Adult Spiritual Formation
New Members Class with Steve Wilson meets once a quarter. Next new member class will meet Jan. 15 and 22 from 9:30 am - 10:30 am in the Marie Berg Chapel. New members will be received during worship Jan. 29 during the 11:00 am service.
Please call the church office 412-828-5770.
COFFEE AND CONVERSATION SERIES
In-person in the Multi-Purpose Room at 9:30am.
See weekly details below.
Pre-COVID Coffee and Conversation programs were recorded and
are available on the Podcasts page.
April 16, 2023 - a special session on "Changes in Pastoral Leadership: What to Expect."
We will convene a few pastors who regularly attend OPC to address this timely topic. Rev. Lee Nichols recently retired from many years of service, most recently at the Hoboken Presbyterian Church in Blawnox and Rev. Cliff Buell spent the second half of his long career as an interim minister at several churches in Western PA. We're looking for others to add to the panel. There is no set agenda. Come with questions and concerns about what OPC can expect in the next year or so.
May 22 (9:30 am - In-person)
Rev. Dr. Steve Crocco hosted the last Adult Ed session until Sept. 18. He will use the class as an opportunity to discuss issues emerging from the Supreme Court's draft opinion on abortion. Steve has a PhD in Christian ethics from Princeton University and is well qualified to lead the discussion. He will open the session with a few remarks as well as some distinctions and definitions to encourage a serious but civil discussion.
Steve writes: '
...I will be make a few remarks about Christian approaches to abortion and the possibility that Roe v. Wade may be overturned. Those who attended my classes on a Christian approach to party politics will recognize some of the ground rules for discussion I will mention on Sunday. The idea is similar: how do you talk about such a contentious issue? I am not going to have all the answers but I do hope to share some ways to improve our thinking and conversations about this divisive and important topic. There will be plenty of time for discussion.
My main advisor in graduate school was Paul Ramsey, a noted Christian ethicist who wrote widely on abortion and medical ethics. His ideas always inform my own.'
After May 22, Christian Education resumes September 18.
April 24, May 1, 8 & 15 (9:30 am - In-person)
James E. Davison will be teaching a four week class called “Experiencing God as Trinity,” starting April 24 and going through May 15. Read the description of the class as passed out during class Sunday morning, April 10.
May 8 - Dr. Jim Davison will present the third of four classes on the doctrine of the Trinity. Jim is a great teacher. So far, he's made an abstract doctrine come to life by discussing traces of the Trinity in the Bible. He followed that up with an interesting account of how the early church gave formulation to the Trinity in the Nicene Creed. In all this, he shows how the doctrine of the Trinity helps to shape us as Christians. - Steve Wilson, Senior Pastor.
May 1 - OPC friend Jim Davison taught the second of this four week class on the Trinity and the difference the doctrine makes for living the Christian life. This week’s lesson will be on some basic points of trinitarian doctrine in relation to the Nicene Creed.
Last week’s lesson on references and allusions to the Trinity in the Bible was very interesting and helpful. I expect more of the same this week.
See you there. Regards, Steve Crocco, Associate Pastor
April 3 & 10 (9:30 am - In-person)
The Rev. Dr. Steve Crocco, OPC's Associate Professor, will lead us in a two week exploration of “A Christian Approach to Party Politics.”
On April 10 Rev. Crocco will be finishing up his two week series on how Christians might be involved in political parties. If you missed last week, there will be a review! Plus, as promised, he will show some pictures of some of the graffiti, etc. that make Portland, Oregon famous/infamous.
April 17 - NO Sunday School
March 6, 13, 20, 27 (9:30 am - In-person)
Four week series on “The Provocative Parables of Jesus,” taught by the Rev. Dr. Angela Dienhart Hancock, Associate Professor of Homiletics and Worship at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. She is the author of Karl Barth’s Emergency Homiletic, 1932–33: A Summons to Prophetic Witness at the Dawn of the Third Reich, a contextual interpretation of Barth’s lectures on preaching in the early 1930s, based on unpublished archival material. She is an ordained Minister of Word and Sacrament in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and has served as pastor to churches in Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and Tennessee. Hancock earned her bachelor’s degree in music from Indiana University, Bloomington, and her M.Div. and Ph.D. from Princeton Theological Seminary. She is married to PC (U.S.A.) pastor Trent Hancock, and has two young adult children.
February 6 (9:30 am - In-person)
Ron Tappy, PhD, G. Albert Shoemaker Professor Emeritus
Dr. Tappy recently retired from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, where he served for many years as a professor of Bible and Archaeology. This month Dr. Tappy discusses The History of Old Testament Israel: A View from the Bible and the Writing of Israel's Neighbors in four parts. This week: part 1.
February 13 (9:30 am - In-person)
The History of Old Testament Israel: A View from the Bible and the Writing of Israel's Neighbors; continues with part 2 this week.
February 20 (9:30 am - In-person)
The History of Old Testament Israel: A View from the Bible and the Writing of Israel's Neighbors; continues with part 3 this week.
February 27 (9:30 am - In-person)
The History of Old Testament Israel: A View from the Bible and the Writing of Israel's Neighbors; continues with part 4 this week.
January 9 (9:30 am - In-person)
Graham Standish, Samaritan Counseling Center
It’s easy for Christians to pay attention those who need food, housing, clothing, and physical care. But how are we at paying attention to people’s mental and emotional states? Jesus healed people mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. How can we be a church that does that, too? The Rev. Dr. Graham Standish, PhD, MSW, will lead us in exploring what mental health is and how we, as a church, can do more to support those with mental health needs. He is the executive director of Samaritan Counseling, Guidance, Consulting, which we support as a church.
