11:15 am | Shalom Hall
Format | Guest Speaker, Topical Lectures
Audience | Adult - Large Group
Led by | Bruce Elliott

Join us for weekly guests from Charlotte who are connecting faith and their worlds. Guests range from local authors, non-profit leaders, academic scholars, and more!

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This Week 

Sunday, March 23, 2025
Guest Speaker | Tamar Reno 
Theme | Western North Carolina Writer and Poet Witnessing Helene's Aftermath

Tamar (“TAY-mar”) Reno is one of the finest writers you don’t know. She lives near Tryon, NC and has written extensively about Hurricane Helene, chronicling its impact on the people, animal life, and landscapes of Western North Carolina.

Starting in the first days after the storm raged across the mountains, Tamar decided to take her private journaling practice into the public eye by posting daily letters on Facebook. These letters are factual accounts of the ongoing issues the survivors are dealing with, for everyone has been affected and the destruction has been more severe and widespread than anything in the past two centuries.

She writes about more than just the statistics or financial impact of the disaster. Her writing focuses on the very human responses of people whose lives have been ravaged by the storm. Her narrative underscores the cries of those suffering daily from conditions of great scarcity and who, like the psalmist, wonder “how long oh lord, how long?” At times the pleas resemble those found in the Book of Lamentations, in 21st century style.

Tamar spent most of her formative years on the Flathead Reservation in Montana. Indigenous ways of thinking about kinship with the natural world has influenced her perspective on what it means to connect with the land and all of its occupants. In this way of life, animals and plants are seen as fellow beings we should connect with, learn from and care for--not looked at as resources to be exploited at every opportunity. She and her husband, John, live on Bear Creek Farm with a Great Pyrenees dog named Juno and three horse relatives. Their small farm is located on traditional hunting grounds of the Cherokee.

Appalachia, with its ancient mountains, has a unique blend of history and mystery. So much of America’s story has unfolded in this region, and according to Tamar, Appalachians are literally the folk in folklore. Tamar’s work is evocative of this region with its beautiful landscapes, watersheds, and deep sense of place.

About Our Guest Speaker
With an academic background in Native American Studies focusing on language revitalization, Tamar has taught at a tribal college, developed curriculum for universities and cultural centers, and collaborated on language immersion programs. She has also worked extensively in the nonprofit sector and is writing her first book of prose and poetry that will be published when the time is right.

Next Session

Sunday, March 30, 2025
Guest Speaker | Mark Peres
Theme | Mark Peres and The Charlotte Center for the Humanities and Cultural Imagination

In May 2019, our neighbor, Queens University, hosted a talk by Mark Peres. Mark spoke about his love for the humanities and how they shape us to become good citizens--connecting with their fellow citizens and envisioning a future for this city that is deeply informed by the values the humanities teach. The vision he shared that day has taken shape and emerged as a remarkable organization right here in Charlotte.

The Charlotte Center for the Humanities and Cultural Imagination was founded in 2020 by Mark and others who shared his vision for what Charlotte can be as we head farther into the 21st century. These people have similar values and bring a treasure trove of knowledge and expertise in fields like instructional design, event management, nonprofit leadership, and more to create and run this organization--one that is unlike any other in Charlotte’s nonprofit or educational sectors.

The Charlotte Center is a place where ideas are generated and discussed, and where critical thinking and creativity are applied within a context of cooperation, open-mindedness, and good will. The Charlotte Center is a flourishing catalyst for new ideas and change for the sake of improvement. Change itself is inevitable, but will we bring the change that enhances the quality of life for many?

We live in a time when trust in long-standing institutions has dramatically diminished. The fabric of society has begun to unravel, as the essence of who we are is being challenged by people who do not understand or in some cases, even care to live in a healthy democracy. There are many public figures whose values and actions contradict and undermine the values of a free and democratic society. In an era when many no longer can tell the difference between fact and fiction and what is necessary to sustain a healthy democracy, we have become susceptible to the distortions, half-truths, and outright lies that are spewed by corporate media outlets and corrupt social and political demagogues.

