This Week In Common

Discover "Fertile Ground" in Bethany Chapel's 2009 Faculty Preaching Series, in Nicarry Chapel, Wednesdays in September and October, 11:20am-12 noon.

In this dawning of new beginnings, we bring our vision of individual lives into the collective community together for a period of time. We can let God's momentum plant the way into fertility, new birth, and new life. Perhaps it is a time to explore the point of drought or saturation as the seasons of our lives change. We may even ask ourselves how we can create fertile ground to allow growth.

The Fall 2009 Bethany Preaching Series will focus on the ways in which our lives are brought into the seminary community in ways that grow, mature, die and continue on toward harvest through scripture, faith and theology.

This theme is especially appropriate as the word "seminary" is defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as "A piece of ground in which plants are sown to be afterwards transplanted." Join us as we explore what it means for Bethany to be a fertile ground for growth and transformation.

Here are the dates, preachers and themes for each chapel service in this series.

September 16, Scott Holland: Beauty & Abundance Without Worry (Matthew 6:25-34)

September 23, Elizabeth Keller: Fallow or Fertile Future (Genesis 38:1-30)

September 30, Amy Gall Ritchie: Trust Beyond Ourselves (Exodus 16:1-36)

October 7, Tara Hornbacker: Theotokos (Luke 1:39-56)

October 14, Russell Haitch: Theme & Scripture TBA

October 28, Ruthann Knechel Johansen: It Shall Not Return To Me Empty (Isaiah 55:10-13)