Academy of Faith

January 15, 2012 – February 19, 2012

An Academy of Faith, A Typical Sunday Morning
Adult Education on Sunday mornings is on the mission of making, disciples. It gladly bears much of the burden of forming disciples. On Sunday, 5 courses are being taught in 5 different rooms for adults (see map below). Each class begins at 10:00am. Coffee and other refreshments are served beforehand on the patio. Each class concludes with final prayers said at 10:45. Lecture, discussion, and question and answer, or all three can characterize the time.

Download Dr. Andrew’s organizing document on Adult Education here:
Academy of Faith


Hearing the Faith – Romans: a letter from the Apostle Paul to the church in Rome
Led by Peggy Baker
The year is A.D. 57, in the twenty years since the resurrection the church has spread from Jerusalem, through Judea and into Asia Minor. The Roman Empire stretches from northern Africa in the south to Great Britain in the north and all of Asia Minor south to Egypt.  The church is growing; the gospel is spreading throughout the known world by way of Roman roads and trade in the Empire. In A.D. 54 the new emperor, Nero, lifts the ban on Jews from the Eternal City of Rome. Paul sees great opportunities for the gospel to spread from Rome to Spain and north to Britain. He sends a delegation of believers to Rome to establish a church at the crossroads of the Empire. The church in Rome is growing fast, Paul writes his letter to the Romans setting forth a clear gospel message of grace; this document is useful for the  teaching of new converts and the building up of the church.

Peggy Baker
Peggy Baker is a long time member of FPC; she began attending with her family while in Junior High School. Peggy met her husband Brad at FPC; they have been married for 36 years and have two grown sons, a daughter-in-law and two grandsons. She has served as a children and youth teacher, adult teacher and as an elder on Christian Education and Congregational Life committees.  Through her friendships and connections with FPC she has traveled overseas on seven short term mission trips. In addition to teaching, her current responsibilities are with the FPC Women’s Ministry.


Knowing the Faith – Barmen Declaration
Led by Ken Jensen
Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven (Matt. 10:32) The Barmen Declaration, adopted in 1934,is a statement of the Confessing Church opposing the Nazi-supported “German Christians”.  We will explore this confession in its historical context and focus on its continuing relevance for our confession of Jesus Christ.

Ken Jensen
Ken Jensen is an elder at First Presbyterian Church.  Ken is an attorney, currently employed with the San Diego Superior Court.  He also has a M.Div. from Bethel Seminary.  He is currently studying and teaching from major confessions of the Church, with the goal of studying and teaching through all confessions in the Book of Confessions of the PCUSA.  “What you have as heritage take now as task, and thus you will make it your own.” (Goethe, “Faust”)


Owning the Faith – Mr. Chesterton’s Spectacles
Led by Allen Randall
This course will explore the life and work of English author G.K. Chesterton (1874 – 1936). This freewheeling—and perhaps haphazard–overview will attempt to convey the author’s delightful way of looking at the world as well as his late-in-life embrace of the Christian faith. This class will also explore how Chesterton countered the atheists of his day in his witty and charming happy-warrior style–both in public debate with George Benard Shaw and in print, in his two most well know works, Orthodoxy and Heresy.

Allen Randall
Most everything really interesting about Allen Randall is prefaced by the word,”former”, as, former atheist, communist, revolutionary, Fuller Brush man, pacifist, anti-war activist, hippie and spiritual vagabond; former pastor, police/prison chaplain, soup kitchen manager–just to name a few. See? Allen wandered warily into First Presbyterian Church the year the Berlin Wall come down and, to his surprise, found this his home church since then. Allen is currently embarked on a quite fool-hearty venture into fine art painting and photography. His trinity of favorite Christian authors is made up of C.S. Lewis, George MacDonald and G.K. Chesterton. Samples of his writing and interests can be found at the blogsite entitled Random Acts of Intelligence.


Thinking the Faith – Creation & Evolution
Led by Rebecca Flietstra
BEGINNINGS: Seen Through the Microscope and the Lens of Scripture This Adult Education course will examine the relationship between science and Christian faith, particularly through an examination of Creation and Evolution. We will read and discuss Darrel Falk’s book, Coming to Peace with Science: Bridging the Worlds Between Faith and Biology (InterVarsity Press, 2004). The topics discussed each week will follow the chapters given in the book. Participants in this class will receive a free copy of this book.

Rebecca Flietstra
Rebecca Flietstra received a B.A. in Biology from Calvin College, and her Ph.D. in Physiology from the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City, Kansas. Rebecca moved to San Diego in 1997 to teach at Point Loma Nazarene University. There, she teaches Human Anatomy & Physiology, Vertebrate Physiology, and Neuroscience. In 2000 Rebecca joined First Presbyterian Church of San Diego, where she regularly worships with her two sons, Jeremiah and Jonathan.


Living the Faith – History of First Presbyterian Church
Led by Tom Carnes and Jean Benthien
The class describes the road that led to FPC from the beginnings of the reform tradition with Calvin and Knox etc..  It will be a light, non-comprehensive look which includes American pastors (Finley, Beecher, and Graham) and San Diego stories and pictures from the church archive.

Tom Carnes
Tom is a native San Diegan and retired history teacher (middle and high schools 38 years).  His interest in local history brought him to the unofficial position of church archivist.  He also sings in the choir and volunteers on Tuesdays in the church office.

Jean Benthien
Jean Benthien’s parents met and married here at FPC.  She is a lifer.  After retiring as a Nurse Practitioner for thirty one years at Point Loma Nazarene University she became an assistant bookkeeper here at FPC.  She works with Tom Carnes in maintaining the history of this church.

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