So, what may we do to counter these trends? Is our culture to be pluralistic, democratic, inclusive of the many, and life-enhancing? There are leaders in Charlotte and nationally who are creating ways of developing a truer and healthier culture. Mark Peres is one such leader in our growing city who is helping to make Charlotte a leader demonstrating that democratic citizenship and the humanities are inextricably woven together with each making possible and enhancing the other.

Mark will share more about his organization and what is now happening to bring us together in common cause to re-emphasize and focus on the humanities and its crucial relationship to democracy. He will also tell us about the Charlotte Ideas Festival, a 5 day festival within the 3-week Shout Festival that will take place April 3-8, 2025. Many nationally recognized thought leaders and experts will travel here to share their ideas and vision of a future many of us are willing to help create. This year’s theme is Timelines, which will take us on a journey exploring the past, present, and future with thought provoking talks, performances, and panel discussions. Big ideas, bold conversations, and lots of inspiration will be found in abundance at the Charlotte Ideas Festival. And come expecting to connect and engage with other like-minded people to exchange ideas, thoughts, and your experiences to see what new ideas may come to life in this unique multi-day event.

Learn more about the Charlotte Ideas Festival

About Our Guest Speaker
Mark Peres is an award-winning educator and non-profit leader based in Charlotte, North Carolina. He is a professor of leadership and ethics at Johnson & Wales University, teaching Global Ethics, The Good Life, and How to Change the World. He is the founder of The Charlotte Center for the Humanities & Civic Imagination, which hosts the Forum speaker series and the Charlotte Ideas Festival; the On Life and Meaning podcast, and Charlotte Viewpoint magazine. He has written extensively about city life and culture, including authoring On Life and Meaning: 100 Essays Inspired by 100 Guests; Charlotte Viewpoint: Perspectives; and an upcoming memoir, The Man Who Lived A Hundred Lives. His awards include the Johnson & Wales University Teacher of the Year Award and the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Luminary Award for lifetime achievement. He is a graduate of Florida State University College of Law and Rollins College.

 

POSTPONED | Date TBD
Guest Speaker | Sofia Bartholomew 
Theme | Braiding Sweetgrass: Learning Nature's Ways

MPBC’s own, Sofia Bartholomew, will guide us on an exploration of the iconic book Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. Originally published in 2013, this book has been a publishing phenomenon. It has sold nearly 3 million copies, been on the NYT bestseller list for 4 years, is published in 20 languages, and achieved all this without benefit of a major publisher. Much of the book’s popularity has happened by word of mouth as it gradually spread to a wider audience.

Kimmerer is a leading botanist and great writer who teaches at SUNY in Syracuse, NY. She is a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation and is well-steeped in scientific knowledge as well as indigenous ways of understanding the natural world. One of her core beliefs is that each of these ways of knowing is essential to crafting sustainable ways of living.

We must create new models that integrate indigenous philosophy and scientific tools on behalf of land and culture. She emphasizes that the long-standing western way of looking at nature is from a place of dominance and exploitation, and that this must change to an ecological ethos of acknowledgment and reciprocity with the natural world. Our attitude must be marked by a recognition of all the natural world provides human beings—including our ability to sustain our communities and civilization as a whole. When we come to understand how dependent we are on nature’s processes, we are more likely to feel gratitude for all she provides us.

We’ll listen to a portion of Kimmerer's talk on Emergence Magazine’s podcast and discuss how our own community can better practice reciprocity with the earth to repair our relationship to the land and the human and nonhuman beings on it.

About Our Guest Speaker

Sofia Bartholomew is the eldest daughter of Julie and Rene Bartholomew and a student at Queens University and a member of MOJO’s Environmental Justice group. She is pursuing multiple majors, including a B.S. in Conservation Biology and is also working to revitalize the student sustainability club at Queens.

