Adult Classes

Join us for the 2025 Spring Kickoff on Sunday, January 12th! Between worship services, explore the exciting lineup of adult Spring classes. Meet class facilitators, ask questions, and register for courses that will inspire growth, connection, and learning. Whether you're seeking to deepen your faith, build relationships, or develop new skills, there’s a class for everyone. Don’t miss this opportunity to jump-start your spring with purpose and community. We can’t wait to see you there! For a preview of classes, see below.

For more information, contact Margaret Myers, Adult Ministries Coordinator.

January 2025

Upward! Wesleyan Formation in Three Movements

  • Room 209/210, 10 week course, Wed 1/22-4/2, 6:30-8:00 pm

  • This book explores the Wesleyan concept of striving for perfection. The authors stress how the Wesleyan way is a journey leading us ever upward in life and at the same time they emphasize how Wesleyan theology is meant to turn words into deeds. Topics covered include grace, nonduality, mystic-prophets, humility, love, inclusivity and a host of other topics, all covered within Wesleyan theology. The class is structured to encourage discussion. Each session is designed to be stand-alone, and thus “Drop-ins” are always welcome!

  • Retired from UF and the Navy, Stan has a desire to facilitate discussions among other Christians in order to get a better understanding of our Christian faith. He has a passion for spiritual formation and currently serves on the Contemplative Service team. Stan is striving to explore and gain a better understanding of Spiritual Formation as a combination of heart and mind on life’s journey.

Wesley’s Path of Perfection: A Call to Conscience and Commitment

  • Room 206, 9 week course, Wed 1/22-3/26, 6:30-8:00 pm OR Th 1/23-3/27 9:30-11:00 am

  • This 9-week class will progress through five major themes: (1) the Hebraic foundations of Wesley’s Theology of Christian Perfection; (2) Wesley’s Ethos of the Spirit; (3) the Ethos and Ethics of Jesus; (4) Wesley’s Theology of Christian Perfection as related to personal and social ethics; and (5) the development of personal paths of perfection and social justice. Upon completion of this class participants should be able to answer the questions, “Am I going on to perfection in my personal walk with Christ” and “Am I earnestly striving for perfection and social justice in my life?”

  • Lance Hastings is a member of Trinity. He has been a student of Wesley for years. Lance has taught courses and facilitated discussion groups throughout the years as a former missionary and church leader. Lance most recently taught the Trinity course entitled, “Bonhoeffer and the Confessing Church: Following Jesus Under Totalitarianism.”

End of Life Matters from Practical to Spiritual: Getting Your Ducks in a Row

  • Room 204, 8(+) week course (2 session times available), Wed 1/22-3/19, 4:00-5:00 pm OR 6:30-7:30 pm

  • This class will begin with practical advice on planning ahead and move through discussion about dealing with illness, finding help along the way, the value of hospice and palliative care and decisions to be made when death is close. We will talk about spiritual considerations, advance care planning, aging-in-place, assisted living, long term care, creating a good end of life plan and being an informed consumer in making final arrangements for after death. Most of us will not die without warning, allowing us time to get used to the idea, respond, make plans, perhaps make amends, and realign our priorities.

  • Cindy Capen is a registered nurse retired from Haven Hospice where she has been privileged to walk the end-of-life journey with people receiving care in their homes. She is now serving as a volunteer with Haven. She is committed to addressing misconceptions about end-of-life options, advocating for quality-of-life choices, and helping people live well until their last breath. Cindy is mother to one son and grandmother to 3 children who have grown up in Trinity’s childcare programs. Cindy joined Trinity more than 20 years ago and considers her spiritual growth in this church home to be a major influence in the peace she brings to her work in end-of-life care.

Walking with Christ

  • Room 222, 6 week course, Wed 1/22-2/26, 6:30-7:30 pm

  • Do you want to deepen your relationship with God so that you feel His presence in your heart? Do you want the experience of Abiding in Christ to feel alive for you? We will be learning and practicing together traditional practices of prayer, meditation, and Lectio Divina to open our hearts and minds to sacred presence. We will also learn and practice together ways to carry this sacred presence into our daily lives. This class is experiential and collaborative. What you get from the class will be largely determined by your own openness and willingness to put these practices into your life in a way that works for you.

  • Jacqueline Wright: I am a mother of adult children, a widow, a retired dietitian, and an avid gardener. But my true passion is my spiritual journey. In the past few years, I’ve been combining my Christian faith with all that I’ve learned from non-dual teachers of spiritual awakening. I’ve discovered a wealth of contemplative Christian teachings and practices that I would love to see more widely taught and practiced. This class is my attempt to be the change that I wish to see. Although I’m still on the journey myself I feel called to share what I’ve learned so far and to see how we can grow together in the fruits of the Holy Spirit.

The Difficult Words of Jesus: A Beginner's Guide to His Most Perplexing Teachings

  • Room 207, 6 week course, Wed 1/22-2/26, 6:30-7:30 pm

  • Whether a long-time believer or new to following Jesus in our Wesleyan tradition of Scripture understood through Reason, Tradition, and Experience and the Holy Spirit, we all struggle with some of Jesus’ words. Especially when he outright tells us to do something hard, unthinkable even. Hate your family. Sell everything. Be like a slave. We’ll wrestle with these and other of Jesus’ difficult words, using renowned NT scholar Dr. Amy-Jill Levine’s book “The Difficult Words of Jesus” as a springboard for discussion and discernment.

