Chautauqua is our annual summer education program held during the normal Sunday School hour.  Our teachers are given the summer off and in place of our fall and spring classes, each Sunday three to four class options are open to all adults ranging from Bible study, book study, life application, current events, movies and scripture, and a wealth of other opportunities.  Many members of the church and guests from outside the church participate as teachers.  This is a great success each summer and allows many to share time in Sunday school with people they normally would not meet with on Sunday morning.

Chautauqua began in upstate New York in the 1870s as a vacation school for Sunday school teachers.  It soon became a national forum for open discussion of the latest thinking in politics, economics, international relations, literature, science and religion.

It is the hope of Seventh & James that this type of diverse discussion occurs among our own members and guests.  Diversity is an important attribute of Seventh & James Baptist Church – diversity among the members of the unified body of Christ, diversity of gifts, diversity of theological thought, and diverse opportunities to grow as disciples of Jesus Christ.  Summer Chautauqua provides an opportunity for you to probe the scriptures in some unique ways and ask questions both old and new about the ways God intends us to live as God’s children, relating to one another as well as to God.  We hope you will be enriched spiritually for having participated in Chautauqua Seventh & James style.