HELLO!

Thanks to the 40 people who responded to my request for feedback on our upcoming fall faith studies. I sent the posters to the 40 who responded, along with some questionable math on my end (I always excelled math, I must be slipping with age). 40% of responders (not 35% as I wrote earlier) opted for Karen Armstrong’s book “Sacred Nature: Restoring Our Ancient Bond with the Natural World” and 35% of responders (not 30% as I wrote earlier) opted for Rob Bell’s “What Is the Bible?” Special thank you to Lisa Walters for suggesting “Sacred Nature”. All other options, combined received 25%, meaning these two choices were by far the most popular with our current congregation.

I say “current” because long time members can sometimes express surprise with me over choices our congregation makes as the configuration of churches changes. And over the last two years we have grieved many long-time members and welcomed (35 people joined in the spring) many new attendees (some have since joined the church). If you want to see the details of these studies, click on our website’s upcoming events: https://www.woodlawnunited.ca/upcoming-events

In my previous two churches I was reprimanded by study participants for “jamming in” too many studies without a break in between. I have heeded this advice. We will start our studies in October, end in December, and start up again in February. Until I started working with Bethe and Kaitlin, all my former staff colleagues would tell me, “You wear us out”. One former colleague even would go home to have a nap after our weekly meeting. I hope I don’t have this impact here. I want to finish my ministry with the same energy as I began in 1990. Here’s hoping, fingers crossed.

A summary of the two books we will be studying in the fall.

Karen Armstrong’s Sacred Nature: Since the beginning of time, humankind has looked upon nature and seen the Divine. In the writings of the great thinkers across religions, the natural world inspires everything from fear, to awe, to tranquil contemplation; God was present in everything. Yet today, even as we admire a tree or take in a striking landscape, we rarely see nature as sacred. Drawing on her vast knowledge of the world’s religious traditions, Armstrong vividly describes nature’s central place in spirituality across the centuries. In bringing this age-old wisdom to life, Armstrong shows modern readers how to form a connection to nature, something bigger/greater than ourselves.

Rob Bell, What Is the Bible: Following his iconic book, Love Wins Bell goes deep into the Bible to show how it is more revelatory, revolutionary, and relevant than we ever imagined―and offers a cogent argument for why we need to look at it in a fresh, new way. What Is the Bible? is a guide for spiritual growth that provides insights and answers that make clear why the Bible is so revered and what makes it truly inspiring and essential to our lives. You cannot get to the holy without going through the human, Rob tells us. When considering a passage, we shouldn’t ask, "Why did God say?" instead, we should be asking: "What’s the story that’s unfolding here and why did people find it important to tell it?”

Peace, Kevin