Welcome to Studies on Faith!

My name is Mark Schneider, and I’ve been facilitating small Christian group studies for decades. As such, I’ve constructed lesson plans for dozens of spiritual books, scripture passages, and social reflections. These bespoke plans served me well in leading thought-provoking discussions with the goal of groups growing closer to each other and closer to God.

It seems a shame to develop lesson plans only to be used once, so I created this site to share what I hope are ready-to-use lessons for some of my favorite studies. I encourage you to use them as-is, or tailor them for your specific purposes. No attribution is necessary, but I would appreciate comments on which studies worked well for you (or not).

Also – let me know if you have any suggestions for additional courses of study.

Your brother in Christ,

Mark

Sacred Resistance: A Practical Guide to Christian Witness and Dissent – Ginger Gaines-Cirelli

Our class has been studying this book over the last several months, taking a hiatus to discuss the Psalms during Lent. Gaines-Cirelli is a prominent figure in the United Methodist Church and serves as lead pastor at Foundry UMC in Washington, D.C. Sacred Resistance summarizes the observations and techniques driving Foundry’s resistance efforts to injustice in our society.

Read More & Download

Why Jesus? – Will Willimon

Will Willimon is a retired United Methodist Church pastor and bishop, former Dean of the Chapel at Duke University, and masterful speaker and writer. Several years ago, our church decided to do a congregation-wide study of his Why Jesus? It was a wonderful thing being able to discuss this book with anyone and everyone in the congregation during the study.

Read More & Download