Stroop Sunday School Class Index Page

What do Christians Really Believe? An Introduction to Theology. This class is being taught by Bill Stroop during Winter and Spring of 2008 at Tinity Episcopal Church, Hattiesburg, MS. It is designed to explore some of the basic questions that all human beings ask about themselves and the universe. We will explore fundamental questions such as how do we know God exists? What are some of the models of creation? What is evil? Did God create evil? Who is Jesus? What does Jesus' death have to do with salvation? What is the resurrection? There are two goals of the class. First, to explore these basic questions of faith from a Christian perspective (Christian theology). Second, to provide tools so that as Christians we can articulate our faith to people of other denominations and faiths alike (Christian apologetics).

An Inquirer's Class for Those Interested in Christianity and the Episcopal Church. This ten session course of study is being taught by Bill Stroop between February and April 2008 at Trinity Episcopal Church in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. It is designed to provide persons with little or no exposure to Christianity or to the Episcopal denomination with the basic knowledge and understanding of the Christian faith and the history and tradition of the Episcopal Church. This course is not comprehensive; not every topic or issue within Christianity will be covered or discussed in depth. The course will provide a basic framework about Christianity onto which future learning can be placed. This course of study suffices for those who wish to join the Episcopal Church, and to be confirmed or received by the Bishop. The course is on line, and contains complete Microsoft PowerPoint™ presentations for each class session, as well as downloadable copies of slide handouts for each session.

Evangelism: Lessons From The Early Church. This class by Bill Stroop was taught during January and February 2008 at Trinity Episcopal Church, Hattiesburg, MS. This class examined the writings of the New Testament evangelists to learn from their culture and perspective why and how they spread the Good News. We also looked at a new model of evangelism termed "Invitational Evangelism" which is based on the observation that the early church gospel writers evangelized to their specific communities, engaging them in invitational dialog to teach, preach, and spread the Good News. A major goal of the class was to foster personal and corporate introspection and to produce new ideas about our individual and community call to evangelization and discipleship.

The Church Calendar. This one or two-session class taught by Bill Stroop during January 2008 at Trinity Episcopal Church, Hattiesburg, MS. is on the church calendar, its feasts and fasts and its organization.

Growth and Decline of Episcopal Parishes and Missions. This three session class is being taught by Bill Stroop during November 2007 at Trinity Episcopal Church, Hattiesburg, MS. Information on the dynamics of growth and decline in Episcopal parishes and missions based on the Faith Communities Today 2005 (FACT 2005) national survey written by C. Kirk Hadaway will be presented. Some of the factors that contributed to growth or decline determined from a survey of over 4,000 churches between 2000 and 2005 will be discussed with reference to Trinity Parish. In the FACT Study, various sources of congregational growth and decline were determined, including the location and demographic makeup of the congregation; the congregation's identity; the congregation's worship; the congregation's activities; and the congregation's leadership. Those factors will be examined with reference to where Trinity parish is today.

The Book of Revelation. This seven session Sunday School Class by Bill Stroop was taught from February to May at Trinity Episcopal Church, Hattiesburg, MS. Prophetic and apocalyptic literature is among the most misunderstood and most difficult kind of literature in the Bible. Some use the apocalyptic vision of prophets to sell newspapers. Others see current events as indicators of Biblical prophecies to predict the end of the world. This seven week course studied the apocalyptic vision of John of Patmos to try to make sense of apocalyptic and prophetic litertaure, and to demystify the Book of Revelation. The Book of Revelation makes great demands on those who read it. It is first and foremost apocalyptic in nature, which means it is a prophetic work, but not a work that foretells the future. Rather, it tells the truths of God as revealed to the prophet. Our task in reading prophetic literature, is to understand the imagery and symbolism in its historical context, so that we do not read into the work things from our own culture and time period. The writer of Revelation gives us God's perceptions of the situation of the original readers (hearers) of the work, and then tells us what God will do about that situation. In the end, John tells us, the righteous will be rewarded, and the wicked will be punished. The course includes complete Microsoft PowerPoint™ presentations for each class session.

Via Media for Lent. The Via Media program is a program offered by the Episcopal Church as an evangelism tool and to help people deepen their faith. It involves watching an introductory DVD and then breaking into small groups as we discussed among ourselves Christian issues. During Lent a shorter form of the Via Media program can be used to explore the topics of sin, God, the Holy Spirit, and the person of Jesus.

