Events
Keep scrolling this page to see the live learning opportunities currently on offer online or in your local area!
New SMP Live!
Perspectives on Life From the Faith Once Delivered
Thursday evenings beginning June 12, 2025, 7 to 8 p.m. central time, in person or online!
Join our summer study for SMP Live!
We are building on an earlier study where we explored some of the teachings of the church fathers, as they are known in history. This summer, for example, we'll explore why belief in the Trinity is central to the Christian life and not simply a matter of having the right idea about God. It goes much deeper, and we will do some careful meditating on this and a number of other great truths.
When you sign up, we'll send you a link to participate by Zoom. You can also attend at 2448 Edgemont Dr. Arkansas City, KS 67005.
See you Thursdays!Â
Stephen W. Rankin
Pastor, Arkansas City United Methodist Church, and Executive Director, Spiritual Maturity Project
Spiritual Maturity Project is an intellectually rich resource for hungry Christians, connecting them to the deep theological traditions of the historic Christian faith through coursework, online resourcing, connection to orthodox scholars, and learning communities, resulting in mature Christian disciples. Go to www.spiritualmaturityproject.org for more information.
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Registration is Closed
A Word from God for A World that Refuses to Acknowledge God: A Study of the Book of Hebrews
Thursday evenings beginning Feb. 6, 2025, 7 to 8 p.m. central time, in person or online!
How do Christians, particularly in the United States and Europe, handle living in a world where people increasingly think they can live quite well without having to identify with a religion? We are not immune from creeping doubts about the truthfulness and stability of the gospel. Even if we don’t wholly cave in to the doubts, they can work on us just the same, leaving us in a kind of intellectual no man’s land.
The writer of Hebrews knows this problem full well and speaks wise words to us about how to persevere in faith in an increasingly Jesus-dismissing world. Join us for this in-depth study of the Book of Hebrews.
When you sign up, we'll send you a link to participate by Zoom. You can also attend in bodily form at 2448 Edgemont Dr. Arkansas City, KS 67005.
See you Thursdays!Â
Stephen W. Rankin
Pastor, Arkansas City United Methodist Church
Executive Director, Spiritual Maturity Project
Spiritual Maturity Project is an intellectually rich resource for hungry Christians, connecting them to the deep theological traditions of the historic Christian faith through coursework, online resourcing, connection to orthodox scholars, and learning communities, resulting in mature Christian disciples. Go to www.spiritualmaturityproject.org for more information.
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Registration is Closed
"Practically Recognizable" Ways the Holy Spirit Works
Thursday evenings beginning Sept. 12, 2024, 7 to 8 p.m. central time, in person or online!
Steve will lead a discussion on Simeon Zahl’s book, The Holy Spirit and Christian Experience. This book is a rich resource for thinking about (as Zahl says) “practically recognizable” ways that the Holy Spirit works in our Christian lives. The book is a fetching example of serious scholarship and crystal clear writing. Steve will define and explain the technical terms and help us think about how these topics matter to everyday Christian living. If you want to purchase the book, a paperback copy sells for around $30 with tax. The publisher is Oxford University Press and the date is 2023. This study is a purposeful and joyful foray into how God works in our hearts.
When you sign up, we'll send you a link to participate by Zoom. You can also attend in bodily form at 2448 Edgemont Dr. Arkansas City, KS 67005.
See you Thursdays!Â
Stephen W. Rankin
Pastor, Arkansas City United Methodist Church
Executive Director, Spiritual Maturity Project
Spiritual Maturity Project is an intellectually rich resource for hungry Christians, connecting them to the deep theological traditions of the historic Christian faith through coursework, online resourcing, connection to orthodox scholars, and learning communities, resulting in mature Christian disciples. Go to www.spiritualmaturityproject.org for more information.
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Registration is Closed
Faithful Christian Discipleship and the Law
Thursday evenings beginning June 20, 2024, 7 to 8 p.m. central time, in person or online!
What exactly is the connection between the law and faith in Christ? Since Christ fulfills the law, do we set it aside altogether and not concern ourselves with it, aside from a few basic moral principles? Does the Old Testament law apply to Christians at all? If so, how? What parts apply and what parts don’t? This study explores these questions and provide some guidance for living the Christian life well.
Faithful Christian Discipleship and the Law is led by Stephen Rankin as we grow in wisdom and knowledge, pressing on toward the goal of maturity in Christ.
Sign up to attend at any time using the form below and join online via Zoom (we'll send you the link) or at Arkansas City United Methodist Church (Arkansas City, Kansas) every Thursday evening from 7 to 8 central time. If you cannot attend any of the weekly meetings, recording are available.
Registration is Closed!
Proverbs and the Wisdom of God
Thursday evenings beginning Jan. 25, 2024, 7 to 8 p.m. central time, in person or online!
In this new year, we spend time with the Wisdom material in the Bible, mostly Proverbs, but also some of the wisdom sayings of Jesus in the Gospels. We’ll learn how to read this material more effectively, God willing, so we can gain the edifying perspectives that come to us there. Join us in person or online via Zoom.
Proverbs and the Wisdom of God is led by Stephen Rankin as we grow in wisdom and knowledge, pressing on toward the goal of maturity in Christ.
Sign up to attend at any time using the form below and join online via Zoom (we'll send you the link) or at Arkansas City United Methodist Church (Arkansas City, Kansas) every Thursday evening from 7 to 8 central time.
Registration is Closed!
Reading the Bible Backwards
Thursdays Oct. 5- Nov 16, 2023, 7 to 8 p.m. central time, in person or online!
Most savvy readers of the Bible know that the New Testament relies on the Old Testament in many ways. The most well-known, of course, is that we find New Testament fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. But is there any way that the Old Testament relies on the New? This question probably seems very strange to most of us, but it is an important one, since how could something that came long before something else depend on that which came later? How do we as Christians read the Bible “backwards,” as some scholars suggest? How does the Bible – all of it – speak God’s word to us now? Parts of the answer to these questions are straightforward. Others are not, yet they are deeply important for our growth to maturity as we become more astute and capable readers of the whole Bible.
SMP Live explores these questions this fall with a weekly set of Scripture readings that help us practice seeing aspects of the Bible that we typically don’t notice on first or second glance. Stephen Rankin leads the exploration. The goal is an enriched understanding of Scripture and, more importantly, of God’s nature and actions.
Registration is closed!
Registration is Closed!
HAS CHRISTIANITY MADE A DIFFERENCE IN THE WORLD?
Join us Thursdays, Feb. 23 through Sept. 28, 2023, for this course on church history using the book by Mike Aquilina and James Papandrea, How Christianity Saved Civilization...And Must Do So Again.
Sign up to attend using the button below and join online via Zoom (we'll send you the link) or at Arkansas City United Methodist Church (Arkansas City, Kansas) every Thursday evening from 7 to 8 central time.
The course is FREE, but you'll need to buy the book. Here's the link on Amazon, but you can also purchase it at your favorite Christian bookstore.
JOIN SMP LIVE!
Lenten Study: United Methodist Doctrines
Sundays, Feb. 26, through, April 2, 2023, from 4 to 5:15 p.m. central time.
Registration is closed.
