Would you like to spend time with other women who want to grow in their faith, strengthen old friendships and create new ones?  Do you want to simplify your life, find more peace, and become more aware of God's abundance all around you?  Are you looking for break from your hectic life and new ways to energize your spiritual life? 

 

If so, NDBC invites you to attend a special weekend focusing on Simplicity, Peace and Abundance, a SPA retreat, September 17-19, 2010 at The Lodges at Historic Banning Mills in Whitesburg, GA.  Our weekend facilitator will be Ellen Shepard, minister of religious life at the United Methodist Children's Home in Decatur, GA and experienced women's retreat leader.

 

Rooms will be mostly triples with three beds and a bath.  The weekend will begin with dinner on Friday evening, followed by a program.  Saturday will include a morning session, a free afternoon for rest or adventure, and an evening program.  We will wrap up with a session and worship on Sunday morning followed by lunch.  Total cost for the weekend will be approximately $250/person for lodging, meals and programs. 

Through the 20thcentury to present, Christianity has undergone vast changes. It is in fact probably more accurate to speak ofchristianitiesthan Christianity. Scientific knowledge, globalization, industrialization, and oppression have catalyzed this splintering as Christianity reacts to the varying crises of history. Our main question for the workshop will be:

 

How has the U.S. progressive Christian tradition responded to crises, i.e. of belief or social turmoil?
 
This summer's workshops will highlight several progressive Christian voices of the 20thcentury as they respond to varying crises. Workshops will include readings and discussions of the following areas: belief, biblical interpretation, oppression, racism, sexism, economy and ecology. We will examine these varying crisis through the following theologian-ethicists: Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Walter Rauschenbusch, Reinhold Niebuhr, James Cone, Katie Cannon and Sallie McFague. These voices, moreover, tell the arching narrative of progressive Christianity in the U.S. - which is formed out of another question:
 
How does Christianity respond to modernity?
 
Discussions will be flexible, fun, and open to ideas. Participants are encouraged to speak from their own experience and to think about how these voices speak (or don't) to their faith and journey as a Christian. 
 
Materials & Meetings:
 
Participants will be given short, accessible readings for discussion. Meeting time will predominantly be discussion of material, but will also include introductions to each theologian-ethicist, context to their writing and potentially other media, i.e. video or audio of the theologian-ethicist.
 
Instructor Biography:
 
Preston Davis is the Summer Fellow at Glenn Memorial United MethodistChurch. He is currently a Masters of Divinity candidate in the fields of constructive theology and social ethics at Union Theological Seminary in New York City. In 2006 Preston graduated from Davidson College, where he was a religion major and four-year varsity soccer player. He is now a candidate for ordination as an Elder in the UMC Western Conference of N.C.  Preston is also about to become an honorary Northside Driver this summer when he marries Dorsett Clark, daughter of Patti and Jordan Clark.
 
[SEND WEB REGISTRATIONS TO:  predavis@gmail.com]

 

The NDBC staff celebrates the anniversary of our colleague, Rev. Michael Gregg.
 
Mike has been the Minister of Educational Life at Northside Drive Baptist Church, since June 11, 2007.  We are glad that Mike is a part of our team.
 
Gratefully,
 
James Lamkin, Paul Fletcher, Jeff Harbin, Tiffany Gibson Cox, Eric Cain, Carolyn Scott, Renee Gamache, Vanessa Johnson, and Richard Willingham.