First Christian Church
(Disciples of Christ)
Winter Learning Seminars
Teenage Culture and Language
Tuesdays at 7pm
Beginning January 14, 2025
(4 sessions)
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​Have you ever wondered what it would be like to REALLY understand the ins and outs of Gen Z? Having trouble understanding the lingo, social media, and culture of the teenagers around you?
This seminar will help you understand and maybe help you strengthen relationships with the teenagers in your life, and will be taught by a high school teacher who has seen it all and talks with Gen Z regularly.
There will be guest appearances by some Gen Zers to help you understand some of their struggles and triumphs and even might help you create your first viral video!
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Seminars are open to all who wish to participate.
You do NOT need to be a member of First Christian Church to participate.
Today's Struggles of Boys and Men
Tuesdays at 4pm and 7pm
February 18, 2025 - March 18, 2025
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The world seems to be changing way too rapidly nowadays. Our kids are into social media --maybe too much. We can do almost everything we need to do from home. We don’t have to see anyone outside the home anymore. Marriage rates are down. Birthrates are down. The workplace is seriously changing. What’s going on? Some of all this is just us men-- and our boys. We men folk may be having more trouble adapting to this changing world than anyone. Why? How do we fix it or at least make it better.
Recently, men’s and women’s fortunes have been trending in opposite directions. Women’s college enrollment first eclipsed men’s around 1980, but in the past two decades or so this gap has become a chasm. In 2022, men made up less than half of students at 4 year schools, and their graduation rates were lower than women’s as well. Since 2019, there have been more college-educated women in the work force than men
Economists are puzzled by the big drop in men in the workplace. Public health experts are worried about the high rates of suicide and overdose among this demographic. Parents are seeing their sons struggle and are concerned about what this means for their future. Many of the rapid economic, social and cultural changes over recent decades pose new challenges for boys and men.
The seminar will discuss possible solutions. There is support for more social activities for boys such as Boy Scouts as well as starting boys later in school.
Based on the book Of Boys and Men by Richard Reeves
This Community Learning Seminar will all be held at First Christian Church located at 210 North 5th Street in Ponca City. Attendees should enter the building from the west door. For more information and to sign-up to attend, call the church office at 580-762-1667.
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The Spiritual Practice of Contemplation
Tuesdays at 7pm
April 22, 2025 - May 13, 2025
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A four week series on Contemplation and Spiritual Practices will begin on April 22 at 7:00 pm at First Christian Church. Each session will be about an hour long.
Contemplation is, essentially, a form of prayer that requires its practitioners to develop the skills of deep listening through silence and stillness. It has a place as a spiritual practice in every major religion, including Christianity, and teaches us about how we see the world and reveals to us all the ways we habitually react to the world around us.
Through contemplative practices, we begin to expose the limit of our general perceptions and assumptions of ourselves and others and we shift into the ability to see the bigger picture beyond us.
As we continue to practice, we learn to step into the world from a place of expanded awareness with more tools & wisdom. It becomes a way of being.
We will meet for four weeks on Tuesdays at 7pm, April 22-May 13, 2025 at First Christian Church of Ponca City. In these four weeks, we will learn and apply a variety of practices, including Lectio Divina and Centering Prayer, that will help us live a more contemplative life. All are welcome! These sessions will be led by Angela Joy Johnson, MA in Biblical Studies and a Contemplative Practices Facilitator.
This continues a series of Learning Seminars at First Christian that have so far presented three important topics: 1.) the dynamic world today of teenagers, 2.) the current adaptation difficulties today of many boys and men and 3.) the continuing impact of poverty on some of the children around us.
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Setting up Book Groups
TBD
Please check back for scheduling information
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