The Five Part Story
Our Stories - God's Story is based on The Five Part Story. The Five Part Story is a method of understanding scripture as a single, seamless story. It helps confirmands understand the flow of the Biblical story which then allows them to see more clearly how their stories intersect with the Biblical story. This particular way of looking at the scriptures was developed by the staff at First Presbyterian Church of Birmingham, MI. Only later did we realize that our Five Part Story is almost identical to N.T. Wright's schema of Creation, Fall, Israel, Jesus and The Church from his book Scripture and the Authority of God: How to Read the Bible Today (Harper Collins Publishers; 2011). We encourage all pastors/mentors/guides to read this book and allow it to give you a fuller understanding of the Bible as a single story.
Flipping the Classroom
All of the videos use the Flipping the Classroom technique. What that means is that each video lesson will have teaching interspersed with breaks for reading and reflection. The confirmands are encouraged to watch the videos with their mentor/partners, pause the videos when asked, discuss their insights, take notes and come to class prepared to share. This series can also be used in a classroom setting if so desired.
Meet The Guides
Sarah Godbehere
Sarah Godbehere is the Associate Pastor for Youth and Their Families at Grosse Pointe Memorial Church in Michigan. She was a religion major at Williams College, and received her MDiv from Yale Divinity School. Before becoming a pastor, Sarah worked as a professional dancer for a modern dance company and served as a special education teacher at a high school in the New York City. She is married to Caleb, and they enjoy travel, hiking, and watching American Ninja Warrior together.
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Charon Barconey
Charon Barconey is the Associate Executive Presbyter of the Presbytery of Detroit. Charon is a fourth generation Presbyterian and most proud to be the mother of two sons, Michael and Jordan. She is a graduate of the Ecumenical Theological Seminary (Detroit) with a focus on Urban Ministry.
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Adam Grosch
Adam grew up in upstate New York with his parents and sister. He went to college at Colgate University where he met the Rev. Nancy DeVries who pastored University Church and encouraged Adam to pursue the pastoral vocation. Adam graduated from Duke Divinity School and continues to enjoy Blue Devil Basketball. Having served churches in North Carolina, Oregon, and Michigan, he currently pastors the Lake Shore Presbyterian Church in Saint Clair Shores, Michigan. He enjoys family life with his wife Alison and their two young kids Natalie and Elijah. Adam is a 4th degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do and when he isn’t chasing around the kids, you may find out training for his next triathlon.
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Bethany Peerbolte
Bethany Peerbolte has served in youth ministry for 10 years and is currently the Associate Pastor of Youth & Mission at First Presbyterian Church in Birmingham Michigan. Her commitment to diversity and inclusion has led her to work with Detroit Pride, The Interfaith Council for Peace & Justice, and the National Black Presbyterian Caucus. Bethany loves making scripture relevant to young Christians, and Christians young at heart, by connecting scripture to whatever is trending. Her favorite meme is Kermit the Frog drinking tea and a movie she will never get tired of is The Princess Bride.
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Isaac Chung
Pastor Isaac serves at White Lake Presbyterian Church in Michigan.
Isaac comes with a unique perspective and wide experiences. Though of Korean heritage, he was born to missionary parents in Bangladesh and spent much of his childhood in Pakistan. Before arriving to the mitten state, he lived all over Southern California graduating from Maranatha High School (Pasadena), UC San Diego, and San Francisco Theological Seminary - Southern California. He has served churches in San Diego, Diamond Bar, Pasadena, Garden Grove, Fullerton and Bay City (MI) working with children, youth, college-age students, young adults, families, and the faithful of all ages. He spent many years working in camp and conference ministries, and loves all things to do with missions. He is passionate about the LA Dodgers, and his family - Misty, Evangeline & Isaiah, but not necessarily in that order. He ventures into Triathlons and runs (sic) with Misty and dreams one day of doing an Ironman (maybe Kona?). He strums a guitar, climbed trees as a job, and officiates volleyball at the college and high school level. You can always convince him out of the office for a cup of coffee and a good conversation. |