Do you long for a deeper connection with Scripture and a more engaging way to study the Bible?
Catching the Spark is a four-week series that explores engaging, interactive ways of reading the Bible. Together, we'll slow down, ask good questions, pay attention to the details of the text, and discover how context, culture, and literary artistry can deepen our understanding of Scripture.
Using the Book of Ruth as our guide, we'll experiment with approaches that uncover new insights and open fresh perspectives. While our focus will be on Ruth, the practices you'll experience can be used with any passage of Scripture, enriching personal study, group discussion, preaching, and teaching.
Thursday from 7:00pm - 8:30pm starting September 17th
Tickets $20 for 4 Evening Sessions
Supported tickets available if the ticket price is a barrier.
This series will help you move from passive reading to active and dynamic engagement with the Bible.
With Professer
Derek Suderman
Join Dr. Derek Suderman, a passionate and engaging instructor from Conrad Grebel University College, for a 4-week Bible study series. With years of experience in leading interactive and dynamic Bible studies, Derek will guide us through the story of Ruth, uncovering themes of love, loyalty, and redemption.
Location
Erb Street Mennonite Church
131 Erb Street West
Waterloo, ON
N2L 1T7
Schedule
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Following family tragedy, Naomi returns to Bethlehem with Ruth in tow. Initial roles are reversed, with the former refugee who had fled from drought returning home with her foreign daughter-in-law. Following Ruth’s inspiring statement of commitment, how will Naomi – and the town – respond?
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Struggling to find her way in a new land, Ruth finds welcome in a relative’s field. Boaz exceeds custom, and in so doing demonstrates how following law can generate grace.
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With the grain harvest over, what now? Ruth takes action and sets out to meet Boaz in an unusual place. What’s going on the threshing floor, and what does Ruth’s request to ‘spread your cloak’ mean anyway?
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Though Boaz is willing to marry Ruth, a closer relative is also in the mix. Once this hurdle is cleared and their commitment is sealed, how does this relationship play into both an immediate and broader story of redemption? And how does this story contribute to the heated biblical debate over how to deal with foreigners?
About
Dr. Derek Suderman
Derek Suderman teaches in both the University of Waterloo’s ‘Religion, Culture, and Spirituality’ program and the ‘Master of Theological Studies’ program at Conrad Grebel University College. In addition to his textual work as a Hebrew Bible/Old Testament scholar, Suderman explores how diverse cultural and historical contexts inform biblical interpretation and ethical discernment.
Suderman explores the language and cultures of the Bible, often making what students expect to be familiar look quite strange; this in turn provides students with a mirror to see their own settings and beliefs in a new way. He believes that being part of a 'living tradition' involves not simply defending this tradition but recognizing problems and blind spots within it. Suderman proves particularly interested in exploring how the Bible has been used to both justify and oppose violence within the broad history of the Christian tradition.
Suderman has broad research interests, including investigating: the socialaudience of the Psalms; gendered and other forms of violence in the prophets; wisdom literature as a resource for contemporary interfaith dialogue and cooperation; and the ethical implications of biblical interpretation, focused particularly on violence in the Bible and contemporary issues related to Indigenous peoples. Suderman loves to travel and has taught or made academic presentations on 5 continents.
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