Transforming Forgiveness

Greetings! Welcome to this five-week study on transforming forgiveness in the Christian tradition. 

Chances are, you have a story about forgiveness in your life, one that has shaped you in a significant way. Perhaps it is a story where you received forgiveness; maybe it is a story where forgiveness was not granted to you. It could be a story where you forgave another, or it could be a story where you were unable to forgive. It might be an on-going story in your life, or it might be buried, resolved or unresolved, in the past. Whatever the case, your story is welcome here – rather, your stories are welcome here. Your honesty and critical reflection are also welcome here – in fact, the more honest you can be with yourself (and your group), the more fruitful this study will be. 

At the core of this series is the belief that God wills the thriving and wholeness of all of creation. This includes your thriving and wholeness. All too often, Christians are taught about forgiveness in ways that compound pain and suffering rather than in ways that soothe and heal it. Many Christians believe that forgiveness is their obligation as a Christian, regardless of whether they are “there” or not. Some Christians also believe that if they cannot forgive, then they must be bad Christians. 

In this series, we are going to lay all the “shoulds” and misconceptions to rest and look instead at how forgiveness is both God’s good gift and good work.  

Over the next five weeks, we will explore together how we might look at forgiveness in new and life-giving ways. In week one, we will begin by looking at five stories to see how our understandings of forgiveness “hold up” against real-world stories. We will also examine our own stories against our emerging understanding of forgiveness. In weeks two and three, we will study the Lord’s Prayer and several Jewish and New Testament understandings of repentance. In week four, we will look at multiple models of forgiveness based on relational power, and finally, in week five, we will look at forgiveness as God’s work. In each week’s session, we will explore critical scholarship around the biblical passages, carefully considering what pastoral theologians and biblical scholars have to say about various texts. 

Hopefully, by the end of these five weeks, you will have a deeper understanding of forgiveness and how God intends it to function in human life. It is also my hope that you will understand your own stories with a little more grace.     

Peace be with you as you begin this journey, Pastor Mindy Roll

To receive this five-week curriculum (free), please contact Pastor Mindy through the "Contact" tab.