Previous Weeks

Sunday, March 16, 2025 - Postponed due to inclement weather

Sunday, March 9, 2025
Guest Speaker | Roger Newman, physician, author, and storyteller 
Theme | Boys - A Story of Love and Loyalty During the Time of Jim Crow

Boys, by real-life physician and author Roger Newman, is a richly textured and nuanced look at some of the harsh realities in the South during the mid-20th century. It examines issues of racism, identity, and brotherhood while following the intertwining stories of two brothers bound by circumstance rather than blood.

In a fictional county located on the North Carolina side of the Great Smokey Mountains, young Alex’s family is murdered by the Ku Klux Klan. He runs into the woods terrified and hides in a nearby dairy barn. He is taken in by the white owner of the barn, not out of kindness but because they need an extra hand on the farm. The owner’s son Pete is the same age as Alex and over time comes to see Alex as a brother, though the other members of the family never develop a familial connection. Pete and Alex’s bond deepens as they learn to navigate the complexity of Jim Crow during the Great Depression. They each attend separate schools where they are taught two vastly different histories. Pete is steeped in white narratives while Alex soaks in the knowledge of his Cherokee teacher.

They each complete high school and then enlist in the U.S. Army as the country moves toward war in Europe. They both discover that the Army has its own rules of Jim Crow with its terrible cruelties—acutely galling to Alex as he is asked to fight for his country while being oppressed at every turn by that same country.

Alex’s journey to discover his self-worth and place in the world is both heart-wrenching and inspiring, and Pete’s love for him offers a glimpse of hope in a story otherwise rife with discrimination. The story’s major turning point takes place during August 1944 as they both take part in the real-life Battle of Mortain in the Normandy region of France. What happens here is partially based on writer Newman’s own father’s story of intense fighting in this battle, which earned him the Silver Star medal for his heroic actions.

The book’s vivid descriptions of rural life, racial tension, and military service add illuminating layers to the story’s narrative, immersing readers in the characters’ struggles and triumphs as they live through times of great turmoil and profound change. Boys is a powerful exploration of human connection, a paean to gaining strength through adversity, to the soul’s wounds imprinted by racism and war, and to the power of love and loyalty to heal and make whole.

About the Author 
Roger Newman has enjoyed a career as a medical doctor specializing in obstetrics and gynecology. He was voted by his medical peers as one of the “Best Doctors in America” for 30 consecutive years. He also wrote an award-winning and best-selling book When You’re Expecting Twins, Triplets or Quads. He and his wife Diane live on the Ashley River in Charleston, SC.

Sunday, March 2, 2025
Sunday Forum with Rev. Dr. H. Stephen Shoemaker
Theme | Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Struggle to Balance Faith and War in the Fight Against Nazism

Please join us as we welcome Dr. Shoemaker for a discussion on Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s struggle to balance faith and war in the fight against Nazism.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945) is among the great Christian theologians of the 20th century. He was born in Germany, taught in several countries, and spent a year as an exchange student at Union Theological Seminary in New York. He was among the theologians who saw the world as essentially non-dualistic in nature. Rather than dark or light, church or the world, sacred or profane, he saw an integration of these opposites as bringing forth the greatest potential for a more natural and complete Christian spirituality. His study of Christology (doctrines about the person of Jesus and the work of Christ) led to his unitive ethic of an everyday life that would create a dynamic relationship between work, personal life, and government that was divinely sanctioned.

But being one of the greatest theologians of the 20th century is not primarily why Bonhoeffer is still so widely revered around the world, now 80 years after his death. His decision to use his philosophical and religious beliefs as the basis for a life of courageous activism is why we remember him today. 

