New Course: How to be a Crazy Christian

This last week, we launched our first free, online course called The Big Class with Bishop CurryBishop Michael Curry. This class will be open on Wednesday for you to take or to add to your own schools. It would be a great course to do in a lead up to Lent, during Lent, or even in Easter as it talks about what it means to follow Jesus and what it means to be a Crazy Christian.

You can find the class here!

This is a course with a warning label: All who enter here, expect to be transformed. Episcopal bishop Michael Curry is an inspiring and enthusiastic reformer with a clear call to reinvigorate the Church. Many people have experienced Christ’s transforming power through Bishop Curry’s ministry.

Garrison Keillor once said going to church makes someone a Christian about as much as sitting in a garage makes someone a Chevrolet. Bishop Michael Curry, of the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina has a heart for reawakening believers to the tremendous gift and challenge of giving our all to follow Jesus. His term for this kind of person is a Crazy Christian.

In this 45 minute class, Bishop Curry will tell us:

  • What Is a Crazy Christian?
  • Why Being a Crazy Christian is Easy – and Hard
  • Habits of a Crazy Christian
  • Giving Yourself Permission

This course is ideal for those who are looking to be encouraged and challenged in their Christian faith.

Bishop Michael Curry serves as the Bishop of North Carolina in the Episcopal Church, and is a popular speaker and writer. His most recent book is Crazy Christians: A Call to Follow Jesus.

Announcing The Big Class with Bishop Michael Curry

Bishop Curry photoFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jim Naughton
 
“THE BIG CLASS” with BISHOP MICHAEL CURRY, FREE TO ALL
Open, online course, discussion, January 27-February 3 

DETROIT, December 5, 2013—Early next year, anyone with Internet access and a computer or tablet can get free instruction on how to become a crazy Christian.

From January 27 through February 3, the Rt. Rev. Michael Curry, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina, will teach The Big Class, a program of ChurchNextThe course will expand on Crazy Christians:  A Call to Follow Jesus published by Church Publishing Inc. The book is based on  “We Need Some Crazy Christians,” a widely acclaimed sermon the bishop preached at the Episcopal Church’s General Convention in 2012.

Bishop Curry will moderate the course and answer online questions during the week of The Big Class. Participants can take the course anytime during the week at www.churchnext.tv. No special software is required.

“We thought about putting a warning label on this course: Danger, Your Life Will Be Transformed,’” said the Rev. Chris Yaw, founder of ChurchNext, a producer of online Christian learning.  “In a world that constantly sanitizes Jesus’ radical message, Bishop Curry’s clarion call to deeper discipleship has changed lives. We pray all who take this course will experience God’s transforming power.”

The Big Class is a worldwide online course for all who want to go further in their walk with Christ, and is free to everyone, everywhere thanks to the support of Bexley SeaburyChurch Publishing Inc., the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina and Forward Movement.Special materials will be available for congregations and adult education classes who desire to take the class together as part of their Epiphany season study.

In his book, Bishop Curry writes, “We need some crazy Christians. Sane, sanitized Christianity is killing us.  That may have worked once upon a time, but it won’t carry the Gospel anymore. We need some crazy Christians like Mary Magdalene and Harriet Beecher Stowe.  Christians crazy enough to believe that God is real and that Jesus lives. Crazy enough to follow the radical way of the Gospel. Crazy enough to believe that the love of God is greater than all the powers of evil and death.”

“It’s exciting to see all the new ways technology is being leveraged to help folks go into a deeper awareness of and relationship with the living God,” said Bishop Curry. “Online education is an excellent example of it. It allows folks to learn, to interact, exchange ideas and, ultimately, to share what they learn with others. The process is exactly what we as Christians are called to do; an online classroom just gives us one more way to do it.”

Visit churchnextblog.wordpress.com/the-big-class/ to learn more about The Big Class.

ChurchNext creates online Christian learning experiences to invigorate lives and congregations. Along with our partner, Forward Movement, we are devoted to helping people grow in their Christian faith, improve their lives, and better the world. Learn more at www.churchnext.tv.