LEADER: Jay Beaman,
In connection with the exhibit at Lewis & Clark College, this class explored the histories of those who were conscientious objectors to participation in the military.

Mission of this Class:
Encourage Portland Mennonite Church to become a community of alternative practices, grounded in our Anabaptist commitments to simplicity and peacemaking, that responds practically and prophetically to the alarming realities of global climate change
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This is a six-week class discussion on how food, transportation, consumerism, and housing choices affect climate change. How does the Mennonite commitment to simplicity and peacemaking inform our responses to this crisis and how are we as a PMC community responding to caring for the environment? 

​​LEADER: Cody Bivins-Starr
Experiencing disability opens various possibilities for new understandings of what it means to be human. This class explores the Christian tradition and its core theological ideas through the lens of disability, addressing areas of tension, areas of promise, and seeking new ways of participating in God’s community of belonging.

​Portland Mennonite Church
February-March 2023

Purpose:
The primary goals of this drop-in class are to
● raise awareness of how to create safe spaces for Queer persons, with the intention of moving along the continuum from Being Supportive to Acting in Solidarity (see Week 3, Slide 7 for the Support to Solidarity Continuum)
● identify what PMC has currently in place to be a welcoming and inclusive community and areas we can work on improving. Within these areas, our goal is to create specific, measurable action plans to continue to grow
● support attendees to move through the experience of discomfort in talking and asking questions about the topics presented, for we know that avoidance of discomfort is a barrier to progress

Format:
The class is divided into four weeks. Below you will find links for materials shared for each of the four weeks.
Primary Resource:
● Brethren Mennonite Council for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Interests
● Safe Zone Training module 2016 (linked in the Documents Used Folder) Organizing Team:
● PMC Menno Pride Committee

Jan-Feb 2023 / Portland Mennonite Church / David Holcomb

BIBLE STUDY – GENESIS 1-11
Join us in January and February as we explore the literary artistry of the
first eleven chapters of Genesis, and as we consider what this text has to do with Jesus and with our
current world. These earliest chapters in our Bibles contain stories that many heard as children in
Sunday School and that are still deeply embedded in the larger culture. So, they are familiar – perhaps
too familiar and in need of another look. Let’s take a look together!

Week 1: Genesis 1 - The First Creation Story
 Reading the text and making some observations
Week 2: Genesis 1 - The First Creation Story
 Reading the text again and some comparisons with other Ancient Near East creation accounts
Week 3: Genesis 2 - Adam & Eve
 Reading the text and making some observations
Week 4: Genesis 3 – Adam, Eve, and “the fall”
 Reading the text and making some observations
Week 5: Genesis 1-3 Theological Reflections
 Time on your own to think about one of the questions on the reflections sheet
 Some time for sharing and discussion
Week 6: Genesis 4 – Cain and Abel
 Reading the text and making some observations
 Connections with Genesis 1-3
Week 7: Genesis 6-9
 Reading the text and making some observations
 Connections with Genesis 1-4
Week 8: Genesis 10-12 – Tower of Babel and the call of Abram
 Reading the text and making some observations
 Discussion for all 8 weeks – what have we learned?