From the first, he spoke out against Hitler, and after Germany invaded Poland in 1939, the entire continent became engulfed in war. He and others recognized the futility of continuing to oppose the Nazis using only thoughts and words no matter how well-spoken and written. After considering relocating to the United States for the duration of the Second World War, Bonhoeffer decided to stay in Germany to fight with the resistance. Eventually, he was part of a group of individuals within the resistance who plotted against the life of Hitler. In the summer of 1944, this plot culminated in a failed assassination attempt. He and his collaborators were arrested, and he was executed in April 1945, mere days before the Allies defeated Germany ending the war in Europe.

The first major motion picture of Bonhoeffer’s life was released in November 2024 to very mixed reviews. Serious critics noted the film had many inaccuracies and distortions about Bonhoeffer’s life and character. Some political zealots on the far right have even claimed that Bonhoeffer exemplifies what they believe. But clear-headed analysis shows that he was never, nor would ever have been, on the side of oppression, authoritarianism or fascism in any form.

Please join us as we welcome Dr. Steve Shoemaker back to our sacred ground and listen to his intertwining words of compassion, connection, and wisdom. May his words evoke the same in each of us. 

Sunday, February 23, 2025
Sunday Forum with Jennifer Roberts
Theme | Strengthening Democracy and the Environment

Many of us remember former County Councilman and Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Roberts from her terms served in office during the mid-2000s and as mayor from 2015-2017, respectively. She is the only person ever to have been elected as County Chairman and Mayor of Charlotte.

In the years since, she has continued to serve our community in roles working for nonprofits. Since 2021, Ms. Roberts has served as the North Carolina co-lead for the Carter Center’s Strengthening Democracy Project. In 2024, Roberts and her co-lead former NC Supreme Court Justice Bob Orr, traveled across North Carolina and took part in political meetings between members of the NC Republican and Democratic party leaders at the local level. They set up meetings for local leaders to have discussions on the issues and to do so with respect and honesty, with an eye toward restoring faith in established democratic norms. The results they observed may surprise you as we hear their boots on the ground observations and what it bodes for the future.

A lifelong environmentalist, Ms. Roberts has worked for nationally known environmental non-profit ecoAmerica, running their Communities Program on climate solutions. While she was mayor, Ms. Roberts was recognized for her work on sustainability and equality. And she is familiar with the podcast series Broken Ground that has been one of our Spiritual Growth offerings since late January, and which focuses on key environmental issues facing North Carolina. Ms. Roberts will offer her views on these issues as well.

Less well-known yet important roles she has served include as high school math teacher, a diplomat with the U.S. State Department, an international banker, and an adjunct professor at UNC-Charlotte. She currently serves on numerous community boards and commissions, including serving as treasurer of MeckMIN (Mecklenburg Metropolitan Interfaith Network) as well as on the Creation Care committee at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church and Caldwell Presbyterian Church.

Over the span of her career, Ms. Roberts has received numerous awards and recognitions, including the Maya Angelou Women Who Lead Award and Equality North Carolina’s Ally of the Year Award.

Please join us and bring friends and family with you for this special occasion with one of the most prominent public servants in Charlotte over the past quarter century.

Sunday, February 9, 2025 
Theme | Abraham Lincoln

Lincoln’s Formative Years—From Wilderness to Washington

February 12 will mark the 216^th anniversary of Lincoln’s birth. We will honor the man that many professional historians and ordinary citizens alike consider not only the greatest President, but also the greatest American who has ever lived.  In the decades after his death, he became known throughout the world and was even championed by the great Russian writer Leo Tolstoy, who called him a “universal man.”

Have you ever considered how a young boy came from nearly nothing—little formal education, family members that could barely read, little money or status, and yet over the course of his adult life would reach the office of the Presidency at the darkest period in our nation’s history? It’s a life story that if written for a Hollywood movie, would not be believed.

Consider: born into poverty, at the age of 9 his beloved mother died. Within weeks, his father left he and his younger brother and 11-year-old sister alone for 1 year while he travelled to another village to search for a new wife. The Lincoln family had a couple of cousins in the area who occasionally came around to check on the children, but they were practically on their own during this period of time.

