St. James UMC offers a variety of classes and small groups, including GriefShare, Covenant Bible Study, and Lectio Divina. For more information, contact the leader listed for each group/class below.
Prayer Shawls
Share your gift of knitting or crocheting—or come and learn one of those gifts—as you create shawls bathed in prayer. These prayer shawls will then be given to people in our church, community, and around the world who will be blessed by knowing they are wrapped in God’s love.
Led by Lynn Gammell on Zoom
GriefShare
Losing a loved one to death takes a toll on us emotionally, physically, and spiritually. This group will help you get through this difficult time guiding you from mourning back to joy in Christ. You can join GriefShare at any time and come for as many or as few sessions as you want.
The cost of the series is $15.00. Scholarships are available; please email Joyce Day at joyce@stjconnect.org.
Led by Dane Sergeant, Janet Berry, and Jennifer Corbett on Zoom
Caregiver Support Group
Monthly on the Second Tuesday of the month, 1 p.m.
The St. James Caregiver Support Group continues to meet once a month. If you have a loved one who depends on you for care–either at home or in a nursing facility—you may find great benefit from this group whose purpose is to provide encouragement and support and to share ideas for dealing with the challenges of caregiving.
If you are interested in participating, please contact Kathy Dosser at kdosser@suddenlink.net or (252) 916-2374.
InStitches Quilters
This class is for persons of all skill levels, including beginners who want to learn. The group makes baby quilts for church families, items for Spring Fling, and other items.
Ongoing, 10 a.m.-Noon on Wednesday mornings, via Zoom
Led by Elizabeth Collins – elizabeth.b.collins@gmail.com
For Zoom, contact Carolyn Bagley – qbangley@gmail.com.
A variety of classes will be offered beginning in mid- to late-January. Notices about the content of the classes will go out in early January. Several classes held in the past will be offered again:
Hymn Studies
Hymn Studies will take a look at traditional Methodist hymns, uncovering stories and scriptural background. In cooperation with the Worship Planning group, we will look at hymns scheduled for upcoming traditional services to add depth to your worship experience. (Singing is encouraged but not required.) Sessions will run from 6 to 6:40 p.m. on Zoom.
For more information, contact Lizabeth Collins at elizabeth.b.collins@gmail.com.
The Write Stuff
This is a writing workshop with the focus on your journey. The main thing each individual will do is write and each may share what they have written if they choose to. The main purpose is to explore this simple question: how does writing bring me closer to God? We will not do a literary critique of each other’s work, but rather focus on how the writing helps us on our individual journeys. The Write Stuff is an ongoing class that can be joined at any time. The platform for sharing writing is a private group on Facebook.
For more information, contact Donna Davis at computerprose@yahoo.com.
Jesus and The Disinherited
A study of the book by theologian Howard Thurman, one of the great spiritual writers of the 20th century.
One of the foundational architects of the modern, nonviolent civil rights movement and a spiritual mentor to Martin Luther King Jr., Thurman possessed a heart for justice grounded in a quiet, contemplative trust in the Spirit of God. The struggle for justice requires, Thurman believed, a deep spiritual reservoir within oneself, cultivated by the spiritual disciplines of silence, contemplation, meditation, and prayer. This is a five-week study led by Pastor Garrett of Thurman’s acclaimed book, Jesus and the Disinherited, which is said to have been the intellectual and spiritual pillar of the civil rights movement. Books cost $16 and can be picked up from St. James at the front desk. Virtual Option at 4 p.m., begins Sunday, February 21; In-person Option at 6:30 p.m., begins Wednesday, February 24. garrett@stjconnect.org
For more information, contact Pastor Garrett at garrett@stjconnect.org.
Lenten Bible Study of Ephesians
A seven-week study of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians
In this study of Paul’s letter, Pastor Ben cover a chapter per week after an introductory session. Online only, via Zoom, from 11 a.m. to noon on Thursdays. Begins February 18 and ends April 1. ben@stjconnect.org
For more information, contact Pastor Ben at ben@stjconnect.org
Truth Seekers
This small group led by Lynne Garrison meets on Fridays at 10 a.m. via Zoom and offers a variety of topics on the Scriptures.
Beginning March 19, Truth Seekers will study N. T. Wright’s The New Testament You Never Knew. After a pandemic interruption, the class will cover two sessions in each of their first two classes to review and to let others who join the class begin at the beginning.
For more information, contact Lynne Garrison at lynnegarrison@gmail.com.
St. James Book Club
Monthly on the third afternoon, 5-6 p.m.
Come join us on Zoom for some lively discussion of great books:
January 17: Educated, a memoir by Tara Westover of overcoming her isolated survivalist family living in the hills of rural Idaho and going on to Brigham Young and Cambridge University.
February: It All Comes Back to You, fiction by Beth Duke about a practical nurse at a nursing home who is enlisted to write a biography of a resident whose heyday was just after World War II.
March: On Becoming, Michelle Obama’s memoir of her journey to adulthood and becoming the wife of a president.
For more information, contact June Parker at jdparker48@hotmail.com.