First Presbyterian Church - Jeffersonville, IN

09/06/2026

Adult Sunday School Class 9/6/26
"God and the Gay Christian"
Session 6: The Image of God and a Modern Reformation

Matthew Vines closes with the doctrine beneath the whole debate: the image of God. Teaching gay Christians that their capacity for love is broken at the root cracks their ability to believe they were made on purpose. The affirming position restores the same calling every Christian has: sanctify your capacity for love inside covenant faithfulness. Vines calls this a reformation, a return to Scripture rather than a departure from it. Our own denomination lived it: the PC(USA) opened ordination in 2011 (Amendment 10-A) and marriage in 2014-15 (Amendment 14-F), through decades of study, debate, and presbytery votes. Reformed and always being reformed according to the Word of God.

This ends David's deep-dive into Matthew Vines' affirmation of being a gay Christian. Beginning next Sunday, join us as we celebrate the Season of Creation with a class on how our faith connects to creation care and climate justice! We will watch Blessed Tomorrow's film series, "Caring for the Earth: Stories from Faith Communities". Carol Dunn and Beth Snyder will lead each of the 4 sessions as we pray, read scripture, watch the films, and engage in discussion about each of the topics, and how we might more fully engage in caring for the earth as individuals and a church family. All are invited.

08/30/2026

Adult Sunday School Class 8/30/26
"God and the Gay Christian"
Session 5: Lost in Translation, Found in Covenant

This week closes the loop on 1946. Malakoi ("soft") was a sprawling ancient insult for unmanliness of every kind; arsenokoitai is so rare that Paul's use is its first on record, and later usage groups it with economic exploitation. Neither supports a verdict on people in faithful covenant love, which is why the RSV retreated from "homosexuals" in 1971. Then the positive case: Ephesians 5 locates the essence of marriage not in gender but in covenant, a living picture of Christ's faithfulness to the church. Vines argues gay couples can keep that covenant fully, and that affirming their marriages applies, rather than abandons, the Bible's own theology of celibacy, companionship, and marriage.

NOTE: There are lapses in network connection to David's laptop so the TV picture bounces back and forth. We apologize for the disruptions.

08/16/2026

Adult Sunday School Class 8/16/26
"God and the Gay Christian"
Session 4: The Law and the Letter to Rome

Leviticus is clear; the question is what Leviticus is. It is Israel's covenant charter of 613 commands, which the apostles ruled non-binding on Christians (Acts 15), which is why we eat shellfish and wear blends. "Abomination" (Hebrew toevah) is mostly a cultural boundary word, applied to shellfish, pork, and even charging interest. Romans 1, the debate's central text, describes people who exchanged and abandoned their own nature in a rush of idolatrous excess, matching the ancient view of same-sex behavior as overflow of lust, not a description of people whose lasting orientation was never chosen and who seek covenant, not excess. And Paul's word "nature" works elsewhere (1 Corinthians 11, hair length) as custom.

NOTE: There will not be a class on August 23rd due to the outdoor worship service. We will return on August 30th.

08/02/2026

Adult Sunday School Class 8/2/26
"God and the Gay Christian"
Session 3: Celibacy and S***m

Scripture treats celibacy as a gift given to some, never a mandate imposed on a class; for those without the gift, Paul prescribes marriage. The traditional position imposes lifelong celibacy on every gay Christian and changes celibacy's meaning: instead of honoring marriage, it declares every expression of their capacity for love corrupt. Meanwhile, the passage that gave the tradition its vocabulary, S***m, is about attempted gang r**e of strangers, and the Bible itself says so: Ezekiel names S***m's sin as arrogance, excess, and neglect of the poor. Scholars on both sides have largely conceded this ground.

NOTE: There will not be a class on August 9th; we will return on August 16th.

07/26/2026

Several of us in worship this morning did not grow up with Reading Rainbow so here's a look at Pastor Ryan's reference 😊

CCLI license #11324901

Late Night with Jimmy Fallon

07/26/2026

Adult Sunday School Class 7/26/26
"God and the Gay Christian"
Session 2: A Tree and Its Fruit

Jesus gives a test for telling good teaching from bad: by their fruit you will recognize them. Vines argues the traditional teaching has borne a generations-long pattern of bad fruit in gay Christians' lives, and that Scripture itself (Acts 15) and church history (abolition, Galileo) show the faithful response: go back to the text with better questions. Sexual orientation is new knowledge the original interpreters did not have, a fact the church conceded when the ex-gay movement collapsed in 2013.

07/19/2026

Adult Sunday School Class 7/19/26
"God and the Gay Christian"
Session 1: Why We Are Here

This class is not an abstract debate. Research shows that family and church rejection multiplies su***de risk for LGBT young people, while even one accepting adult cuts that risk dramatically. Over six weeks, we will read Matthew Vines' book, "God and the Gay Christian" together and examine all six passages cited in this debate. Vines holds a high view of Scripture; his request is that the church reconsider its interpretation, not its authority. Those are two different things, and telling them apart is the work of this course.

Please join us as Dr. David Borman continues an insightful study on God and the gay Christian.

06/28/2026

Adult Sunday School Class 6/28/26
"Deeper Connections in the Last Third of Life"
Session 4: Dropping the Mask and Getting Real

This ends Debbie Cover's interesting discussion of the book, "Pilgrimage into the Last Third of Life" by Jane Marie Thibault and Richard L. Morgan. We will take a few weeks off before David Borman leads our next class. Stay tuned for further developments!

06/14/2026

Adult Sunday School Class 6/14/26
"Deeper Connections in the Last Third of Life"
Session 2: Considering Envy and Pride

06/07/2026

Adult Sunday School Class 6/7/26
"Deeper Connections in the Last Third of Life"
Session 1: Savoring Your Life

For the four Sundays in June, Debbie Cover continues the class she began last October based on the book, "Pilgrimage into the Last Third of Life."