For this and other reasons, the odds were stacked against Lincoln ever doing anything of major note with his life. And yet, when he became President in 1861, he would labor around the clock to meet the many challenges of those four years, and in the end, his Herculean efforts and gritty perseverance would save the Union. We will take a look at some of the key events of his childhood including looking at his inner life and the way he responded to the many challenges he met and to the tragedies he suffered. And we will discover some of his principles and values as a young man that guided him throughout his life. Please join us for this illuminating session on the character formation of one of the most revered world leaders of the past 200 years.

Sunday, February 2, 2025
Theme | Martin Luther King—His Evolving Vision

Any list of the world’s most well-known people of the 20th century has to include the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. For most of us, the first images that come to mind when we think of him, are the photographs of him leading a protest march in cities in Alabama and other parts of the South. We also can see him at the huge rallies where he spoke to crowds of people hungry for his words, his energy, and the hope that he generated.

Dr. King was an epic man, possessed of an idea and vision as well as the energy, intelligence, and compassion to move that vision towards becoming reality. His willingness to sacrifice so much for the benefit of so many, changed his life and cause into something sacred and undeniable.

In this talk, we will take a look at the less widely known aspects of his personality during his most active and intense years, from 1955-1968.

Besides being a great visionary, Dr. King was also a deep thinker who studied some of the world’s great philosophers from ancient times to his present day. Along with his devout Christian beliefs, this gave him a rock-solid foundation from which he could respond to every challenge from those who said he had no right to demand such major change to the racial status quo.

We will watch a 26-minute video of Dr. King being interviewed by an NBC News reporter at his church in Atlanta in 1967. This interview is so skillfully done that elements of Dr. King’s genuine views, calmly spoken, show us how and what he actually thinks on serious issues. It’s a radically different way of conducting interviews than are done by most major news media outlets today and shows how thoughtful and serious people publicly discussed the moral and political issues of that time.

Our talk today will of necessity be limited to certain elements of Dr. King’s vision and life’s work. His life’s work was so large and full that it would take many hours to take a more comprehensive look. Come prepared to learn some new-to-us things about Dr. King’s vision and mission—things not normally covered by the major news media. 

Sunday, January 26, 2025
Theme | MPBC’s Realm System: You’ve Got Questions, We’ve Got Answers

Join us for our program that will be dedicated to learning about the Realm system we all have available to use for communicating messages to groups and individuals in our congregation. Scott Crowder has graciously accepted the invitation to lead this session to demonstrate the step-by-step procedures needed so that we can use this system as an effective communications tool. Also joining Scott to demonstrate Realm essential functions will be MPBC member, MPBC staff member, and Cornwell Center staff member, Valarie Kovolski, who has a deep understanding of this system and can help us to develop a better understanding too.

Please bring your laptop, iPad, cell phone or similar device so that you can follow each step and gain some practical experience that you can continue working on at home. 

Sunday, January 19, 2025
Theme | Professor Mark West returns to talk about President Jimmy Carter's literary legacy. 

There has been plenty of news coverage of President Jimmy Carter since his recent passing. These include articles, reviews of his Presidency and post-Presidential years, and interviews from different periods of his life. But few if any news outlets have written or spoken at length about his literary legacy.

As fate would have it, a brand-new book has just been published that goes into great detail about President Carter’s literary legacy, and it is co-edited by two men who have spoken in person to our congregation in the past 9 months: Mark West and Frye Gaillard.

Author and journalist Frye Gaillard spoke about his 2017 book A Hard Rain last spring on a Thursday evening at Heaton Hall and UNCC Professor Mark West spoke to the Faith & Community class in October about The Wizard of Oz. The two of them spent years curating many essays from over 30 writers about Carter and his literary works.

