Wednesday, October 24, 2007

New Website

Events at the Amherst Center for Christian Studies are off to a fantastic start. We have had people come from a variety of churches including the Newman Center, Grace Episcopal Church, College Church, St. John's Epsicopal Church, Mapleridge Church, First Baptist Church of Amherst, and several other area churches. We are truly an ecumenical group!

One exciting development is our new website which is up and running. To see photos of events and learn more about what's happening at the center, go to www.amherstcenterforchristianstudies.com. We hope to have mp3 links posted in the near future so that you can download and listen to lectures which we've been given permission to share. The most recent lecture by Greg Ganssle is available on CD-ROM upon request, and we're working on the link to the website. Let us know if you'd like a copy of the lecture at no cost (413-230-3287 or email amherst.christian.studies@gmail.com). Lectures are available with the support of the Day Foundation.

We hope you will join us for upcoming events (see list below). We're already working on the spring semester schedule, so keep checking the blog and/or website for details in the upcoming weeks. We are so grateful for the growing community of people who are joining us for our Friday night events. We hope some of you can also come out for Compline on Saturdays at 8pm.

Blessings to each of you!
Laurel, Chris & Stephen

Friday, October 5, 2007

First Lecture October 12th

Hope you can join us for our first lecture on Friday, October 12, 2007.

Greg Ganssle from the Rivendell Institute and Yale University Philosophy department will give a lecture entitled, "Life, Death, Freedom: Jesus Questions Nietzche." For more information about our speaker, visit www.yale.edu/philos/people/ganssle_greg.html

The Center is off to a fantastic start. We have support from 12 area churches for outreach and input about future lectures, movies, and topics. We have also been greatly encouraged by the award of a generous grant from the Day Foundation. This has been a real boost for which we are very grateful! Also, we are thankful to First Baptist Church of Amherst for acting as our sponsoring organization, and to the South Church of Amherst and Grace Episcopal Church for the support and encouragement we're receiving from your leaders and parishoners. The College Church, the Newman Center at U-Mass, and Mapleridge Church have also provided encouragement and assistance with outreach--thank you!

We have a beautiful new brochure which will be distributed to churches throughout the Amherst-Northampton area. Many thanks to Melinda Williams for her creative design and skillful development of this publication. If you'd like us to get some brochures to you, please call or email us.

In closing this post, I want to say that the Amherst Center for Christian Studies is truly an ecumenical community of believers, and a wonderful expression of the kingdom of God. We have read Socrates together, laughed at Rupert Grint (who played the teenage boy in our September movie), prayed and taken the eucharist together on Saturday nights, and slurped some great soups together. We are the fellowship of the beloved. It 's been a sweet time getting to know the people who've come or called in the past few months (we even had a call from South Africa a few weeks ago about one of the movies we're hoping to show!). I'm reminded as we come together each week how wide and high and deep God's love is, and how rich and varied life in the church can be.

Blessings!
Laurel

Friday, September 14, 2007

Fall 2007 Schedule

The Center is offering three primary activities this year.

First, we are bringing in Distinguished Lecturers
from all over New England to help us to think wisely and
rigorously about the intersection of Christian faith and
contemporary culture. Our goal is not simply to host
academic exercises, but to give tools for application that
impact and enrich our daily lives.

Second, the Center is hosting a monthly Movie Discussion
Group
to examine and help unpack some of the dominant
themes that impact faith and culture ‘on the big screen’ .

Third, we are hosting a monthly Andreas Forum facilitated
by Stephen Broyles. Stephen is a former professor and
current Artist in Residence at First Baptist Church in
Amherst, and he shares his wide variety of interests and
expertise in these interactive evenings.
You can go to http://www.andreascenter.org/ for more information.

Recognizing the temptation to spend all our time in interesting
talk about God without accompanying worship and thanksgiving,
we will also host a Compline Service every Saturday
evening at 8pm. Compline is the last service of the monastic day,
and our goal is to help participants center their hearts and minds
for Sabbath worship in their various churches.

And finally, stay tuned for details of a Book discussion
group forming this Spring.

Amherst Center for Christian Studies
Schedule for Fall 2007:


SEPTEMBER
Movie Group
Friday, September 21, 7pm
“Driving Lessons” Dessert and discussion will follow movie.

