The Monteagle Sunday School Assembly in Monteagle continues its 143rd summer season of enrichment through Sunday, Aug. 3, featuring numerous visiting lecturers who will present morning and evening programs that are open free of charge to the public; unless otherwise noted, morning lectures begin at 10:45 a.m., and evening lectures at 7:45 p.m., all taking place in Warren Chapel. Anyone interested in a full schedule of the Monteagle Assembly’s 2025 program is welcome to pick one up at the Assembly Office (tel. 931-924-2286), or to peruse the schedule on the Assembly’s website at <www.monteaglesundayschoolassembly.org>.

Author Hampton Sides is best known for his gripping nonfiction adventure stories. His bestselling histories include On Desperate Ground, which he visited Monteagle several summers ago to discuss. He returns Thursday evening to talk about his latest book, “The Wide Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact, and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook.” Setting off on his third voyage across the globe on July 12, 1776, Captain Cook led two ships on exploratory missions that, in previous expeditions, had mapped huge swaths of the Pacific Ocean, including the east coast of Australia. He was regarded as an explorer who respected indigenous cultures and who treated his crew well. Yet his final voyage ended two and a half years after departure in a fatal conflict with native Hawaiians. Sides tells the story of that voyage in a narrative described as ferociously paced.

Returning for a night of music are artists Bradley Cole Smith and Nelson Nolan, who will perform in the Mall Gazebo Saturday evening at 8 p.m. Smith has been a fixture in the Atlanta music scene since the early 1990s. He has been featured in films and television and, as a musician, has shared the stage with artists including Sheryl Crow, Blues Traveler, Dwight Yoakum, and Edwin McCain. Nolan has been playing with Smith for more than 20 years. He regularly performs in Atlanta with Michelle Malone’s band, Canyonland, and the Sundogs Tom Petty Show.

For our annual Wayne & Virginia Jervis Bible Week, we welcome the Reverend Tom Ward, who has been an Episcopal priest for nearly 50 years in parishes in Mississippi and Tennessee. Ward served as the University Chaplain at Sewanee from 1994-2005. His lectures will have a different focus each day:

Tuesday: What is the Bible?

Wednesday: What is Prayer?

Thursday: Praying the Bible

Friday: Practicing Praying the Bible

Additional events this week include the following:

Tuesday, June 17, 2:30-5 p.m., Pulliam Center — Stacie Meeks offers a workshop on CPR and AED training, advance registration required.

Wednesday, June 18, 3 p.m., Harton Hall — Emily Frith and Ellen Fort host a cooking demonstration of homemade pasta, no-cook summer sauces, and Spanish gazpacho.

Thursday, June 19, 9–10 a.m., Winfield Porch — A Conversation with the Pastors with Rev. Mary Balfour Dunlap and Rev. Richard Ahlquist.

Thursday, June 19, 2:30-4:30 p.m., Shady Dell — Make-and-take workshop for around-the-world coasters with Virgina Curry, advance registration required and $12 materials fee.

Friday, June 20, 2:30 p.m., Meet at Warren Chapel — Richard Candler guides a bird walk and talk. Please bring binoculars.

The Mission of the Monteagle Sunday School Assembly is to be a welcoming community of Christian faith where people gather to engage in spiritual growth and renewal, lifelong inquiry and learning, recreational, and cultural enrichment, while being good stewards of our natural resources and our Assembly heritage.