One of the most surprising things to emerge is the depth and breadth of literary genres in which Carter wrote. He penned over 30 books that covered non-fiction, memoir, fiction (a novel about the Revolutionary War), poetry, and children’s literature. All but two of his books were written in his post-presidential years. Throughout his multiple careers, Carter rarely if ever used a ghost writer. So, his own voice comes through clearly and distinctly in all his writings. “Writing was a primary, if not the primary, source of income for Jimmy Carter’s post-presidency,” said Gaillard. “He decided that he liked that better than going around charging a lot of money for speeches.” Carter also had little interest in golfing or sitting on corporate boards. When he wasn’t writing he was building houses for Habitat for Humanity or working for other charitable organizations on behalf of peace initiatives.

Please join us for what promises to be an informative and fascinating discussion on the writings of our 39^th President and possibly the one with the deepest and certainly the longest humanitarian post-presidency in American history. 

Sunday, January 12, 2025
Theme | Incoming Board Chair Scott Crowder talks MPBC in 2025 and A Retrospective on President Jimmy Carter

Incoming Board Chair Scott Crowder talks MPBC in 2025

Scott Crowder has been a member of MPBC for many years and has served on the Board of Deacons for the past 3 years. Starting this month, Scott will serve as the Board Chair for 2025. Originally from Kannapolis, NC, Scott has a background working in the communications field and is adept at planning and project management and establishing collaborative working relationships. We are glad he will be our next Board Chair and welcome him to our Sunday Forum. Please join us for this opportunity to get better acquainted with him and to learn of his outlook for 2025. 

President Jimmy Carter: A Retrospective Look

Our 39th President was born and raised in a small town in rural southern Georgia. He came of age during the Great Depression and the war years of the 1940s. His father taught him the value of a strong work ethic and how to think in practical ways and to solve problems. His mother taught him values that flowed from a deep commitment to genuine Christian teachings. She lived out her commitment to the basic tenets of the Christian faith, showing a quiet resolve to treat Black people with the same dignity, respect and compassion that she did people of her own race. She also taught her son that poor people of any color should not be looked down upon, as they might well be in circumstances beyond their control.

We will take a brief look at President Carter’s life and career, focusing on his time as President and his post-presidential years. Mr. Carter lived the good life—not one based on conspicuous consumption, materialism and superficial ways, but one based on living a life of purpose and meaning. He exemplified a life of faith, integrity and humility in service to others.

We will take a look at a couple of short videos that capture some of his years of service during and after his Presidency and talk about them as well. Like most of you, I remember his presidential years and as well as the years since and have my own memories of these times. You are welcome to bring yours too and share them during this retrospective of a most remarkable man.

Sunday, November 17, 2024
Theme | The Effects of Light Pollution on Night Skies and in Our homes
Speaker | Ken Steiner

After many years of research and experimentation by scientists and inventors in the U.S., Canada and several European countries, the first long-lasting incandescent light bulb was invented by Thomas Edison and his team at their lab in Menlo Park, NJ in 1879. Neither Edison nor his contemporaries could have foreseen the long-term impact that this invention would have on people’s lives. It has made possible the expansion of the industrial base which grew exponentially in the late 19^th century through the mid-twentieth century. It lit public spaces like museums, ballparks, theaters and churches which enabled us to enjoy more cultural experiences by increasing their hours of access. And later, lights lit our way, guiding us safely back home after dark. And our homes themselves seemed more warm and cozy, while improving nighttime reading.

 In more recent decades, we have come to understand that not all of the impacts of artificial light have been beneficial. The excessive or inappropriate use of indoor and outdoor artificial light adversely affects human health, wildlife behavior and our ability to observe the sublime beauty of the moon, the stars and our own Milky Way galaxy.

Ken will also tell us how too much of the blue light--emanating from bulbs, computers, TVs, cell phones and other devices--is detrimental to our own physical and mental health. As we learn how these artificial light sources can harm us, we will also discover steps we can take to mitigate our exposure to blue light and lower our risks. Ken will have some impactful slides as part of his presentation, helping illuminate this 150-year history of artificial light and its effects on our earth and its inhabitants.

