Season: The Resurrection Changes Everything

Speaker: Rachel Sensenig

Location: 2007 Frankford Ave.

Season: Eastertide

Speaker: Jonny Rashid

Location: 2212 South Broad St.

About Talk: But the question for us is what keeps people from entering in to our community? What unwritten rules are there? What customs do we have that others might find prohibitive or difficult? What do we need to do? What can we let go of? I think it’s a good discernment question for every cell among us. How can we keep moving toward inclusion? How we can keep expressing Paul’s dictum: what matters is faith expressing itself through love.

Season: Life in the Spirit

Speaker: Julie Hoke

Location: 3800 Marlton Pike

About Talk: Through the resurrection of Jesus and the coming of the Holy Spirit we have a mission greater than ourselves and capacity beyond our individual limitations. We are risen, too, and given new life and purpose to participate in making disciples of Jesus.

The apostle Peter is a good example to look to. You can see his development and his humanity all throughout the gospels. And his transformation in Acts, as he submitted himself fully to the Spirit of God at work in him. People around him were transformed in Christ.

Season: Eastertide

Speaker: Ben White

Location: 5720 Ridge Ave.

About Talk: What’s it like to live in the resurrection life? What does it feel like to respond to Jesus’ call to help others, love, know and serve him? It kinda feels like your everyday life. Nothing changes and everything changes. But the power is real and we are practicing seeing it and trusting it. If Jesus is alive then he is doing stuff we can’t always understand. But what we do understand we can act on and if we are not ultimately responsible, then why not? Why not try and be as responsible as we can be? We in Circle of Hope have organized ourselves in cells to do just that. Regular folks like Peter the Apostle. Doing our best. Together. With Jesus.

Season: Easter

Speaker: Jonny Rashid and others

Location: 2007 Frankford Ave.

Season: Easter

Speaker: Rachel Sensenig and others

Location: 2212 S. Broad St.

Season: Easter

Speaker: Julie Hoke and other storytellers

Location: 5720 Ridge Ave

Season: Lent - We Need to Feel It

Speaker: Julie Hoke

Location: 5720 Ridge Ave

About Talk: Jesus knew scripture and was making something new with it. He wasn’t locked up by it. He was living and breathing it. It was flowing out of his mouth like fresh air. He is the living Word. So when we relate to scripture, we are relating to it through him. He is the center of how we understand everything in the Bible. As he revealed himself throughout his ministry, he was the Light breaking in to the rigid controlled, systems of belief and law, bringing himself to humankind.

Season: Lent - We Need to Feel It

Speaker: Jonny Rashid

Location: 2007 Frankford Ave

About Talk: You can imagine the cosmic events that we are walking through this week, toward the cross and onto resurrection, as incomprehensibly huge. Telling the story is one way to participate in it. To make it make sense to people practically. Helping to photograph that event by naming Jesus out loud is another way.

Season: Lent - We Need to Feel It

Speaker: Rachel Sensenig

Location: 2212 S. Broad St.

About Talk: We often live in defense mode because we are afraid of judgment, punishment, or the great “other.” Game of Thrones channels all that fear. Jesus faces it when he rides into Jerusalem in complete vulnerability, coming out as his true self, undefended. His love for humanity is bigger than the evil that temporarily kills him. They tried to shame him, but he was not disgraced. Because of his love in us, we can come out and love freely, too.