This summer, I’d like to try something very different from what we typically do. Ever since I read Daniel Cronquist’s monograph on Haibane Renmei, entitled “Set Apart,” I’ve imagined conducting a Bible study using that work as a guide. Japes, who has recently started an excellent aniblog, brought this closer to reality by mentioning his personal study notes on “Set Apart,” which he’s graciously allowing me to employ for activity.
So what exactly will we be doing? Over the course of seven sessions this summer, each conducted on a Friday Saturday night (there’ll be a two-week break in the middle of the series), we’ll be holding an online small group/house church. We’ll be spending time each week doing two things: exploring Christian ideas we can take away from Haibane Renmei and getting to know a little bit about about each through sharing time. It really fun, if not terribly awkward!
During our first small group, on Friday, June 21 Saturday, June 22 (revised date) at 10:00 pm eastern time, we’ll watch episode one of Haibane Renmei together. After that, I’ll usually ask you to watch one or two episodes per week throughout the rest of the sessions. We’ll be meeting through use of Google hangout, so if you want to join, you’ll need a webcam and a microphone. It might be weird to see all these strangers in person, but it’ll become more natural as we go, and we’ll keep anonymity in the group by using whatever username you’d like to express. Feel free to share as little or as much as you like.
And who is invited? Anyone and everyone – you are all welcome to join, though Google hangout only allows for a maximum of ten people at a time. This will keep our group at a manageable level. You can always try one week and drop it if it’s not your thing, or you could try joining in week two or three or later, if you’re unable or unwilling to join early.
Although we’re open to all, the focus will be on men and women from their late teens on up. I’m particularly directing the study toward Christians who may not have a strong support group at their church (or who aren’t attending at all) and to non-Christians who are open toward discussing themes. This is not a debate group; while I’ll try to answer genuinely inquisitive questioners, we want to focus on the study at hand, not on apologetics.
If you’re at all interested, please comment below, being sure to leave your email address when prompted. You can alternately send me an email at beneath.the.tangles AT gmail.com. Neither is a commitment to join – it’ll simply provide me your contact information so that I can send you further details in the coming weeks.
I look forward to literally seeing you all soon! 🙂
Thanks for the plug!
Not sure if I can make them all, but I’ll definitely attend as much as possible
I’d like to join.
I’m not sure if I can do it, but I’d definitely like to.
Ooh, I’d love to join, but unfortunately, being in Hawaii means the chat time would be at 4pm for me, which is either during or right at the end of work. If there’s room and you guys aren’t finished any given day, I could slip in when I get home and still join you all.
Regardless, I think this would be a good excuse to watch Haibane Renmei.
I would love to be a part of this! I may have to miss quite a few sessions due to other commitments, though.
You know how to find me on Twitter TWWK!
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