Spiritual Formation

Reconciling Ministries

QAUMC belongs to the Reconciling Ministries Network, which advocates for full inclusion of LGBTQIA+ people within the church and within society at large. There is much work to be done. We are in it!

Classes and Practices

Class after worship on Sundays.

A better story of faith exists, and it has the capacity to heal the world--if we only embrace, articulate, and live it more courageously.

You know what you don't believe: about the Bible, the church, and God. You don't agree with the doctrines of an exclusionary, dominant Christianity. But what if someone asked you: "What do you believe?" In this primer on progressive, expansive, generous Christianity, writer and pastor Bruce Reyes-Chow helps us reconsider--or consider for the first time--what it means to choose faith. What if we could articulate the gospel of love, kindness, humility, and justice? What if the Christian narrative both embraces contradiction and lays claim to deep, historic truths? And what if everything good about God is actually true?

With clarity, vulnerability, and wit, Reyes-Chow helps us learn a grammar of faith about God, Jesus, and the Spirit that breathes fresh meaning into old words like sin, confession, salvation, baptism, communion, and gratitude. He doesn't shy away from calling out the hateful and hurtful dogmas of many churches, but he also turns our attention toward essential questions: What if God created humans to be beautifully complex? What if the Spirit calls us to lament and repent and also beckons us toward pathways of healing, wholeness, and hope? And if Jesus equips us for lives of justice and kindness, how might our imaginations expand for what the world could be?

Reyes-Chow offers his own "faith montage" and helps individuals and groups create their own. There is a more loving, more genuine vision of God than the one we see being performed around us, and this book helps us find it. (provided summary)

Exploring Isaiah - COMPLETED

Our after-worship study will be a deep dive into the book of Isaiah. It’s time to roll up our sleeves and wrestle with the prophets! Classes will take place in the parlor and last about an hour - until 12:30 PM.

  • Isaiah 1 - 1st Isaiah and 8th Century Prophetic Speech

  • Isaiah 40 - 2nd Isaiah: Return

  • Isaiah 53 - Suffering Servant and Christian Use of This Text

  • Isaiah 58 - 3rd Isaiah: A New People

Covenantal Restoration is on pause. We will return to this later in the year.

Covenantal Restoration is a 12 session class that will be broken into smaller portions. The curriculum was written by Kelly Ann Hall.

“Racism and oppression have a long and painful past and present, it is an open, aching human wound that reflects a fracture in our relationship with God. Understanding how it was promoted and is still alive and acting out in the construct of our beliefs and systems and structures is the beginning of caring for this wound.”

Examples of Previous Classes :

  • “Sermon on the Mount,” a 6-week study about Matthew 5-7 using Dr. Amy-Jill Levine’s book and video series Sermon on the Mount: A Beginners Guide to the Kingdom of Heaven.

  • “Between Past and Future” by Hannah Arendt. Discussion about how we make meaning in these years of changing and eroding meaning - in spirituality, in justice, in community, in our world.

  • The Universal Christ by Richard Rohr. Meeting after worship, this is a small group discussion about the ideas presented in the book by Franciscan Richard Rohr.

  • My Grandmother’s Hands by Resmaa Menakem.

  • Queering the Divine. A 4 week course on the diversity of gender expression within God’s own being.

  • The Antiphons. A 4 week course exploring the antiphons sung during Advent and how these images for Christ are still forming our understanding of Christ’s identity.

  • Entering the Passion with Amy-Jill Levine.

The Well

Many of our spiritual formation offerings come through The Well, a ministry focused on compassion and justice. We host a podcast that features some of the nation’s leading voices inside and outside of the church, including Dr. Wil Gafney, Katherine Stewart, Dr. Cornel West, and dozens more. Our podcast is The Well QA. You can subscribe through Apple Podcasts or wherever you find your podcasts.