Wednesday – September 17 & 24 – 6:30 p.m. – Fellowship Hall
Places and People: Picturing the Communities to whom Paul Wrote
Katherine Shaner is the Assistant Professor of New Testament Wake Forest Divinity School and an Ordained pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Dr. Shaner studied at Luther College, has both an MDiv and ThD from Harvard Divinity School. Besides teaching intro to NT she teaches courses on women and slaves in early Christianity, the Corinthian correspondence, and Revelation. Throughout her teaching and scholarship she examines the intersections of race, class, and gender as well as the ethics of contemporary interpretation.

Week 1: Where in the World is Paul?
Let’s go on a virtual tour of ancient cities in Greece and Turkey! This week we will explore the archaeology and spaces of the cities Paul visited. We’ll look for the kinds of places where Paul’s friends in Christ would have lived, worked, and prayed. While we will see remains from several cities, our focus will be on Philippi (Philippians), Corinth (1 & 2 Corinthians) and Ephesos (Acts 19). What difference do our buildings, our workspaces, and our homes make in our own faith journeys?

Week 2: Who listens to Paul?
This week we will meet the people to whom Paul wrote, both individuals (Romans 16, Philippians,
Galatians) and as a community (the Corinthians). We will talk about where individuals and communities fit into social and economic structures, what kinds of religious education they had, and how they navigated institutions in the Roman Empire. How do we as 21st century Christians understand our relationship to money, to family, and to institutions in our communities?