to the local level. Her most recent book is Hope for the Future: Answering God’s Call to Justice for Our Children (Westminster John Knox Press, 2016).
The Religious Lives of Presidents Matter
David Mulford
August 13, 11:15AM
Assembly Room
Learn about the denominational affiliations of our presidents as they are reviewed, along with the role religion has played in the lives, both personal and political, of several of our presidents.
David E. Mulford is a retired Presbyterian minister who continues a life-long study of the American Presidency. He has taught classes and has spoken to numerous groups on the subject over the years.
Music Matters: There Is Nothing Like a Grateful Dead Concert
Tom Coogan
August 20, 11:15AM
Assembly Room
A peace-and-love community of itinerants, living hand to mouth at the fringes of society and calling each other Brother and Sister, continues to grow in numbers twenty years after the death of its leader. Come hear what the fans of the Grateful Dead have in common with another early religious movement of long ago; it’s more than long hair and sandals. (By agreement with the Adult Ed Committee, no single musical excerpt will be longer than 45 minutes).
Tom Coogan has been a member of Presbyterian churches for 22 years, and a fan of the Grateful Dead for 38 years. At Nassau Church, where he and his family have been members for 10 years, Tom has been a Deacon, a Session member, and a softball coach.
Vocation Matters: Pursuing a Life of Meaning Halfway across the World
Marisa Charles
August 27, 11:15AM
Assembly Room
Marisa Charles, an international development specialist raised at Nassau Church, reflects on her decade of work in Burma/Myanmar, which has coincided with the country’s ongoing transition to democracy. Explore the foundational experiences that prompted her life abroad, the joys and challenges of living in a country that is not your own, and the people, experiences, and local initiatives that give her hope for Myanmar’s future.
Marisa Charles is the Deputy Director of Tharthi Myay Foundation, a Myanmar NGO that supports local civil society initiatives for rights, justice, and equality. She’s been engaging with Burma/Myanmar issues for 10+ years. And for full disclosure, yes, she is Tom and Lynn Charles’ daughter and a child of this church’s long history of mission engagement.
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