Books for reading groups
Many churches have reading groups, which provide an opportunity for people study on your own and also discuss what they have learnt with others. Naomi Starkey, Commissioning Editor of New Daylight has been helping with a reading group at her church and writes on their experiences of using two BRF books:
Skip down to:
Embracing a Concrete Desert
A spiritual journey towards wholeness
Lynne E. Chandler
About this book:
This is the story of an unfinished journey - a journey that finds a path through pain leading to healing and celebration. It is the story of one woman choosing to seek wholeness despite heartache, serenity in the midst of struggling to adapt to a very different life, and discovering how in the driest of desert places God can reveal fresh water springs for the soul. It is a story shared through lyrical reflections and poems sparked by the ups and downs of life in a teeming Middle Eastern metropolis.
What the reading group said:
St Mark's Kennington reading group liked Embracing a Concrete Desert by Lynne Chandler. We particularly appreciated:
- The author's honesty and vulnerability about living in a challenging environment, and admitting how it's often the apparently small annoyances that prove the biggest challenges (such as coping with the dust!).
- The book's conversational style. We felt we shared a journey with the author and wanted to know what happened next, especially any further reflections she had on being a mother and on family life.
- The message about avoiding getting caught in a spiral of negativity and that we can choose to view life positively and enjoy the present moment, even if circumstances have not changed.
- We particularly liked how she used the image of surviving a sandstorm to talk about how it feel to endure hard times; we liked the idea of enjoying 'people flowers', when there are no other kind of flowers around; we also liked the concept of 'High Maintenance People' to whom we sometimes need to say 'no'.
- The book vividly evoked the experience of following God's call, even when life feels very tough as a result - but also shows that God is faithful and will bring us to a place of peace and joy, if we trust him.
Seasons of the Spirit
One community's journey through the Christian year
Teresa Morgan
About this book:
This book is a journey through the seasons of the year and also through the high days and holy days of the Church. In the company of saints present and past, we travel from Advent Sunday to Advent Sunday, looking for the kingdom of heaven and reflecting on the many ways in which God's love reaches out to embrace and transform the world. Interspersing prose with poetry, this is a book to read slowly and reflectively, stilling our minds to the rhythms of grace and opening our hearts to the peace that passes all understanding.
What the reading group said:
St Mark's Kennington reading group enjoyed Seasons of the Spirit by Teresa Morgan.
We found the writing profound, with lots of thought-provoking insights as well as honesty about what at times can feel like a clash between spiritual reflection and the ups and downs of daily life. It was fascinating to see how the author wove together the different strands of the Church calendar, her academic work and her work in the church, with a lot of vivid description and also many insightful and pithy statements for further pondering. There is no waffle, but just a consistent 'hitting the nail on the head' in the way the author writes!
We particularly liked:
- Her thoughts about the Holy Spirit, likened to different birds (dove, wild goose, swallow, nightingale)
- Comment on how saints who are local to our home area are like family
- The reminder - linked to Remembrance Sunday - that not one of us is ever forgotten by God
- How the wise men/Magi are still heroes in the Epiphany story, even though they manage to get things wrong
- How we can spend so much of our lives in transition that somehow we never quite 'arrive'...
Have you used a BRF book in a reading group at your church? Please tell us about it!
