{"id":8,"date":"2026-03-26T23:59:48","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T23:59:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thesundayschool.org\/?page_id=8"},"modified":"2026-06-25T15:10:42","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T15:10:42","slug":"the-sunday-school","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/thesundayschool.org\/","title":{"rendered":"Home"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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A Quarterly Gathering for Thoughtful People<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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The Sunday School is a new quarterly meetup in Grand Rapids playing in the tradition of Viennese cafes and Parisian salons \u2014 social gatherings to wrestle with big ideas in science, philosophy, the arts, and politics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Historically, these gatherings would take on a different structure depending on the culture and host, but they were rooted in a familiar aspiration:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  1. Build Community<\/strong>: Although Parisian salons gained an intellectual weight later, their initial focus was social in nature (albeit with a heavy splash of classism, which is not what we’re going for) LINK<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Critically Discuss Big Ideas:<\/strong> Salons and coffee houses served as information hubs \u2014 ‘a place for learning and the circulation of knowledge, particularly in matters of science…’ These spaces held the tension of open sharing and intellectual rigor \u2014 they were workshops for people to wrestle ‘in a spirit of friendship and goodwill.’ LINK<\/a> <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Nurture Hope & Creativity<\/strong>: Salons were platforms to connect and propagate new ideas. Prior to a mature publishing industry these spaces would showcase and connect writers, artists, playwrights, musicians, and philosophers to patrons that could spread their ideas more broadly. <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    We long for a space like this in Grand Rapids; a place to connect with good people, better understand the forces shaping our world, and foster the hope and creativity needed to make a more healthy, beautiful, and sustainable community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    It’s more policy, psychology, and economics.
    It’s less angels and demons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    The Next Sunday School:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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    Session 2: Money<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Christopher Smith<\/a>, Professor and MSW Program Director at Western Michigan University, joins us to discuss the programs, policies, and cultural beliefs that have reinforced economic outcomes in the last 50 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Get your ticket at https:\/\/luma.com\/52hmwo6u<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    A Quarterly Gathering for Thoughtful People The Sunday School is a new quarterly meetup in Grand Rapids playing in the tradition of Viennese cafes and Parisian salons \u2014 social gatherings to wrestle with big ideas in science, philosophy, the arts, and politics. Historically, these gatherings would take on a different structure depending on the culture […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-no-title","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-8","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesundayschool.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesundayschool.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesundayschool.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesundayschool.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesundayschool.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thesundayschool.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":51,"href":"https:\/\/thesundayschool.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8\/revisions\/51"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesundayschool.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}