Bishop Cynthia Moore-Koikoi and the Rev. Alyce Weaver Dunn, director of connectional ministries, will lead a four-week Lenten study Plenty Good Room, based on African-American spirituals. Sessions will be held each Thursday in March from 7 to 9 p.m. at Bakerstown UMC.
The short-term Bible study combines an in-depth look at Scripture, American history, and the music and lyrics of six African American spirituals. It provides biblical, social, and historical analyses of the spirituals Ev'ry Time I Feel the Spirit, This Lonesome Valley, Bow Down on Your Knees, Plenty Good Room, Ain't Dat Good News, and Were You There?.
Marilyn E. Thornton, lead editor for Abingdon Press's Bible study series based on spirituals, wrote new lessons appropriate to the season for this study. She earned music degrees from Howard University and the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University, as well as a master of divinity degree from Vanderbilt.
The study book is available in paperback or as an e-book from Abingdon Press or Amazon.
Study sessions will be in the sanctuary at Bakerstown UMC, 5760 William Flynn Highway, Gibsonia, PA 15044-9560.