Sunday, November 10, 2024
Theme | Chasing the Story
Speaker | David Whisenant, longtime WBTV reporter

Join us as former WBTV reporter David Whisenant discusses his new book, Chasing the Story: The Stories and Events That Shaped the Life of a Veteran News Reporter.

In October 2023, David announced his retirement from WBTV after working for the station since 1991. His new book chronicles David’s 32-year career as a field reporter for WBTV.

David covered a wide range of stories in the Carolinas and beyond—including encounters with celebrities, well-known crimes, the death of Queen Elizabeth II, community disasters and inspirational people. David brings these stories to life with sensitivity and some humor.

The book also deals with the suicide of David's father and how he leaned on his Christian faith to work through the trauma and eventually found meaning in promoting mental wellness.

David will also touch on some issues that face journalists today, including social media, the changing reliance on local news and the lowering levels of trust in the news media in general.

Please join us for this insider look at the news media today.

We will have copies of his book available from Park Road Books.

Sunday, November 3, 2024
Theme | Surviving Helene and Pathways That Transform Us 
Speaker | Pastor Mike Morrell

In these tumultuous times in which we live, many of us feel tense and troubled about what may happen during and after the election, and what may happen to our world in the future even as we deal with multiple crises in the present.

Mike Morrell is a progressive theologian who knows how to take complex ideas and put them in language that lay people might understand and learn from. He has an extraordinary mastery of English, both in writing and speaking to general audiences. He is a leader in the progressive church movement who leads retreats and seminars in the U.S. and internationally. He has worked closely with the world renown scholar and Franciscan Friar Richard Rohr, even co-writing with Rohr the 2020 book The Divine Dance. Like Fr. Rohr, Mike has a contemplative, intelligent and holistic approach that seeks to find truth, grace, and transformation both individually and in community.

He will also introduce us to the process of spiritual composting. It’s a way to help us recognize some of our old patterns of thinking and being which no longer serve us well. When released, we can find deeper meaning and connection, and the grace that frees us to have more compassion and less judgment. As we begin to practice these virtues, we develop the inner resources to deal with life’s challenges, and to make a positive impact on our shared future.

Mike, his wife, and two daughters live in Asheville and were there when tropical storm Helene roared through WNC. He will share what this experience was like and the aftermath in the weeks since. Their house was significantly damaged by the storm, and they are currently living with friends in Charlotte while working through the trauma and tremendous upheaval in their lives. Please keep them in your prayers and join us in person to offer Mike and his family our deepest hospitality and attention, something we at MPBC have long been in the forefront of doing. In next week’s email, I will detail ways that we might assist Mike and his family.

ABOUT OUR SPEAKER
Mike Morrell is the Communications Director for the Integral Theology think-tank Presence International, co-founder of The Buzz Seminar, and a founding organizer of the Wild Goose Festival, held each summer in gently rolling fields outside Statesville, NC. It’s an event that draws 1,000+ people from around the U.S. and hosts world renown speakers such as Brian McLaren, Diana Butler Bass, Barbara Brown Taylor, Jacqui Lewis and many others.

Sunday, October 20 & 27, 2024
Theme | “Today’s Mainline Protestant Churches Are Dying.” . . . Oh Really? 
Speaker | Pastor Dale Mullenix

This narrative can be found in many places: in the local and national news media, in think tanks and even in some churches. But is the very real drop in church attendance over the past two decades completely attributable to these big trends we hear about? Are all our efforts to make changes and adapt merely the equivalent to rearranging seats on the Titanic? If any of these thoughts have ever crossed your mind, then you may want to participate in this program, led by Pastor Dale Mullenix.