January 16 (9:30 am - In-person)
Rev. Liddy Barlow, Christian Assoc. of Southwest PA
Rev. Barlow is a creative and passionate servant of the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church in all its complicated diversity. She works to bring Christians of all traditions together to make visible our true unity as the Body of Christ.
In April 2014, Rev. Barlow became the first woman to be installed as Executive Minister of Christian Associates of Southwest Pennsylvania. She reports to the Council of Bishops and Judicatory Executives, who represent 28 Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox church bodies throughout greater Pittsburgh. As Executive Minister, Rev. Barlow sets a vision for Christian Associates and manages all of the organization's projects and relationships.
Christian Associates of Southwest Pennsylvania brings together Anglican, Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant church bodies in the 10 counties of Southwest Pennsylvania to work for the unity of the church and the wholeness of communities. Founded in 1970, the organization includes 28 judicatories representing 2,000 local congregations and 1,000,000 Christians in the following counties: Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Greene, Indiana, Lawrence, Washington and Westmoreland.
January 23 (9:30 am - In-person)
Tara Conroy, Light of Life Mission
Tara is a lifelong resident of Oakmont. We will learn about the important work of the Light of Life Rescue Mission, the people they serve, their collaboration with community partners, stories of two of our clients/graduates and service-oriented opportunities.
January 30 – Fourth Sunday after Epiphany
Rev. Dr. Steve Crocco, OPC
Christians, like most other people, have an ambiguous relationship with animals. We love some of them and invite them into our houses as pets, we eat some with great relish, and others we hunt for sport. To be honest, most Christians haven’t given much thought to our relationship with animals. We point to biblical passages which talk about humans having dominion over animals. We wonder about the health benefits of eating meat. And we’d rather not think about factory farming. This class is a quick look at the argument from theologian David Clough’s two-volume work, On Animals, that posits that if animals are included in the creation that is groaning for redemption as described by Paul in Romans 8, shouldn’t we treat them better?
December 5, 12 (9:30 am - In-person)
Kathy Williams will lead discussion of Adam Hamilton’s Incarnation: Rediscovering the Significance of Christmas
December 19 (9:30 am - In-person)
Sam Anderson will continue leading discussion of Adam Hamilton’s Incarnation: Rediscovering the Significance of Christmas
December 26—1st Sunday of Christmas
No Adult Education
November 7 (9:30 am - In-person)
A New Look at Saints led by Steve Wilson
November 14 and 21 (9:30 am - In-person)
The Great Emergence - How Christianity is Changing and Why led by Sam Anderson
These sessions will focus on the writing of Phyllis Tickle and Emergent Christianity. Her teachings reflect both her deep intellect and quick wit. Phyllis believes that the Church is in the middle of one of its every 500 year “Rummage Sales”, were the Church cleans out its attic to make room for a new and stronger future.
You may not buy everything that Phyllis Tickle is selling. But she will give you the opportunity to think deeply, look into the future, and perhaps enjoy a laugh or two.
PHYLLIS TICKLE (1934 – 2015) Phyllis was the founding editor of the Religion Department of PUBLISHERS WEEKLY. As an authority on religion in America, she was frequently quoted in print sources, electronic media, and a much sought-after lecturer. She served on a number of advisory and corporate boards with in the Episcopal Church and was a lay eucharistic minister and lector.
November 28—1st Sunday of Advent (9:30 am - In-person)
Adam Hamilton’s Incarnation with Kathy Williams
Church for our New Missional Era
Adult Education by Zoom 9:15 a.m.
October 10, 17, 24, and 31 – Dr. Scott Hagley
Dr. Scott Hagley, Associate Professor of Missiology at the Pittsburgh Presbytery will be OPC’s CCSS speaker starting October 10. His topic will be the Church for our New Missional Era.
Sociologists have tracked the decline of Christianity in the U.S. for decades. Beginning in the 1960s, Mainline denominations began to grow older and smaller, losing their younger members to a growing population of religiously unaffiliated persons. By the end of the Twentieth Century, white evangelical communities followed suit. It is now widely accepted that Christian communities in the U.S. are undergoing new pressures and immense changes. But how should we understand these changes? And, what new possibilities for Christian faith and practice do such challenges suggest? Over the course of four weeks, we will explore reasons for the decline of Christian practice in the U.S. with a view to the question: ‘What might God be up to in this new era for the church? And, how might we join in?’
Oct. 10: Shallow Soil and Cracked Fountains
Oct. 17: Out of breath and on the road
Oct. 24: Embracing our New Missional Era
Oct. 31: Welcoming the Stranger
If you would like to receive a zoom invitation, please email Steve at swilson@oakmontpresby.org.
Like it or not, we have all been "trained" in certain ways of reading Scripture. In fact, the very appearance of our Bibles functions to train us in certain habits of reading. This three-week course will reflect on the history not just of biblical interpretation, but how the form of Scripture itself has fueled certain assumptions about what kind of text the Bible is, and hence the kinds of questions that readers may ask of it. Greater awareness of this fascinating history has the benefit of greatly expanding our interpretive horizons in the present.
If you would like to receive a zoom invitation, please email Steve at swilson@oakmontpresby.org.
Insights into Understanding Scripture
Adult Education by Zoom 9:15 a.m.
September 19, 26 & October 3 – Dr. Tucker Ferda
Dr. Tucker Ferda is the Associate Professor of New Testament at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary.
415 Pennsylvania Ave / Oakmont, PA. 15139
412-828-5770
