April 27, 2018 10:00 AM until April 27, 2018

How will members of congregations ever find an authentic, reliable religious faith if they are not free to express their doubts and ask hard, challenging questions?
This class will help pastors find ways to create opportunities for that kind of freedom of inquiry so people can traverse the valley of the shadow of doubt without abandoning faith altogether. And pastors will be encouraged to share their own doctrinal struggles from the pulpit and in classroom situations as a way of encouraging congregants to feel free to do the same.
Participants will draw on the leader’s 2016 book, The Value of Doubt: Why Unanswered Questions, Not Unquestioned Answers, Build Faith, exploring the reality that we live by metaphor, by myth, by allegory. Participants will discuss not only various Christian doctrines and the idea that asking challenging questions about them can help clarify their meaning but also explore ideas for helping Christian educators and lay leaders to free congregants to explore their doubts and questions openly. Class members also will share their own experiences of doubt and faith, recognizing that there is more wisdom in a group than in any single individual pondering all this alone.

Bill Tammeus, a native of Woodstock, Ill., is a former columnist for The Kansas City Star. He came to The Star in 1970 as a reporter, spent nearly 27 years on the paper’s editorial page and then moved his column in March 2004 to the weekly Faith section. He took formal retirement in mid-2006 but continued as Faith section columnist on a freelance basis until late 2008. Since 2004 he has written his daily “Faith Matters” blog, which The Kansas City Star features on its website. He also writes columns for The Presbyterian Outlook, The National Catholic Reporter and for Flatland, KCPT-TV’s digital magazine.

Cost $50 per person includes lunch