Bible Stories: An Adult Education Class. This class was taught by Bill Stroop between October 2006 and February 2007at Trinity Episcopal Church, Hattiesburg, Mississippi. The Bible contains many intriguing stories about some of the most interesting figures in literature. In our faith, however, the Bible is a sacred book, and these stories hold special meaning. This class was intended to explore some of the well known stories of the Bible and to look thoroughly at some of the more well known characters of the Bible to deepen our understanding and strengthen our faith. This class consisted of take home assignments of specific (and short) sections of the Bible or other extra-canonical texts. When we met on Sunday mornings, we viewed a video that elaborates upon those texts and poses questions to us.

The Holy Eucharist. This class by Bill Stroop was taught in June 2006 and dealt with the structure and form of the Holy Eucharist. A complete set of power point slides and a handout are available for this class. it is designed to be used as an adult education class on a Sunday when an instructed Eucharist is offered. Also see the class listed below entitled "The Holy Eucharist and The Daily Office."

The Agony in the Garden and The Terror of Crucifixion. This class was taught by Bill Stroop on April 17, 2004 at St. George's Episcopal Church, Roseburg, Oregon. We discussed what scripture and recent archeological findings tell us about Jesus' activities on the day he died. We also discussed the medical aspects of the passion and watched scenes from classic movies about the life and death of Jesus Christ.

Who Is Jesus The Christ? This class was taught Mr. Tim Bryan and Bill Stroop between March 6 and April 4, 2004 at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Fayetteville, Arkasas. Five Sunday School classes were devoted to a discussion of early Christianity, Gnostic Christianity, and the person of Jesus. This was a time to meditate upon what we mean when we speak of Jesus as a human being and as the son of God. We began with some of the concepts of early Christianity and the Gnostic scriptures, Jewish pseudepigrapha, Kabbalah, Christian Apocrypha, and the Dead Sea Scrolls. We then discussed Gnostic and Orthodox Christian views of the person of Jesus, and we ended with what scripture and recent archeological findings tell us about Jesus' activities on the day he died. We also discussed the medical aspects of the passion.

The Biology and Spirituality of Human Sexuality. This ten session class by Bill Stroop was taught between May 25 through September 21, 2004 at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Fayetteville, AR. The syllabus is complete with class notes, Power Point™ slide presentations, and a complete bibliography. We explored the church's view of sexuality; the current debate(s) in the church about sexual issues; the biology of sexuality; the spirituality and psychology of sexuality; what holy scripture says about sexuality; and the ethics of sexuality including pleasure as gift and grace. We also heard from guest speakers from Integrity. An overarching theme of this class was to look at sex as sacrament.

The Gospel of Mark. This class was taught by Bill Stroop between January 12 and March 2, 2003 at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Fayetteville, AR. Since Mark was the first Gospel written, and because the other gospel writers knew of or directly used Mark as a source in creating their own gospels, it is important to develop and understanding of Mark's view of Jesus and Jesus' ministry. This class studied the historical and literary background of the Mark and compared Mark with the other synoptic gospels. We read the gospel of Mark as story, trying to understand what Mark had to say (and not read into it what we thought or what the other gospel writers wrote). We also made use of other texts and non-canonical sources as we tried to uncover how the political landscape of the first century influenced how Mark viewed the contrast between the kingdom of humankind and the Kingdom of God.

The Holy Eucharist and the Daily Office. This class by Bill Stroop was taught in February 2000 and dealt with the structure and form of the Holy Eucharist and the Daily Office. Also see the class listed above entitled "The Eucharist." That class has a slide show with it and describes the elements of the Holy Eucharist worship service.

The Nine Commandments. This class by Bill Stroop was taught during November and December, 2002 at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Fayetteville, AR. The class was based on the book by the same title by David Noel Freedman. Freedman's hypothesis is that the Hebrew nation defied its covenant with Yahweh by breaking each of the ten commandments, one by one - in order - beginning with Exodus and ending with Kings. The class gave us an opportunity to explore the covenental relationship between Yahweh and Israel, and to examine the history of Israel and Judah during the period of the Tribal leagues through the establishment of the divided Kingdom.