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Campus Ministry starts 12-week series on the history of Jesus

By Jesse Brown

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Ecumenical Christian Ministries hosted its weekly Faith Forum last night, kicking off a 12-week study of the history of Jesus.

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Photo by Chance Dibben

ECM Pastor Thad Holcombe gives a presentation on the historical Jesus at the Ecumenical Christian Ministries Wednesday night.

About 20 people attended the event to view the first chapter in the movie “First Light: Jesus and the Kingdom of God,” to learn about the historical context of Jesus.

ECM Minister Thad Holcombe led the event, which included a dinner, a brief introduction of the video and a discussion.

“I think it went really good for a first meeting,” Holcombe said. “What we wanted is to have a cross generation and I know there’ll be about five or six more students next week.”

The first week focused on the understanding of the gospels. Organizers noted that Jesus lived in the first one-third of the first century, but the gospels were written toward the last part of the first century when the authors told their interpretations of his life.

“I think it’s really to kind of connect the really intellectual understanding of a history of a faith tradition,” Holcombe said. “Understand it in an intellectual way, but connect it with the heart.”

Holcombe said he also thought the video and discussion are important because most identify with their respective time periods. He said he hoped the videos helped people understand the historic context of Jesus’ time, which can help people sympathize with what Jesus and others were going through.

Lauren Tullis, a senior from Carl Junction, Mo., said she was impressed with Wednesday’s meeting.

“I think it’s really great information because it allows us to understand Jesus and Christianity in a historic context,” Tullis said. “It’s how we understand everything else, so to have this kind of framework and to understand it is beneficial.”

Tullis said the different generations’ talking with each other was a positive thing so one could see the diverse perspectives that each person has.

Bobbie-Francis McDonald is an elder, one who makes decisions about the congregation’s direction at the First Presbyterian Church in Lawrence and a supporter of ECM. She said it’s a nice thing to be able to speak with younger people about the subject.

“For me, it was important because I don’t get a lot of opportunities to engage with young people, college-age students,” McDonald said.

The video shown has 12 chapters so Holcombe and the ECM will continue the discussion for 11 consecutive weeks on Wednesday from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

— edited by Anna Archibald

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