IDEAS FOR ALL-CONGREGATION BOOKS
A little while ago, Pastor Rich Grudt (Trinity United, Waukegan) posed this question to his colleagues in the North Conference:
“I'm considering a book study for this Lent, where the congregation would all read a book together and I would comment on chapters/ideas during Wednesday night worship, or perhaps the Sundays during Lent. Any suggestions? And why you suggest that title?”
Here are the responses he received:
From Pastor Nathan Anderson (All Saints, Fox Lake):
“Last Lent we included Greg Mortenson's Three Cups of Tea in both the book & video format. Greg's approach is both global & intimate, a Christian witness filled with respect and compassion, very tangible and humbl
e, yet courageous and unrelenting. He has been able to comprehend a foreign culture and religion in ways that governmental strategists have not explored, and now the Pentagon & politicians seek Greg's guidance. Would that any of us have such impact! I'm currently reading his follow-up book: Stones into Schools." 
From Pastor Sue Beadle (Christ, Vernon Hills):
“I recommend Becoming a Blessed Church: Forming a Church of Spiritual Purpose, Presence, and Power by N. Graham Standish. It may be a book that works better in small group settings. Very meaty, but excellent. I'm leading the council through it now. I also liked The Honest to God Church by Doug Bixby.”
From Pastor Bob Davis (Holy Cross, Libertyville):
“Peter Gomes....The Good Life and The Good Book are both good reads that I have used with different sized groups and have generated some good thoughtful conversation. Marcus Borg's The Heart of Christianity will stir the soul and mind. Another good read tha
t we used with an interfaith group of about 175 Muslims, Jews, and Christians is Jonathan Sacks book The Dignity of Difference. He is the chief rabbi for Great Britain. I also used this book with a group of 40 when we traveled to the Holy Land and found a number of Palestinians that we met who had read the same book. It provided a nice platform for quality discussion. I personally enjoy some of the Living the Questions material. The first video series is a 21-part series of which you could select some for the Lenten series and maybe continue with the others in the summer for a different kind of sermon series. Finally, The Parables is a great series by Compass Films with small-group material that could easily be adapted to a mid-week series. We are looking at the The Prodigal God by Timothy Keller and the Book of Faith Initiative's Lenten Journey...40 Days with the Lord's Prayer.”
From Pastor Dawn Mass (Messiah, Wauconda):
“For a book on spiritual practices, I would suggest Marjorie J. Thompson's Soul Feast: An Invitation to the Christian Spiritual Life–very practical, readable, inspiring, and filled with great quotes! A group study guide is included.”
From Pastor Richard Holmer (St James, Lake Forest):
“We had a good response to Henri Nouwen’s book Making All Things New: An Invitation to the Spiritual Life.”
From Pastor Brad Davick and Pastor Caroline Satre (St Paul, Waukegan):
“Here are a few things we've used:
Reclaiming the L Word by Kelly A. Fryer: A good read by a great storyteller that helped our folks explore what it really means to be ‘Lutheran’ in today's context.
The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren: Won't recommend this. We did this the year 'Purpose' was everywhere. Given that the book was everywhere and we knew people would read it, we decided we'd rather have them read it with us than with someone else, to maintain the integrity of Lutheran theology. We wrote our own material as a study guide to go along with the readings. 
If You Want to Walk on Water, You've Got to Get Out of the Boat by John Ortberg: Another great storyteller. Used the book to help people have conversation on change and strategic decisions we faced.
Real Faith For Real Life by Mike Foss: A felt need for spiritual growth had been identified. We had a retreat-style worship using movie clips (Armageddon, Bruce Almighty, Wizard of Oz, e.g.) to teach the marks of discipleship for people who strive to live as followers of Jesus.
We’ve done Why Christian? by Douglas John Hall: Good stuff, but a tough read.
Nooma videos by Rob Bell: We've used assorted Bell videos the last two years and they are fantastic; people loved them!
This year we're doing ‘Luther and Les Miserable.’ It's in the development phase currently; thematically it's going to be a Law/Gospel, Grace/Suffering focus.”
From Pastor Don Wink (Atonement, Barrington):
“We're doing Tim Keller's The Prodigal God. It rocks. Plus they have small group discussion guides, etc. and a great bulk purchase rate direct through Zondervan. Last year, we did Faith and Doubt by John Ortberg. Also very solid, but there were no support resources (may or may not be by now), so we wrote our own stuff.”
From Pastor Ellen Arthur (St Stephen, Antioch);
“So many good books to consider! I'd like to add one more to the list: An Altar in the World: A Geography of Faith by Barbara Brown Taylor (‘concrete ways to discover God in the small things we do and see’). Chapters that can be read independently include ‘The Practice of Paying Attention,’ ‘The Practice of Getting Lost,’ and ‘The Practice of Saying No.’”
Great ideas. Here is another: The Attentive Life, Discerning God's Presence in All Things by Leighton Ford. In this book Leighton says that we are in a state of "constant partial attention." He writes, "At the end of the day, then, inattentiveness is a control issue: I would rather try to control the trivial than surrender to the Eternal and end up not in control at all. And we refuse to surrender control because we deep down think that we have to justify our existence rather than be justified by the free grace of God." Through his journey of connecting his evangelical roots with the ancient traditions of praying the hours Leighton learned how to become more attentive to God's gracious presence in his life. Becoming more attentive to what God is doing is a great journey for Lent or any season of the church year.
- John Holm on February 17, 2010 11:36 AM | Reply