Huntley church’s Gathering class to focus on ‘Judaism 101’

To understand who Jesus was, and is, Shepherd of the Prairie Lutheran Church in Huntley will offer its next “Gathering 101” class to explore “Judaism 101” on Saturday, Jan. 27, 2024 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the church, 10805 Main St.

The topic choice for this class is inspired by a few factors.

“First, to deepen our understanding of Jesus, we need to understand the faith in which he was reared,” says Pastor Bill Waxenberg. “The second reason is to deepen our understanding of our own Christian faith, we need to know the soil out of which we come; and third, with the sharp rise in antisemitism, we need to better understand the faith of our brothers and sisters from the House of David and speak up on their behalf.”

Pastor Waxenberg notes that two-thirds of the Bible is made up of the Jewish scriptures, the Old Testament, and almost all of the elements of the Christian faith have their roots in Judaism -- baptism (the Jewish rites of purification), Holy Communion (the Jewish Passover), monotheism (the belief in one God), and the two greatest commandments according to Jesus (love of God from Deuteronomy 6 and love of neighbor from Leviticus 19).

Because of limited space there will be no walk-ins. It is recommended to register by Sunday, Jan. 21, at www.bit.ly/SOTPjud101.

For more information, contact Pastor Waxenberg at bwaxenberg@gmail.com.

Shepherd of the Prairie Lutheran Church has served the Huntley community for over 20 years. It is led by Senior Pastor Mark Boster and Pastor Ryan Mackey.

For more information, visit www.sotp.org or www.facebook.com/ShepherdofthePrairie/.