Pastor Robb is meeting with a small group of students at Augustana College on Tuesdays at 4:15 p.m. They meet in the Geology Building, where there is a small reading room adjacent to the museum. Right now the group is going to work through the book The Awakened Life: An 8-week Guide to Student Well Being. You do not have to be a student at Augustana to participate in the group. If you have missed a few sessions with the book, you are still welcome to come along. The book teaches some simple spiritual exercises that can help your mental and spiritual health. There are also monthly dinners at Pastor Robb’s house. Look for special “Sunday Dinner Club” invitations on our pages on Facebook and Instagram.
Author: admin
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Allied Youth Retreat
What: Allied Youth Fall Retreat
Who: Middle school and high school youth from multiple area churches, all dedicated to LGBTQ inclusion.
Where: Camp Milan Retreat Center
When: Registration is 6:00-7:00 p.m. on Friday, November 8. Pick up is at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday.
Why: To have some fun, enjoy nature, build relationships, and share a retreat focusing on Gratitude.
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Trunk or Treat
Two Rivers Church has been invited to be a part of the Trunk or Treat event at Earl Hanson Elementary School (4100 9th Street, Rock Island, IL)
The theme for the Trunk or Treat is “The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown,” which is a wonderful coincidence since we will be in the midst of our Gospel According to the Peanuts sermon series. We would love to have several trunks available, and with the candy we pass out we can gently let people know of both our Saturday meal site as well as our exciting series and Sunday school events.
We are hoping that this is the start of a longer relationship with Earl Hanson as we “Adopt the Hawks.” We will be encouraging volunteers to read in classrooms, connecting our coat ministry, and making more connections with the school, teachers, and staff over the coming months.
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Braver Angels workshop
“Skills to Disagree Better” is a not a workshop about how to win arguments or convince people that you are right. It is about gaining skills to see other viewpoints as well as communicate more clearly. This workshop will take place at Port Byron First United Methodist Church (9412 228th St. N; Port Byron, IL) on Saturday, October 26 from 9:00-11:00 a.m.
In this polarized time, we lack basic understanding of why people on the other political side hold their beliefs. We don’t see them as they see themselves–their core values and central concerns–but instead as we choose to see them. We are tempted to regard our own side as principled and the other side as self-interested.
When we try to communicate across this gap, we often lack the skills for listening carefully, looking for common ground, and sharing our perspectives in ways that connect rather than create more misunderstanding.
We can learn to disagree better in polarized times, which means accurately seeing where we differ and where we share common ground.
Goals:
- Better skills for sharing viewpoints in a way the other person might hear — even if they disagree
- More understanding of the values and concerns of people who differ from you politically
- Better skills for listening in a way so that the other person feels heard
Register for this event by clicking the button below. The event is free, but there is a chance to make a donation to cover the costs of the speaker, the hosts, and help support Braver Angels, which is a national 501(c)3 organization with the mission of helping bridge the political divide.
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Men’s Spiritual Renewal at Prairie Retreat Center
Sign up now for this wonderful opportunity for a retreat with Pastor Robb and Aubrey Barnes at the Prairie Retreat Center in Wheatland, Iowa on Friday, July 26-27. Take the time to get away to this wondrous, beautiful location that is about a 45 minute drive from Two Rivers Church. The retreat will begin at with registration between 5:00-6:00 p.m. on Friday and officially end at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, but participants can linger on the beautiful grounds if they so choose.
The retreat will include time for reflection, conversation, and spiritual growth. There will be time spent around a table with other friends, time spent in the beautiful grounds, time spent exploring your own creative nature. There will be room for self-reflection as well as group conversations. This is open to the wider community, but this is also a chance to grow closer to the men of Two Rivers.
The cost of the retreat is $100. This will include dinner on Friday, breakfast and lunch on Saturday, a journal, and supports the mission of the Prairie Retreat Center. The grounds of the retreat center include a unique “Cosmic Walk” through the prairie as a guided tour through 8 billion years of Creation. There is also a beautiful natural labyrinth, which Pastor Robb will teach you about during the retreat.
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Becoming Beloved Community
This is an important opportunity to join a movement for positive change in our community. People from three churches are invited to participate in this groundbreaking program. Two Rivers UMC, The House, and Riverside UMC will be coming together for frank discussions and powerful learning. The workshops will take place from 6:00-8:00 p.m. on Mondays, starting June 10. The location will rotate between the host churches. There will be refreshments at the gatherings.
The six-week dialogue workshop and training is led by Kaleidoscope Institute facilitator, Rev. Dr. James Fielder. The course is designed to help embrace and enact the vision of Becoming a Beloved Community, a lifelong spiritual journey. Change happens in the space between comfort and fear, what has been described as the Grace Margin.
The work of the Kaleidoscope Institute is based on respectful communication and building relationships where people can change and learn. This is powerful anti-racism training that includes exploring historical and contextual instances of oppression and racism in which we all participate.
Through invitational dialogue, wondering together, questioning assumptions, telling historic truth, we can begin to overcome systems and patterns and begin to plot a new course.
This is an important step toward making our community stronger. Participants will gain a deeper understanding of what it means to live toward the Kingdom of God and work together for justice and inclusion. This can be the start of something big here in the Quad Cities, and you can be a part of that vision.
REGISTER BY CLICKING HERE
