When I first started attending Glenn, I began by checking out the Sunday School classes. While you can definitely learn a lot about a church by attending its worship services, in my mind, Sunday School offers a unique view into what a church truly values and thinks.
After graduating from the Candler School of Theology, I struggled to find a community where I could continue the deep theological studies and debates I had experienced while at Emory. So I was ecstatic when my husband and I attended Glenn’s New Class, led by the Runyons, and found it teeming with sharp Glenn members that included former ministers, professors, and world-renowned guest speakers – all willing to listen, learn, and share. I had found the smart, thoughtful, and gracious theological discussions I had always desired to find in a Sunday School class, and I was hooked. It was as if part two of my theological studies education had picked back up, and it was available to me every Sunday. I realized fairly quickly that one of the things that makes Glenn Memorial so special is that it highly values education of all types.
Fast forward a few years, and I now have the opportunity to help organize the Glenn Next Community Sunday School class, bringing in Glenn members, interns, ministers, and Emory professors to continue those enriching discussions. We’ve taken a close look at Genesis, the Psalms, Romans, Methodism, the psychology of religious leaders, and disability in the Christian tradition, just to name a few topics over the years.
20th century theologian Karl Barth called for us all to be theologians, saying, “In the Church of Jesus Christ there can and should be no non-theologians.” Barth also calls on the church to continuously grapple with church doctrine. I’m grateful that Glenn’s Sunday School classes allow for both.
Dena Mellick
Communications Team
Glenn’s Adult Sunday School classes resume September 10 – visit this page for the full list. Glenn’s 2017 Summer Lecture Series wraps up on August 27.
Dena (second from left) and her Sunday School class (from a few years ago) being led by professor Joel LeMon.