Summer 2019 Book Groups

In the summer, GCF reads! Beginning in July and going through mid-September, there will be several ongoing book groups with regular, weekly or bi-weekly meetings. If you want to join a book group, let us know soon.

Here are the groups you can join:

You Are What You Love: The Spiritual Power of Habit, by James K.A. Smith

Disunity in Christ: Uncovering the Hidden Forces that Keep Us Apart, by Christina Cleveland

Discernment: Reading the Signs of Daily Life by Henri Nouwen

The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis 

Five Views on the Church and Politics , by various authors

Summer Book Groups

In the summer, GCF reads! Beginning in July and going through mid-September, there will be several ongoing book groups with regular, weekly or bi-weekly meetings. If you want to join a book group, let us know soon.

Here are the groups you can join:

Keeping the Sabbath Wholly, by Marva Dawn

Race and Place, by David Leong

Silence, by Shusaku Endo

Liturgy of the Ordinary, by Tish Harrison Warren

Two Views on Homosexuality, the Bible, and the Church

Beyond the Modern Age, by Bob Goudzwaard and Craig Bartholomew

51ocZl6+NcL._SX311_BO1,204,203,200_

 

 

Students Love Thyselves, a brunch time conversation for the women of GCF

women of gcf

Students Love Thyselves

Women of GCF, you’re invited to join us for a lovely brunch and time of learning and reflection lead by Cherie Katt, a local counselor. We’ll meet from 10 until 12 on Saturday, May 27th. We trust that this time will be meaningful for all.

6bcb04_b6c83ed2a3794437ab25e9887d00cc3b
Cherie Katt https://www.cheriekattcounseling.com

Special note from our speaker:

Through some teaching, some discussion and experiential learning, we will look through the lenses of the physical, emotional, spiritual, and mental aspects of self care that are life giving and places that are hindrances to your wellness.  Please come prepared with two objects.  As you see yourself as student, please bring one object that represents a part of self care/wellness that you want to hold on to, that is life giving to you, that you want to keep.  As you see yourself as a student, please also bring one object that represents what hinders you from self care/wellness, an object that represents the story/narrative around self care that you want to let go of, or be free from.

 

Welcome Back BBQ

screen-shot-2016-09-14-at-2-43-33-pm

Whether you’re a new student or a returning student, we invite you to join us for dinner on Thursday, September 29 at Chapel on the Ave. at 6 P.M.

Stick around to hear about GCF’s fall quarter offerings (small groups, discussions, prayer gatherings) and to meet this year’s leadership team, our pastors and all the rest of the students who make up this wonderful student community.

screen-shot-2016-09-14-at-2-36-12-pm

Summer Book Groups

In the summer, we read books. So, we encourage you to join a book group with fellow students.

Meeting times are still being worked out, so stay tuned. But do go ahead and plan to join a book group and purchase the book you want to read. Also, we’ve tried to note the level of commitment that is required to be a part of book group. Please pay attention to that. If you’re thinking: Eek, I don’t have time to read a book this summer, then check out what we’re doing Thursday nights or join us for Morning Prayer.

God’s Word in Human Words: An Evangelical Appropriation of Critical Biblical Scholarshipgod's word in human words

Where did the Bible come from? Who wrote it? Can we really trust what it says? Can we approach it as critical, thinking people or must it be taken in faith? Where’s the balance? If you’ve wondered some of these questions and you’re up for a dense read and a hearty academic discussion about the book we love (the Bible), this is a summer group for you. It will meet every other week on Monday nights. To really participate in this group, you will need to buy and, yes, actually read this scholarly work on the Bible. You’ll be blessed. Join us!

Roadmap to Reconciliation: Moving Communities into Unity, Wholeness and Justiceraodmap to reconciliation

Because we care about reconciliation and, ultimately, unity in God’s body and the world, let’s learn a little more about how we might go about getting ourselves there. And let’s do this together. Reading a book is never enough. And on issues of race and reconciliation, we really feel this tension. YET, we’ve got learning to do. And our hope is that our learning might really spur us toward action. Some of you have been reading this book. Others of you might still want to buy it. We’ll start meeting soon over lunch to discuss and pray and work our way through this journey of reconciliation. Join us!

Reaching Out: The Three Movements of the Spiritual Lifereaching out

If you’re interested in reading a book that will challenge your heart as well as your mind, take a look at this Henri Nouwen book. It’s for those of us who want to go a little deeper in our spiritual (and actual) walk with God. We’ll discuss the themes of hospitality and authenticity and others that are raised in this book over three lunch meetings in the second have of the summer. Buy the book, read the book. And we’ll get the lunch dates to you. It’s not a hard read, but it’s worth a slow read…There’s stuff here to really ponder and apply to life. Join us!

 


2246261The Grad and Faculty Lunch group is still in the process of selecting what book they’re going to read Christ and Culture Revisited by D.A. Carson. In our conversations, we’ll focus on how we, as Christians, relate to the broader culture. This group will meet bi-weekly over lunch on campus, as it does throughout the school year.


