基督徒门徒的冒险

Note: Part 1 of this course is not required to attend Part 2.

Part 1: Supporting Those with Mental Illness in Your Congregation and 社区. This 培训 will provide clergy and faith community members approaches to making their congregations a welcoming and supportive space for people with mental illness. 将特别注意公共传播, relationship development and partnering with external mental health providers.

Part 2: Ministering to Those in Crisis: Creating an Internal System of Care. This 培训 will equip church staff in developing an internal process for supporting people in their congregation or community impacted by abuse, 心理健康斗争, 自残或有自杀的想法.

戴夫·埃克特 是机密数据库的创始人和主管, an initiative within Access Services that supports those at the intersection of faith and mental health through consultation, 培训, and the fostering of collaboration between faith communities and mental health providers. He has spent over 20 years working for Access within various roles including Director of a Mobile Psychiatric Rehabilitation program and agency Chaplain. 戴夫也是一名被任命的牧师, serving as one of the pastors at Grace 社区 Church in Chalfont, 担任了15年的私人助理. Dave is a certified trainer in the areas of suicide intervention and psychiatric rehabilitation and is also a co-author of the Opioid Response Network’s “Opioid Use Disorder Toolkit for Faith-Based 社区 Leaders”. Dave holds degrees in Social Work, Biblical Studies, and Divinity. He lives with his wife and three children in Montgomery County, PA.

Settling refugees has been going on in the United States for centuries. In mid-west Kansas, we felt the shock of dismay just as strongly as most when Russia invaded Ukraine. A brief newspaper article alerted a member of the McPherson Church of the Brethren to a U.S. government program called “Uniting for Ukraine” that allowed for Ukrainian refugees to settle in our country.  在这个风险投资课程中, members of the mcpherson弟兄教会欢迎小组 will discuss the journey our church and community have been and are currently on to welcome Ukrainian families to McPherson. Perhaps your church community would be interested in helping settle refugees from Ukraine or other countries. Please join us as we share what we have learned and the joy and blessings we have experienced in being “Jesus in the (international) Neighborhood.”

2022年秋天，堪萨斯州的mcpherson(McPherson).) Church of the Brethren Welcomers Group formed to sponsor and assist Ukrainian refugees coming to the U.S. A year later the group is 18 members strong and is currently sponsoring nine refugees in McPherson. 教会提供了资金支持, 捐赠物品布置家庭, helped with English classes and job applications and much more. 该组织自成立以来共援助了17名难民.

在马太福音22章, as he is teaching the disciples about the resurrection to come, Jesus reminds them of his and their connection to their ancestors in the Jewish faith, 将上帝描述为“亚伯拉罕的上帝”, 以撒, 雅各.” It is both a biological and a spiritual lineage to which Christians, 穆斯林, 犹太人直到今日还占有这地. 但是族长们, 亚伯拉罕, 以撒, 雅各, 他们的一生不就是靠着信心和勇气活出来的吗. They were partnered by powerful and faithful matriarchs: Sarah, 利百加, 拉结和利亚, as well as several additional women through whom the promise made to 亚伯拉罕 was borne: Hagar, 悉帕, 辟拉.

Each of these strong and powerful women are worth getting to know (better), 不仅仅是通过圣经文本, but through works of visual and literary art that they have inspired. In this course we will spend time with the matriarchs as they have been envisioned in picture and word, with the hope of strengthening our own faith and courage along the way.

波比Dykema is pastor at First Church of the Brethren in Springfield, Ill. and serves on the pastoral team of the Living Stream Church of the Brethren. She also teaches humanities at Lincoln Land 社区 College, 在弟兄教会常务委员会任职, 也是女性党团会议的召集人. Bobbi completed her master’s degree at United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities and a Ph.D. in Art and Religion at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley. She lives in Springfield with her husband Tim and their cats Saskia and Gennara.