The Common Room: Recent Episodes
Second Presbyterian Church
The Common Room is a comfortable, shared space for interacting around the common human experiences we wrestle with. Through a progressive, spiritual lens, we explore the social issues and topics affecting our city and world today. This is a space where all are invited to learn, question, reflect and create. Introverts, extroverts, artists, intellectuals, nerds and explorers will find ways to engage and connect that are generative; bringing common hope into what can feel at times like a lonely and anxious world.
On August 30, 2020, The Common Room held its virtual re-launch and gathered to discuss the topic of "Loving our Enemies in a Cancel Culture." Dr. J Anthony Snorgrass, a branding and media guru and professor at Avila University, joined us to share insights on how to understand and navigate cancel culture.
In this episode, Darcie Tramp joins Rev. Paul Rock and Jimmy Itczak to discuss the different ways people have responded to health and public safety guidelines, including mask-wearing, that have been recommended to help stop the spread of COVID-19. How can we understand the different responses? As followers of Christ, what can and should we do to advance the common good and the welfare of others?
Paul Rock, Jimmy Itczak and Sam Murphy discuss the question posed by Desmond Tutu: do we focus on pulling drowning people out of the water or go upstream to learn why there's so much water in the first place? Addressing the needs of people while discussing systemic issues is a tension followers of Christ find themselves in regularly. What principles do we consider in these scenarios?
Rev. Kristin Riegel, Geneva McAuley and Maggie McClure join us for the second conversation in our Common Room Lounge series. Maggie poses the question, "Is prayer real, and how can we do it in a way that doesn't impede action?"
In our new series, "The Common Room Lounge," we're creating a space for raw, honest and unfiltered dialogue on questions that come directly from The Common Room community. This first episode features a conversation with Rev. Paul Rock, Jimmy Itczak and Trish Berrong in response to a question from Trish: how can we find hope, and how should we respond, when it feels like the world is falling apart?
On Mother's Day, we continued our "Ordinary Joy in Extraordinary Times" series by talking about the wisdom of moms and mother-figures. In Proverbs, wisdom is personified in female form ("sophia" is the Greek word for wisdom) and Proverbs 8 tells us this female essence of wisdom was with God from the beginning. In this sermon, Rev. Paul Rock helped us consider how the adept, savvy, and enlightened women in our lives embody this truth for us -- training us in wisdom and pointing us toward the things that bring us life and "ordinary joy."
In the second week of our new series, "Ordinary Joy in Extraordinary Times," Rev. Kristin Riegel led us talking about gratitude. Multiple studies have shown that practicing gratitude can make you happier, feel more positive emotions, and lead to improved emotional and physical well-being. As people of faith, we also know that when we're at our best, we can be more mindful and intentional about loving God, ourselves and others. In this sermon and discussion, Kristin helped us delve into a passage from Philippians 4 to reveal what our faith tells us about practicing gratitude, and how it may be possible to find peace and joy even when we don't have all the answers.
In the first week of our new series, "Ordinary Joy in Extraordinary Times," Rev. Paul Rock helped us consider the relationship between Fear, Doubt and Joy. Throughout this series, we'll be talking about daily practices that can help bring us a deeper sense of peace, calm and joy so that we can experience God's presence more fully. As part of our series, we'll also deconstruct some of the misinterpretations about joy and Christianity, and find out what scripture and Jesus actually tell us about why tending to joy is an important part of practicing our faith.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, and to kick off Earth Week, we talked about how we can renew our commitment to action and care for the earth. As part of the sermon, Rev. Paul Rock helped us look back at a few excerpts from Rev. Don Fisher's sermon, "As Long as the Earth Endures," originally delivered in April 2014. Following worship, Paul led an informal community conversation about the lessons we are learning and the faith questions that are being raised during the current pandemic.
In our Easter message, Rev. Paul Rock helped us reflect on the telling interaction between Peter and the resurrected Christ. When Jesus finds him, Peter is no longer the ever-certain or self-confident person from before, but has instead become humbled by uncertainty. Yet, it is in this state that the risen Christ comes to Peter, revealing to him how he will move forward as a better leader, servant and caregiver. Like Peter, our lives have been upended by uncertainty in this time of the coronavirus, and we are already a changed and humbled people. And also like Peter, the resurrected Christ comes to us now, telling us how we will become better servants, leaders, and friends, and reminding us of our shared humanity.
On Palm Sunday, in the final installment in our Lenten series, Rev. Paul Rock welcomed special guest Kristie Sigler for a conversation about caring for creation and sustainable farming. Thank you as well to Charlotte and Steve Rommereim for joining us to share their story. Following worship, the conversation continued with Paul, Kristie, Rev. Kristin Riegel and Geneva McAuley.
In the next installment of our Lenten series, Rev. Paul Rock led us in talking about the sun, heat, and global warming and our response as Christians. He was joined by Aaron Itczak who leads Cerner's Green Team and is involved with Kansas City's Green Business Network.
On Sunday, March 22, our Lenten series continued as we welcomed Rev. Dr. Dee Cooper, Interim Executive Presbyter for Heartland Presbytery, for her sermon, "Why do Animals Matter to People of Faith?" As persons of faith we often respond to God's call to protect the environment and care for creation. Many times, we are not as aware or attuned to the protection of the creatures and the animals of this planet. Following Dee's sermon, she joined Paul Rock and Kristin Riegel for a conversation on what we can learn from animals about life and about God.