A_wrinkle_in_time_digest_2007AND because not all reading over the summer needs to be academic and non-fiction, we invite everyone to read for the first time or re-read for the sixth time, Madeleine L’Engle’s, A Wrinkle In Time. We’re reading it and you should too. We’ll meet for ONE evening discussion of this book toward the end of the summer. And there’s rumblings on the interwebs that a new movie adaptation is in the works, so when/if this comes to be, we’ll go see it together. FUN.

HAPPY SUMMER READING TO YOU!

Spring Retreat

Because you’ve been really busy and you’re tired and it’s hard to find time for anything, maybe especially prayer and Jesus and all that stuff that matters but doesn’t come with a hard and fast deadline…Join us for GCF’s spring retreat.Screen Shot 2016-03-21 at 3.16.33 PM

We’ll take a break and retreat into the things that matter most.

And we’ll be on an island. And there won’t be interwebs to distract us. And there will be good food to nourish us.

For a portion of our time, we’ll be discussing C.S. Lewis’ Learning in War-Time.

You can download the essay here.

If you want a hard copy, the essay is in The Weight of Glory, which is less than $10 on Amazon.

Don’t forget to let us know you’re coming.

into the woods

Morning Prayer

Screen Shot 2016-01-08 at 8.33.47 AM
Art by Jeremiah Moon, friend of GCF

This Fall Quarter, we’ll go together as intercessors, addressing God for each other, ourselves, and the world.

If you need some encouragement, some words to pray, some coffee, some time with people you love before you really get into the day, join us

for twenty minutes

on Monday mornings at 9:00

at Chapel on the Ave.

We’ll go before God in the hope and knowledge that God does act in this world.

 

Kickoff BBQ

 

gcf kickoff bbq
Eat • Make Friends • Pray

It’s the beginning of another school year.

For us at GCF, that means it’s BBQ time. So join us Thursday, October 1 at 6 P.M. at Chapel on the Ave. We’ll eat. Catch up. Make new friends. And we’ll talk about what’s on tap with GCF this quarter. If you’re interested in joining a small group, studying the Bible with other thoughtful people, or thinking well about integrating your faith with what you’re learning, GCF has a group for you.

All are welcome.

 

 

welcome back bbq oct 1

 

GCF Lunchtime Round Table

Jesus tells us to go and make disciples and to preach the gospel….to the world. And most of us have this sense that we have a responsibility to share what we believe. Whether this sense comes from a good place (nudges from the Spirit) or from a strange sense of guilt that last Sunday’s sermon put on us, most of us wonder about how, exactly, we’re supposed to do this.images1

There seem to be a lot of different ways.

We’ve seen the people with signs in red square whose passion for witness seems a little misdirected. We’ve tailored our paths to bypass those fellow students with the oversimplified tracts. We’ve noticed those four students praying rather boldy off in the corner of the library.  But does any of this actually communicate the gospel?

And does it communicate in our particular context? The northwest. In Seattle. On campus.

We’ve wondered:

How do we communicate well about the good and beautiful God we love with those around us?

Is there a better way? A best way? Something more genuine? Less weird?

This summer we’re going to talk about it. Missions. Witness. Evangelism. That thing we do or are supposed to do but aren’t doing or just really have no clue how to do or are too terrified to do that Jesus calls us to do…and that our hearts are strangely inclined to do.

Join us for three lunch-time round tables in which we’ll ask more questions, share our thoughts and experiences, and hopefully we’ll come away with a better understanding of mission in the context of the university.

Wednesday, July 1, 12-1 P.M. What are we so afraid of?

Wednesday, July 8, 12-1 P.M. Is conversion all it’s cracked up to be?

Wednesday, July 15, 12-1 P.M. How should we do this thing of missions on campus?

All roundtable discussions will take place at Chapel on the Ave in the downstairs meeting room.

 

 

 

 

GCF’s Goal of Two Shelters for Nepal

Sometimes when chaos and tragedy strike, all people can do is throw their hands up and lament. For Christians, that’s a good place to start. And, with regard to the crisis in Nepal, that’s exactly what we did. In our small groups, we lamented the chaos, destruction and lives lost. When we heard news of multiple strong aftershocks that brought further destruction and death, we lamented again.

11164690_878291898925640_4415314878620089441_o
Piles of materials for shelters ready to be loaded on trucks and delivered to quake affected villages in Nepal.

But we aren’t going to end with lament.

As we heard last night from Gordon Brander, there is a pressing need for more durable shelter than what tarps are currently providing. This is especially true in light of the fact that monsoon season is approaching.

Through Gordon, we have a connection to a small nonprofit organization (Portal) in Nepal that is building sustainable, safe, cost effective shelters. You can read their story, see pictures of the shelters and connect by visiting their website: http://www.portalbikes.org/shelters/.

11200820_478399198982566_3286125581026801038_n
The inside of a completed Portal Shelter. Each shelter costs just $100 and houses a family of 8. These provide a safe place to live allowing each family time to thoughtfully rebuild. Additionally, all the material from each Portal Shelter built can be reused to build permanent housing.

Through Portal, one shelter costs roughy $100. We set the goal to, as a community, raise the funds for two shelters. We hope to do this By Next Thursday, May 21.

So, check out what Portal is up to. Ask Gordon your questions. Pray for Nepal and the rescue and rebuilding efforts of Portal and other organizations on the ground. Consider what you might give. And then bring your donation on Thursday.