If you think your parish, or groups within your parish, might be interested in our upcoming Big Class: A Christian Response to Gun Violence with Bishops Eugene Sutton and Ian Douglas, why not bring the class into your church community? Or perhaps you know a group of Christians and/or advocates for social justice who might be interested in the topic of gun violence. Bring the class to them!  You can take the class at any time that is convenient from Sept. 14-Sept. 28, and it’s designed not to take more than an hour. Make it an event! Come together as a group and learn in community with one another!

As you may know from previous experiences with our courses, a big part of each class experience is discussion. Each class offers four videos, each followed by several discussion questions. People who take the class on their own participate in the discussions with Christians worldwide online, and people who take it in groups discuss the material with one another. All you need in order to have a productive discussion with a group is the ability to project the computer image on a screen or offer it in some other form that will allow everybody to see and hear it. The class page called Continuing the Journey includes a sheet with all the discussion questions from the course. Just watch the videos and use the discussion questions to prompt conversation about them. That’s really all there is to it! (We also recommend the inclusion of tasty snacks to enhance the learning experience!)

For more information about how to publicize the Big Class in your parish and how to help get other people access to it either as individuals or in  groups, go to our Big Class page. There, you can find more information on the Big Class and a link to the registration page. You will also find posters and bulletin inserts — all you have to do is print them and hang/insert them. Lastly, you will find a booklet on The Big Class for Congregations that will tell you everything you need to know about making people aware of The Big Class, getting people access to it as groups or as individuals, and taking or leading the class in groups. (Or you could always return to this blog post, since it now has all the same links.)

Whether or not you think your parish would be interested in a group event, please help spread the word about this class in your parish and community! We hope that as many people as possible will take this opportunity to learn about this issue, in physical or virtual community with one another and with thousands of Christians across the world. Learn with each other, inspire each other, and take action!