Andreas Forum
Friday, September 28, 6pm
“Packasses, Smiths, Cobblers, and Tanners:
An Evening with Socrates”
Soup at 6pm, forum at 7pm
http://www.andreascenter.org/

OCTOBER
Lecture
Friday, October 12, 7pm
“Life, Death, Freedom: Jesus Questions Nietzsche”
greg ganssle, Philosopher with the Rivendell Institute and
a lecturer in the Philosophy Department at Yale University.
www.yale.edu/philos/people/ganssle_greg.html

Movie Group
Friday, October 19, 7pm
“What Dreams May Come”
Dessert and discussion will follow movie.

Andreas Forum
Friday, October 26, 6pm
“Vincent van Gogh, A Missionary Turns to Paint”
Soup at 6pm, forum at 7pm
http://www.andreascenter.org/

NOVEMBER
Lecture
Friday, November 2, 7pm
“Faith and Bioethics: Consultation, Teaching, & Public Policy”
Bob Orr, Consultant on Clinical Ethics at Center for
Bioethics and Human Dignity”
www.cbhd.org/aboutcbhd/staff/orr.htm

Movie Group
Friday, November 9, 7pm
“Faith Like Potatoes”
Dessert and discussion will follow movie

Lecture
Friday, November 16, 7pm
“Three Faces of Evil and Tolkien’s Christian Ecology”
Matt Dickerson, Middlebury College Professor and Author
http://community.middlebury.edu/~dickerso/

Andreas Forum
Friday, November 30, 6pm
“The Scribes and the Book of Revelation: How Do You Copy a
Book Full of Bad Grammar?”
Soup at 6pm, forum at 7pm
http://www.andreascenter.org/

DECEMBER
Lecture
Friday, December 7, 7pm
“Beautiful iPeople: iPod, Pop Culture and Genuine Beauty”
Bruce Herman, Artist and Lothlorien Distinguished Chair in
the Fine Arts at Gordon College
http://www.brucehermanonline.com/

Andreas Forum
Friday, December 14, 6pm
“Raising Voices: Gregorian Chant to Bach”
Soup at 6pm, forum at 7pm
http://www.andreascenter.org/

We hope you will join us for some or all of these events! Everyone welcome!

For more information, call or email:
Chris & Laurel Peltier
413-230-3287
amherst.christian.studies@gmail.com

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

September Schedule

A joyful greeting to all of you in the name of Christ!

We are excited to announce the start of our fall series of events hosted by the Amherst Center for Christian Studies.

Every Saturday, COMPLINE SERVICE will be held at 8pm. This is a time of prayer, singing and preparation as a way to start the Sabbath together.

On Friday, September 21st, our MOVIE GROUP will meet to watch the movie, Driving Lessons, a great film about the intersection of faith and reality for a 16 year old boy and his 70 something actress friend. We'll start at 7pm--screen the film, and have lively discussion afterward.

On Friday, September 28th, we will host the ANDREAS CENTER, an ongoing operation organized by Stephen Broyles. Soup & bread will be served to all at 6pm. A lecture and / or participatory reading will follow at 7pm. For more information about the Andreas Center, check out Stephen's website at: www.andreascenter.org

All events are held at Niggle's Parish, 691 South East Street, Amherst, MA. Our phone number is 413-230-3287 if you have any questions or need directions. EVERYONE IS WELCOME TO JOIN US FOR THESE EVENTS!

Looking forward to spending some time with you!
In Christ,
Chris & Laurel Peltier & Stephen Broyles

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Welcome to the Amherst Center for Christian Studies

The Amherst Center for Christian Studies is working to reach out to an ecumenical community of Christians who are interested in the intersection of faith and culture. Our goal is to encourage each other to think clearly and faithfully about what it means to follow Christ.

The Center is hosting the following events this year:

· Lecture Series one Friday each month at 7pm (dates TBA)
· Movie Group one Friday each month at 7pm (dates TBA)
· Andreas Center Events one Friday each month with soup & bread at 6pm;
event at 7pm (dates TBA)
· Compline Service every Saturday at 8pm

All events are held at Niggle’s Parish, 691 South East Street, Amherst, MA. For directions or details, call us at 413-230-3287.
Everyone is welcome to attend!

To get specific dates for Friday night events, keep checking this blog!

"Apply your heart to instruction and your ears to words of knowledge." Proverbs 23:12