Parish Reads

In the fall of 2011, we're trying on a new way of learning together: all reading the same book! A shared book leads to a shared conversation over coffee on Sunday morning, in the grocery line, at the pool, and on the street.

Here's our schedule:

In Advent (November 27 - December 18): Falling Upward  by Richard RohrFalling Upward

The message of Falling Upward is straightforward and bracing: the spiritual life is not static. You will come to a crisis in your life, and after the crisis, if you are open to it, you will enter a space of spiritual refreshment, peace and compassion that you could not have imagined before.

Lauren Winner, in The Christian Century

In the hectic holiday season, this book offers us a window into our own souls, and the chance to reflect honestly about where life has taken us and who we long to be.

Pick up your copy of Falling Upward online, or at the Barnes and Noble at Libbie Place (reserved at the front desk).

Join us for a workshop to dig into the book with others at our Advent Retreat on December 17. Sign up on the bulletin board in the parish hall!

October/November: Speaking Christian by Marcus Borg

There are two ways to dig into this book, and you can do one or both!

Lindon's book group: “Can we have Jesus back please?” Are you fed up with the way the “religious right” have hijacked Jesus, the Bible and Christianity?  Do you hear about what “Christians” think on TV and wonder if you are on the same planet?  Perhaps you just wonder whether you are a second-class Christian because you can’t believe in that kind of God. If this sounds like you, then this book my sharpen your claws:  Marcus Borg’s “Speaking Christian: Why Christian Words Have Lost Their Meaning and Power - And How They Can Be Restored.”  Marcus Borg is (now) an Episcopal biblical scholar whom you may have heard about because of some of his earlier books (“Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time”). Lindon is convening a group around this “Parish Read” 7-8.30pm in the Parish Hall on four successive Tuesday evenings beginning Tuesday October 18th. It’s an easy read (lots of short chapters!) and tackles some of the basic questions people at St. Thomas’ ask from time to time. Sign up on the bulletin board in the Parish Hall!

Sunday mornings with Rob Peck: Coffee and Conversation.   Join us on Sunday mornings at 10:15 to talk through what we really mean by some of these "Christian" words.  Rob Peck will lead the series. 

On October 16: Salvation.

October 23: Righteousness.

October 30: Sacrifice. 

November 13: Born Again. 

September/October: Take This Bread by Sara Miles

Join us for Coffee and Conversation (10:10am, between services, on Sunday mornings) on September 25, October 2, and October 9, to discuss this book.