  • Mark Mercer has been with Trinity for five years, returning to the UMC after many detours, winding roads, and outright vacations from his faith journey. With a new appreciation for our Wesleyan heritage as well as the long Judeo-Christian tradition of wrestling with God and tough scriptures, he hopes this class will help each of us to discern what Jesus’ tough teachings mean for us today. Mark has previously facilitated at Trinity a Revised Common Lectionary weekly Bible study group, and small worship groups elsewhere.

Everybody, Always: Becoming Love in a World Full of Setbacks and Difficult People

  • Room 207, 5 week course, Tues 1/28-2/25, 6:30-8:00 pm

  • Ladies, please join me for this 5 week video study from the author, Bob Goff. Driven by the author’s trademark storytelling and humor, participants will learn what it means to love others, even the difficult ones, without inhibition, insecurity, or restriction. Each lesson will cover an aspect of unconditional love.  A study guide will be used to accompany the short videos and will provide practical steps to guide us through Bible exploration and personal study between sessions.

  • Pam Williams is new to Trinity and has quickly immersed herself in our church family community. She is a Gainesville native and parent to a rather large dog named Bree.

Let’s Crochet

  • Room 222, 4 week course, Wed 1/22-2/12, 4:00-5:00 pm

  • Participants will learn the basic crochet stitches and start with making a winter cap. All skill levels are welcome from never having held a crochet hook; to those who crocheted in the past and are a little rusty; and individuals who just need a designated time to crochet.

    Depending on the class members and their interest and skill levels, we may move to work on prayer shawls.

  • Linda Cook has been crocheting for most of her adult life. She has taught in many different settings including junior and senior high school students in her first job as a Home Economics Teacher in Hillsborough County and UWF members to support the UWF Dorcas projects including prayer shawls and winter caps for the needed.

February 2025

Let’s Knit

  • Room 222, 4 week course, Wed 2/19-3/12, 4:00-5:00 pm

  • Participants will learn the basic knitting stitches and start making a winter cap. All skill levels are welcome from never having held a knitting needle; to those who knitted in the past and are a little rusty; and individuals who just need a designated time to knit. Depending on the class members and their interest and skill levels, we may move to work on prayer shawls.

  • Linda Cook has been crocheting for most of her adult life. She has taught in many different settings including junior and senior high school students in her first job as a Home Economics Teacher in Hillsborough County and UWF members to support the UWF Dorcas projects including prayer shawls and winter caps for the needed.

Labyrinth Live!

  • Hospitality Room, Wed 2/5, 6:30-7:30 pm

  • In this class you will explore the origins and history of the prayer tool called the Labyrinth through a classroom presentation and discussion. Each participant is encouraged to apply the information in their own walk at the Trinity Labyrinth at their leisure. Come and pray and walk and listen and open yourself to new possibilities of growth.

  • Sandra Kramer and Jim Cook have each been a part of the committee that developed the Trinity Labyrinth for our church and community from its inception. Both will relate personal experiences and share insights in to how the labyrinth can contribute to personal spiritual development.

Contemplative Watercolor

  • Room 228/229, Time and date TBD

  • Contemplative Watercolor with Melody Lozano

  • Melody Lozano is an award winning watercolorist whose luminous, rhythmic paintings have been exhibited around the state. She credits her most important art education to her grandmother who first introduced her to the basics of watercolor but more importantly taught her to view the world with an artist’s eye. Melody enjoys living in the Gainesville, Florida area because there is no shortage of inspiration and beauty in the natural landscape. Melody’s artist statement is: “There are ordinary moments on ordinary days when suddenly a veil is lifted, and for a fleeting moment we catch a glimpse of abundant beauty, insight, or depth beyond words. My work is about awakening our attention to these moments in order to drop deeper into these spaces of expanded reality and divine resonance. My intention is to invite others to unlock the beauty and mystery hidden in their own everyday lives, and to be inspired to participate in their own wordless conversations with love and joy.”

A Disciple’s Path

  • 6 week course, Sun 2/23-3/30, 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM

  • As an introduction for new members or a renewal course for existing members, this study guides individuals to take the next step in discipleship and become dynamic, engaged followers of Jesus Christ. It combines a Wesleyan understanding of our growth in God’s love and grace with the time-tested practices of spiritual discipline expressed in the membership vows to uphold the church with our prayers, presence, gifts, service, and witness. Participants will develop spiritual practices, discover their unique gifts, and become engaged in ministry that brings transformation in their own lives, the lives of others, and the world. (anticipate short daily readings, questions, and prompts for personal reflection each week).

  • David Leonard is a retired United Methodist minister in the Florida Annual Conference. He is married to Donna. They have three children and six grandchildren. He has called Trinity his church home since 2011 and loves to facilitate Bible studies with an emphasis on discovering how the original hearers understood it to aid its application for us today.

April 2025

Centering Prayer

  • Prayer Room, 2 week course, Tues 4/1 – 4/8, 6:30-7:30 pm

  • This form of Christian meditation was developed and popularized by three Trappist monks in the 1970's. The monks refined the methodology of the meditation from the book called the "Cloud of the Unknowing" written by a 14th century anonymous monk. Centering Prayer is a spiritual practice that relies on the intention of being present to and with God in the present moment. Come and learn the methodology that can foster a deeper sense of spiritual connection and inner peace.

  • Jim Nilon is a professed Christian and long time member of Trinity United Methodist Church. He has been a Centering Prayer practitioner for over 10 years.

Additional Opportunities