Session 1: September 8—October 20, 2024
PECULIAR PASSAGES: HOW LANGUAGE AND CULTURE ILLUMINATE AND COMPLICATE READING THE BIBLE
DOUG PENNEY
God’s Word comes to us from different languages and cultures across two millennia. What was familiar to those ancient cultures is foreign to us and what is familiar to us in a passage may not be the intention of the original author. As a result, our minds overlook what an ancient reader would have seen in a text. We will attempt to unpack a selection of passages and their peculiarities and ponder not only the strangeness of the ancient world, but what the verses tell us today about God and the Bible.
Doug Penney has a PhD in Semitic Philology from the University of Chicago. He taught Greek and Hebrew at Wheaton College beginning in 1980. He grew up in Africa and has lived in the Middle East, experiences which shed light on the non-western cultural context of the Bible. He and his family have worshiped with Immanuel for more than 30 years.
UNEXPECTED HEROES: MY FAVORITE LESSER-KNOWN BIBLE CHARACTER (AND WHY)
VARIOUS TEACHERS
Some of the people featured in Bible stories get plenty of “air time”—like King David or Moses or Joshua. In this course, Immanuel teachers will teach from the lives of lesser-known Bible personalities, such as Thomas, Jonathan, Anna, Elijah, Ruth, and the Syrophoenician woman. Teachers will explain why these folks, through their circumstances and choices, hold special appeal and instruction for them as believers.
A rotation of Immanuel’s teachers will lead this course, including Andy Le Peau, Larry Funck, Steve Westfall, Cathy Sayer, Ron Haydon, Lauren Mathues, and John Schuurman.
Session 2: November 10—December 22, 2024
THEMES IN THE RECENT WORLD HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY
MARK NOLL
Over the course of the twentieth century the Christian faith for the first time became truly global. This class examines seven prominent themes of that twentieth-century history, like mission, living under Islam, Christian nationalism—with the focus for each theme on two different events or world regions: mission (Second Vatican Council, Lausanne), living under Islam (Egypt, Indonesia), Christian nationalism (Korea, Poland). The class is inspired by an excellent recent book, Brian Stanley’s Christianity in the Twentieth Century: A World History.
Mark Noll is retired as a history professor, first from Wheaton College and then the University of Notre Dame. He and his wife, Maggie, have been privileged to be part of this congregation for more than four decades.
CHRISTIANITY IN AN INCREASINGLY TECHNOLOGICAL WORLD
RON NETZEL
Our world is increasingly dominated by new technologies. These technologies are transforming many aspects of our life including communications, decision making, transportation and health care. How should Christians respond to these new technologies? What implications do increasingly capable machines have for humans created in the image of God? Our class will discuss a different aspect of these questions each week, exploring biblical principles and historical parallels and asking how we can use these ideas to help be a Christian witness in our world. The class will be structured as an interactive dialogue, with people encouraged to share the experiences and ideas on the topics.
Ron Netzel is a graduate of Wheaton College and the University of Illinois. He works as a Technology Architect for Bank of America, where he has helped run and build technology for roughly 30 years. He is married to Dee and has a daughter, Sophie. They help him to think creatively about what it means to live as a Christian in our world and how we can take our faith to a new world that, though radically different from our parent’s world, is no less in need of a Savior.
Session 3: January 12—February 9, 2025
the life of christ
Jim wilhoit
This course provides a brief chronological overview of Christ’s life using the four gospels as our source material. The class focuses on “turning points,” incidents that significantly shaped Christ’s ministry, and gives an overview of the historical and cultural context of Jesus’ life and ministry.
Jim Wilhoit and Carol have attended Immanuel since 2008. Jim taught spiritual formation at Wheaton College for thirty-eight years and is ordained as a teaching elder in the EPC. In his retirement, he enjoys time for prayer, writing, family, getting outside, and volunteering at the Morton Arboretum. He is co-author of the Crossway Bible Handbook.
DEVELOPING CHRISTLIKE RELATIONAL SKILLS: CARING ASSERTIVENESS AND THE GIFT OF EMPATHY
IMMANUEL’S STEPHEN MINISTRY
All of our relationships—at home, in our extended families, in the church family, at work, at play—depend on communication, but we’ve all discovered that healthy, strong communication is not always easy! Stephen Ministry has explored, in-depth, what God’s Word teaches about making our personal interactions part of our discipleship. Because of our life in Christ, believers can avoid pitfalls of passive or aggressive interactions to connect with empathy, respect, and authenticity. Course content will draw on materials from two books used in training for Stephen Ministry, Caring Assertiveness: Relating Directly, Honestly, and with Respect and The Gift of Empathy.
Immanuel’s Stephen Leaders and active Stephen Ministers will present as a team and offer teaching, demonstration, discussion and practice to help us further develop relational styles that are Christlike—genuine, thoughtful, and full of care.
Session 4: February 16—March 30, 2025
The Lord’s Strength Is Made Perfect In Weakness
Dr. Thomas Boehm, Rebecca Wall, Katherine Anderson, others
What is the meaning of weakness in the world? How does God use weakness to reveal his strength, and how should this shape our life together as Christ’s body? Join us as we explore challenges and disabilities (both visible and invisible) through a biblical lens, and consider how we as a church can grow in love and mutual flourishing.
Dr. Thomas Boehm is chair of education and director of the Center for Faith and Disability at Wheaton College. Rebecca Wall is the executive director of WITH Ministries. Katherine Anderson and others from our Immanuel Community will share their experiences and insights.
Session 5: April 6—May 18, 2025
the church and last things
dan treier
Dan’s ongoing course in Theology 101 provides an introductory survey of basic evangelical Protestant beliefs. This final installment will focus on the doctrines of the church and last things.
Dan Treier is Knoedler Professor of Theology at Wheaton College Graduate School. He and Amy and Anna have been part of Immanuel since 2010. This course engages material from his textbook, Introducing Evangelical Theology (Baker), which won the 2020 Bible & Reference Book of the Year award from the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association.
C. S. Lewis’s the weight of glory: A discussion of significant themes
mark garavaglia
Lewis’s writing dances at the intersection of “seriousness” and “winsomeness,” a quality that may be lost on 21st century American readers. This posthumous anthology of sermons and talks touches on broad themes: Do our natural desires point us to something more eternal? Why should we seek to have a “good report” with God? When do we stop pursuing the “next thing” that promises false happiness? How can we discover our true “inner ring” of friendship? And can we more fully grasp the significance of each day (the already) while pointing us to our true north (the not yet), all found in our Savior. This class will cover six chapters of the book.
Mark, Alicia, Henry, and Michaela Garavaglia spent about a decade as long-term missionaries in the Netherlands. They returned in 2021 and live with their third child (Marney the Golden Retriever) in Batavia. They started attending IPC in November 2023.
Adult Education Zoom Recordings
Audio recordings of some Adult Education classes are available on the Members page, found on the top menu.