Adult Education
Adult Education planning and oversight at CPC are provided by the Mission,
Education & Outreach Committee. We are finding that including the broader
focus of mission and outreach leads us to some education decisions that we may
not have thought of in the past. We celebrate that we are on a lifelong faith
journey where we are always growing and changing. God calls us to learn new
things and to teach the things we know well, and so we respond to this call by
offering Adult Education classes and programs. Some classes run for several
months while some programs are once a year. For more information about
upcoming Adult Education programs at CPC, check out our Bulletins and Event
page!
​
Current Adult Ed Sessions
​Meets Sundays 10:45am, September-May
Available in-person and on Zoom
Zoom link available from the office or in the Thursday Blast
​
​
The 2024-25 program year has ended.
Check back with us for Fall 2025 sessions!
Past Adult Ed 2024-25
Winter 2025
Sunday's 10:45 am
Available in-person and on Zoom
Sunday, May 4, 2025
The Emotionally Healthy Life presented by Dr. Genalin Niere-Metcalf
​​
In this fast-paced world, the challenges to our emotional well-being are constant and daunting. CPC is pleased to welcome Dr. Genalin Niere-Metcalf on Sunday, May 4 for a discussion to help you cope with your own struggles and be better able to recognize when others have problems.
Dr. Niere-Metcalf is a clinical psychologist and spiritual director at Samara Care Counseling in Naperville who has worked extensively with various groups to raise awareness of emotional health, including working with churches and individual clergy. She has a Psy.D. in Clinical Psychology from Wheaton College, as well as a M.A. in Spiritual Formation and Soul Care from Talbot School of Theology and B.S. in Nursing from California State University of Long Beach.
​
Sunday, April 27
Estate Planning: featured speaker, Sherri Finke of the Presbyterian Foundation
​
We welcome Sherri Finke from the Presbyterian Foundation to Adult Ed. She will spend an hour speaking about estate planning topics, such as tax-advantaged Donor Advised Funds and Qualified Charitable Distributions, among other more general estate planning topics.
​
-
Informational Booklets are available in the office
​​
Beginning Sunday, March 16
Adult Education for Lent: "Turning Over Tables"
​
Adult Ed classes for the rest of Lent will be based on the book Turning Over Tables: A Lenten Call for Disrupting Power, by Kathy Escobar.
This book has daily readings throughout Lent and Easter. It asks us as individuals to consider how we can challenge power when it is appropriate as Christians to do so.
Each of us will work through a chapter of the book on our own each week. Then we will meet together on Sunday morning and discover more together. Please join us in this journey!
NOTE: This first class will cover the first three chapters of the book. After that, one chapter per week.
Books are available in the narthex. Please pick up your copy and get started. Then join us in the chapel or on Zoom at 10:45.
​
​​
Beginning Sunday, January 19
4 Week Session
"Understanding Our Connections – The Qur’an and the Bible"
We talk about three religious traditions as Abrahamic, or “People of the Book.” These are Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. We are somewhat familiar with the primary religious text for Judaism, which we call the Old Testament (or Hebrew Bible.) But most of us aren’t very familiar with the Qur’an. Nor do we know how much the Qur’an and the Bible have in common.
Let’s learn something new together! ME&O will be offering four classes in January and February focusing on the origins of the Qur’an and its intersections with the Bible. The first three classes will be taught by Sheikh Hassan Mostafa Aly, a noted Muslim scholar -- and a longtime friend of CPC. The fourth class will be a discussion between Sheik Aly and Reverend Doctor Robert Cathey. Dr. Cathey is a retired professor of theology from McCormick Seminary.
​
​​
January 12, 2025
Adult Ed Turns to Art Appreciation
Diversity and Inclusion in Art exhibit
Our Adult Education class on January 12 will spend our hour in the narthex and sanctuary. This will be an excellent chance to go in-depth with the Diversity and Inclusion in Art exhibit. Robin Randall will be our guide as we move around to see these pictures and read the artists’ statements about what they intend to communicate.
For more on the exhibit, please see the Diversity and Inclusion in Art page.​
​
​
​​
Fall 2024
Ministry Partners
Over a five-week span in September and October, the Adult Education classes on Sunday morning will feature speakers from five current and/or future mission partners. Our mission partners are organizations in the greater Chicagoland area that we support with our mission funds – and sometimes with volunteer help.
