Friday, May 5, 2023

Discovery Place: Resources to Build the Beloved Community

Discovery Place is open to serve you, and we would love to help you find the perfect resource for your Sunday School class or small group!  

FEATURED RESOURCE THIS MONTH: Luke: Jesus and the Outsiders, Outcasts and Outlaws - NEW from Adam Hamilton.

Jesus came to lift up the lowly. In the Gospel of Luke, a first-century portrait of Jesus, we find stories of Jesus’s ministry with ordinary, unexpected people. They weren’t perfect. Many of them were struggling and didn’t have their acts together. Some of them were outsiders or even outlaws. Whoever they were, from those he healed to the outlaws with him at his crucifixion, Jesus brought the good news of God’s kingdom to those who most needed to hear it. That includes you and me. In this study, Adam Hamilton explores the life of Jesus as told in the Gospel of Luke. Through Luke’s stories we find Jesus’s care and compassion for all as he welcomes sinners and outcasts. As we study Luke and see Jesus’s concern for those who were considered unimportant, we hear a hopeful and inspiring word for our lives today. 6 sessions (11-12 minutes each); includes leader guide and hardcover book. 

As congregations seek to continue to grow in Building the Beloved Community, there are many resources available to help you. Highly recommended is the DVD entitled Vital Conversations: Racism and the U.S. Church, compiled by the General Commission on Religion and Race (GCORR). Subtitled “Vital Conversations on Race, Culture, and Justice,” this is an 8-session look at racism in the United States church. The final session is by our own Bishop Cynthia Moore-Koikoi. Copies of this DVD and accompanying study guide were handed out at the Discovery Place table at Annual Conference in 2022 and will be available again this year. We also have several copies in Discovery Place that you may borrow. 

  

There are also several books that will raise awareness in your church. We encourage you to use any of the following titles for book studies: White Fragility, White Awake, How to be an AntiRacist, When Helping Hurts, and I’m Black. I’m Christian. I’m Methodist. Use the “advanced search” option in our online catalog (see below) and search by subject “Racism” for descriptions of these and many other helpful books and DVDs. 

 

These studies and many other resources may be borrowed from Discovery Place through the online catalog on our website, www.discovery-place.org, or you may email discovery@susumc.org, or call 717-766-7968. Leaving a voice message when you call will send me an email and I will respond as soon as possible. 

Come visit our table at Annual Conference! Newer items will be on display at the beginning, and midway through the conference we will convert our table and give away resources that have been donated or that we no longer need. Stop by and see us!

It has been my privilege to assist in Discovery Place since the fall of 2002, and to serve as Director since the spring of 2016. I will be retiring in June 2023, but Discovery Place will remain open! Please refer to the homepage on our website for office hours and other important information. The contact info for Discovery Place will remain the same. 

Serving Christ with you,

Joni Robison