Are you looking for:

• spiritual growth?

• personal enrichment?

• connections with other Christian seekers?

• theological education for the people in the pews?

• help to become a better leader in your church?

• OR just a time to get away for renewal?

Then LIFE at Eden might be what you're looking for!

LIFE (Lay Institute of Faith Exploration) offers 5 overnight retreats each year on the campus of Eden Theological Seminary in St. Louis.  Lay men and women gather to explore how Christian faith and life intersect, and to share common meals and fellowship. 

• Read the list of upcoming retreats for 2012
• See a typical retreat schedule
  
• Read about the LIFE program
  
• Read the latest LIFE newsletter (Opens a PDF document in a new browser)
• See the current LIFE brochure (Opens a PDF document in a new browser)

Rev. Dr. Christopher Grundy, Instructor

Proclaiming the good news is an act of collaboration.
The preacher, the listeners and the Holy Spirit are all active in helping to discern the meanings of scripture for today.  Participants in this course will explore preaching as this work of humility and collaboration in the church today.

Rev. Dr. Christopher Grundy joined the Eden faculty in 2004.  His teaching asks students to take God's activity seriously.  In preaching classes, he urges preachers to enter the pulpit with a combined sense of humility and collaboration, knowing that preacher, listeners and the Holy Spirit will all be active helping to discern the meanings of scripture for today.  In worship classes, he similarly emphasizes our collaborative work with God and the gathered community.

Christopher is ordained in the United Church of Christ and served congregations in Iowa and Kansas.  He and his wife, Carla, are the parents of three sons.  He has also been writing, recording and performing music for local, regional and national church gatherings for 13 years.  His music was recently included in the UCC songbook, Sing Prayer, Sing Praise!

The book for this course has not yet been identified.

 

Rev. Dr. Deborah Krause, Instructor

Apocalypse means "uncovering".  This course engages the ways in which the church and popular culture have responded to the book of Revelation, and seeks to "uncover" the myriad meanings of the texts using historical, socio-economic, and gender-critical and eco-justice approaches.  We will resist identifying "the reading" of Revelation and open our senses to how the book has challenged the church throughout history to imagine the relationship between God, human suffering, and the life of the planet.

Rev. Dr. Deborah Krause is currently the Professor of New Testament and Academic Dean at Eden Theological Seminary.  In addition, this term she is functioning as Acting President during the sabbatical of President David Greenhaw.  She teaches both required and elective courses at Eden.  She says of her teaching, "I want my students to make informed analogies between the ancient contexts of scripture and their own contemporary contexts.

She is an ordained minister of the Presbyterian Church (USA).  She serves the church through social advocacy work, teaching, preaching and scholarship.  She has taught several courses for the LIFE program in recent years.

The book for this course:  Interpretation Series:  Revelation by Eugene Boring.