Renown pastor, writer, retreat leader, and church expert Diana Butler Bass undertook a three-year exploration of non-evangelical Protestant congregations around the U.S. She came away with some surprising discoveries that directly contradict the prevalent narrative of church decline. While her book Christianity for the Rest of Us came out in 2006, much of what she discovered applies to congregations today, for the characteristics of healthy and fruitful congregations are relevant across generations. Some of the specifics of how to create and apply these may require new and innovative ways of being, but Diana Butler Bass makes clear that today’s situation is far from hopeless. Some churches are thriving and doing so without resorting to a false fundamentalism or the insidious prosperity gospel message.

Join us for two Sundays of this presentation and opportunity to discuss the hopeful emergence of an authentic, nonjudgmental, and more holistic Christian spirituality.

Sunday, October 13, 2024 - No class

Sunday, October 6, 2024
Theme | The Enduring Appeal of the MGM Classic Film the Wizard of Oz
Speaker | Mark West, English Professor at UNCC

August 2024 marked the 85^th anniversary of the original release of The Wizard of Oz. To the casual movie viewer, the plot and theme of the movie are as simple as they are familiar. Yet a closer look at this film reveals a deceptively simple plot—one not as simple as it may first seem. In other words, there is a lot more going on in this film than first meets the eye. 

From start to finish the film is a visual feast. Special effects were yet in their infancy, but the filmmakers managed to create effects that were so persuasive that they hold up to this day. The scene where the distant twister approaches and crisscrosses its way over the fields, drawing ever closer to the farm of Dorothy Gale’s family--still sends chills up our spines because it looks and sounds so menacingly real. 

The story has multiple meanings that remain as relevant today as they did in 1939. America was just starting to make a real and sustained recovery from the Great Depression, and Europe, which had been very tense for several years due to the dire economy and the march of totalitarianism, was mere days away from plunging headlong into a cataclysmic war. The world seemed to be falling apart, and people were searching for stability, meaning, and hope for a new way forward. 

UNCC English Professor Mark West will talk about some of the meanings found in the film as well as analyzing the characters in the L. Frank Baum book and comparing them to the characters portrayed in the film. He spent years compiling and co-editing a recently published scholarly edition of the book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. This program will surely be a delight for anyone who has ever been captivated by the film’s intrepid journey from the fertile fields of Kansas to the magical Land of Oz and back again. Adults of all ages and backgrounds are welcome, so please plan to join us.

Sunday, September 29
Theme | From Queen Charlotte to Slaves: The Pivotal Role of Women in Charlotte’s Founding
Speaker | Michael Jeffcoat, forensic historian

Long-time Charlotte resident, Michael Jeffcoat, made his living in real estate and has spent years working as a forensic historian. He has extensively studied and researched Charlotte’s early history and has documented a fascinating and little-known story of women involved in the city’s founding. This is a story with a very unexpected revelation: women played a vital role in bringing about Charlotte’s founding and in shaping its values of freedom, education, and religious teachings for daily life. And they were not alone. Prior to the Revolution, groups of women in several colonies began efforts to bring these values to the forefront of political and social life. Queen Charlotte (who may have been the Jacqueline Kennedy of her time) was the patron for these groups, but they also included women who were not part of the ruling class--and even included several slaves. The common thread among these women was their strength of character and similar values. Some were well educated, including Phyllis Wheatley, a slave from Boston whose owners recognized her strength of character and intelligence early on and provided her with extensive educational instruction.

Wheatley (who became a household name throughout the colonies and in England when she published a book of her poetry in 1773) has an astonishing story. Mr. Jeffcoat will explain how she inspired the nascent abolitionist movement in England and New England and her ties to the Carolinas and one of his ancestors.

He will also bring the story of these remarkable women to modern times and their connection with women in Charlotte and beyond—some of whom were world-renown—including Eleanor Roosevelt. Please join us for a remarkable story most have never heard and one which affirms the timelessness of some values we still hold dear.