As our Lenten series continued, Kristin Riegel led us in a discussion on our connection to water, an element essential to both our life and our faith. Through the sacrament of baptism, God uses the water as divine revelation and as a symbol of solidarity. Together, we talked about how water and baptism can change our hearts and lives, and in this Lenten season of repentance, how we can do a better job of using and protecting this important resource.
In our Lenten series, "The Stones are Crying Out," we are talking about the earth, the sky, water, creatures, trees and plants, and the wisdom we can glean from them -- and all the ways we can do a better job of sharing this planet together. In this gathering of The Common Room, we talked about how we are connected to God's miraculous creation through wind, air and breath. Sarah Pope also joined us to share her personal story about how she and her family are connecting with creation and the community through their cultivation of an urban garden.
In the fourth and final week of our "Love, Sex & Relationships Series," Rev. Kristin Riegel led us in continuing our discussion about the core values we hold around sexuality and spirituality. Together, we asked, "What are the commitments we hold and what commitments are we called to hold each other to as a community"
As our "Love, Sex & Relationships Series" continued, Rev. Kristin Riegel led us in thinking about how being sex-positive can help us to be better Christians. Too often, mainstream culture focuses on the negatives about sex, leading to shame, judgement, misinformation, and an environment that can be particularly harmful to women. Unfortunately, the larger Church and the Bible are often seen as part of the problem. However, in this discussion we focused on a better way -- a sex-positive approach that sees sex as good and life-giving with a focus on consent, pleasure, autonomy and quality relationships. With this understanding, we looked at several sex-positive passages in the Bible, and considered our own definition of a Christian sexual ethic.
In the second week of our "Love, Sex & Relationships Series," Rev. Dr. Jeanne Hoeft, Academic Dean and professor at Saint Paul School of Theology joined us for a discussion on the meaning of marriage. In addition to sharing her personal story, Rev. Dr. Hoeft explained two of the primary ways people have defined marriage throughout history: (1) as a sociopolitical institution, and (2) as a form of relationship. As part of our conversation, we discussed whether it's realistic or even possible for it to be both. Despite the many expectations we place on marriage, we also talked about why just and loving relationships are still worth pursuing and supporting.
There aren't many things in life more amazing, important, mysterious, painful and provocative than sexuality, love and relationships. So, in our current series, "Love, Sex & Relationships," we are talking about and working through this important facet of our social, human condition as a community of faith. In this first discussion, Rev. Paul Rock provided an introduction to both the beautiful and misguided ways humanity interpreted the relationship between sexuality and spirituality from the very beginning. Within the texts of Genesis and Exodus, we see a narrative in which embodied sexuality is celebrated as being exceptionally good, but as we move forward, more painful practices are introduced and before you know it, circumcision is being used as a way to cut ourselves and divorce our bodies and sexuality from our spirituality and relationship with God. Thankfully, Jesus ultimately changes the narrative with a more inclusive message of redemption and hope that calls us once again to embrace God and others, and celebrate God's gift of sexuality.
In the third week of our Biblical Character(s) Series, Nick Pickrell, Organizer at The Open Table, joined us to lead our discussion on Zacchaeus and reparations. Despised as corrupt and viewed as a traitor to his own people, Zacchaeus' story takes a surprising turn through his interaction with Jesus. Zacchaeus declares he will give half of his possessions to the poor, and if he has cheated anyone, he will "repay them four times as much" (read Luke 19:1-10). Pairing Zacchaeus' story with a look at America's unfortunate track record on reparations and economic justice, Nick helped us to consider our own views on money, the distribution of wealth and equal opportunity.
In the second week of our Biblical Character(s) Series, we looked at another transformational character from 1 Kings, the mercurial prophet Elijah. Hearing about his roller-coaster journey offered us a lot to think about as we considered our own views on depression, identity and the definition of success.
In our new series, "Biblical Character(s)," we're looking at several Biblical characters who experienced life changes and personal transformation -- to hopefully extract a few principles and tactics we can employ in our own lives. In this first week of the series, we looked at a great example from the Bible, Jezebel, as we looked to distinguish her character from her caricature.
While the cozy, Christmas card notion of family gathered around the tree is the image that's commonly marketed to us, many of us would honestly acknowledge that family gatherings at Christmas can often times be anything but comfortable and convenient. In this conversation, we talked about how we can respond when we are faced with inconvenient news and realities. We also discussed what the kingdom of God may be doing when our cozy and convenient notions are pushed back on, and why Jesus may be nudging us to embrace honesty and vulnerability in our relationships with family.
In the second conversation in our "Family" series, we looked at Matthew 12:46-50, a passage that reveals a lot about how Jesus re-defined our notion of family. As we considered that passage, we also reflected on the familial relationships that extend beyond our biological family. Who are the people we've chosen to be a part of our circle to support and surround us with love? As part of our reflection, guest facilitator and life coach Tom Terdorich led us in a series of exercises to help us get outside of our own heads so that we can live more from our hearts, grow in empathy and develop deeper connections with the conventional and unconventional families in our lives.
In the first week of our "Family" series, we welcomed Darron Story, elder and worship leader at South-Broadland Presbyterian Church, to share his perspective on family. Darron grew up in a blended family and his understanding of family has continued to expand through the twists and turns of his life as a son, brother, dad, husband and grandfather. Through sharing his take on family, Darron helped us consider how we might view our own families a little differently this holiday season.