Eastertide Small Groups Experiment
During the six weeks of Eastertide, we will experiment with 45-minute small groups before worship on Sunday mornings from April 27 through June 1, and shift our current schedule by 15 minutes.
The experimental schedule looks like this:
9–9:15 a.m.: Parents may drop their children off in the first room to the left as one enters the church school wing. Our childcare providers will be there to provide activities for children of all ages, and our Outreach Ministry will provide a Keurig in the atrium for self-serve coffee before small groups.
9:15–10 a.m.: Adults and high schoolers are invited to attend a small group of their choice or go to music warm-ups in the sanctuary as usual (e.g. handbells, sanctuary choir, ensembles). During the Eastertide experiment the groups will be:
Meditation (Room 8, hybrid; facilitated by Carolyn Yocom): God is still speaking—join us for meditation, a form of listening!
Bible Study (Conference Room, hybrid; facilitated by Carrie Douglas and Brian Payne): Peterson Toscano is a playwright and actor who brings bible stories to life, exploring familiar stories through unfamiliar lenses. In “Transfigurations: Transgressing Gender in the Bible,” he embodies six characters that transgress or exceed gender expectations.
Antiracism (Room 7; facilitated by Drew Nettinga): Explore the Afro-Christian Convention, a stream with a rich past that also has much to say about the present and future of our denomination.
10–10:15 a.m.: Parents may pick up their children and others will have time to gather and chat before worship.
10:15–11:15 a.m.: Worship in the sanctuary as usual, with children and teachers leaving for church school after our Time with Children.
11:15 a.m.–noon: Coffee hour as usual in the social hall, along with handbell rehearsals and children’s/youth choir rehearsals. Our childcare providers will stay in the social hall or on the playground with our children until 11:30 a.m.
Learn more about the background to the experiment, read fuller descriptions of the groups, and find out about the possibilities beyond the experimental weeks and for non-Sunday morning groups in Pastor Shelli's full announcement.