Two more one-session seminars

(posted by Paul Zilmer)

Our second and third holiday-season seminars were held on Dec 17 and 30.

I was scheduled to teach the Dec 17 seminar, on "How to Use a Concordance and Lexicons". Due to my mother-in-law's funeral, I was unable to do the presentation, but Ray Pratt stepped in, and based on comments from the students he did a terrific job. Thank you, Ray!  Nine students attended, including one new student.

Last evening (the 30th) our final one-session seminar, "Managing Conflict in Christian Marriage", was presented by Jared and Nisa Johnson. Five students attended. The format included discussion, and all of the students participated. Everyone stayed after for coffee and conversation.

My assessment is that holding one-session classes during the holidays has been a success. Several of our regular students attended one or more, and others were very positive about the idea, even if they didn't attend any themselves. Besides the direct benefit to those who attended, we have been able to demonstrate a year-round commitment to our students, staying engaged with them.

On another front — our Tuesday Bible study is now being attended by up to 4 regular students, besides members of the ecclesia. ("Up to 4" because they seldom all come, "regular" because all 4 do come often.) As we expected would be the case, it took some time before students started attending this class, but we hope that we're now developing a core who will continue. This class has continued every week through the holiday period. We are still studying 1 Corinthians, which will likely occupy us for the next 6-8 weeks.

Our winter term begins next week. Quite a few have signed up for "Basic Discipleship", and a smaller number for our second offering of "How to Study the Bible". We pray for the Father's blessing on these classes and the other activities at the Center, which we pray bring glory to His name.