​
September 15, 2024
The Night Ministry
Tedd Peso, Director, Strategic Partnerships for The Night Ministry, a long-time mission partner. Tedd will provide an overview of the programs that The Night Ministry provides to a wide range of homeless and under-served people in Chicago. We have asked him to share with us how we, as a church and as individuals, can volunteer. Please join us to learn what we can do to help make a difference for their clients.
​
October 6, 2024,
Bridge Communities (DuPage County, Glen Ellyn)
Bridge Communities helps people transition between being unhoused and having a home – a tremendous need in our world. Our speaker will be Jen Bystry, Director of Community Engagement. In addition to telling us about Bridge’s programs, we have asked Jen to tell us how we, as a church and as individuals, can volunteer.​
​
October 13, 2024,
Presbyterian Disaster Assistance
Presbyterian Disaster Assistance sends teams to help in the aftermath of disasters and provides financial support throughout the world. There are currently at least four teams supported by PDA that are working in response to Hurricane Helene. Ron Bottrell, a resident of Evanston who has been serving as a PDA team volunteer for twelve years will to tell us how we, as a church and as individuals, can volunteer to support this organization, which is a vital part of our national denomination.
​​
October 20 2024,
Sharing Connections
Sharing Connections operates out of a large warehouse in Downers Grove and distributes donated items to over 23,000 people each year. These people include previously homeless, veterans, victims of domestic violence, and many others. They provide gently used furniture and household items to help people moving into living spaces that are under-furnished or don’t include specific items that they need. A significant focus of their outreach is providing cribs and beds for children. Our speaker will be Mia Churma, Development Director. Deb Garner, who brought Sharing Connections to the attention of CPC, will serve as host for Mia.
Please join us to learn what we can do to help make a difference.
​​​
October 27 2024,
The Boulevard
The Boulevard is a longtime mission partner of CPC. They operate out of locations in Chicago and provide a residential facility that accepts homeless adults who need time and a safe, clean place to complete recovery from an acute medical condition. The Boulevard provides medical respite care, behavioral health services, and workforce development. They also help clients find stable housing. Our speaker will be Kathleen Recchia, Chief Program Officer.
​
​
November 3 and 10 2024
Support for Aging Parents
This Sunday, we start a two-Sunday series on exploring how to support aging parents. It will be led by our Older Adult Ministries Co-Directors, Paula Cyphers and Kris Veenbaas.
This week, Paula and Kris will be sharing a half-hour documentary film entitled “Helping An Aging Parent.” This documentary covers a 40-year span of the Honel family. They talk through the needs of their parents and think back on their decisions -- and the impact of those decisions. Following the screening of the documentary, Paula and Kris will lead a discussion.
Some of us have aging parents. Others of us are thinking about our own needs, now or in the future. Please join us this Sunday to learn how one family handled things.
​
-
Session reference handouts (coming soon)
​
​​
November 17 2024
"Adult Education Reports on the Civil Rights Trail Pilgrimage"
​
The Mission, Education and Outreach Committee is pleased to announce the Adult Education class for Sunday, November 17. Representatives from the October Civil Rights Trail Pilgrimage will share pictures and stories of their trip – and will do their best to answer your questions.
​
​
November 24, 2024 -
Advent Study: On the Way to Bethlehem
​
In these sessions, Adult Education begins looking at Advent -- a little early, but this allows us to get in the full study before Christmas. For our Advent study this year, we will read and discuss On the Way to Bethlehem, by Rob Fuquay.
The book helps us look at towns and cities that were key to the story of the birth of Jesus. We start in Rome, where “a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be enrolled.” That decree, according to the Gospel of Luke, resulted in the journey of Joseph and a very-pregnant Mary to Bethlehem. The author prompts us to consider how a decision by a powerful leader in a distant place can impact the lives of people at a distance. Think about Moscow’s decision to attack Ukraine; or the impact of decisions in Washington on our lives.​​​​
November 24: Session 1 (led by Tracy Sims)
December 1: Session 2 (led by Michele Vickery)
December 15: Session 3 (led by Robin Randall)
December 22: Session 4 (led by Larry Schulz)
January 5: Session 5 (led by Gregg Morton)
​
​
​​