Do you know where to find the dream of eternity? Take a good look out of the window. Hear the gospel whisper in your ear: “the kingdom of God has come to you.” (Luke 11:20).Let’s explore. – Chris Webb, God-Soaked Life: Discovering a Kingdom Spirituality
If you ever find yourself lamenting an inability to make time for the truly important in the midst of the relentlessly urgent, I have a proposal for you.
Join the Renovaré Book Club.
Seems like a bit of an underwhelming solution, I know. But seriously. Do you have a teetering stack of books on your nightstand? Do they whisper plaintively to you as you drift off to sleep? Are your promises to “do more reading tomorrow” becoming increasingly hollow?
Here’s my premise. Books—the right books—can be teachers, companions, and even portals into deeper, richer realities. But sometimes days can turn into weeks … or months … or years … and the time to read has still eluded us.
Joining a Book Club can be a surprisingly effective tweak. A regular schedule, some great resources, and the opportunity to connect with other people can all add up to a season of deep learning and connection.
So why the Renovaré Book Club? Last year around this time I noted a startling kindredness between the communities that gather at the Rabbit Room (where I am a fan) and at Renovaré (where I am the Director of Education.) Several of you ended up joining last year’s Book Club, which was, to use the technical term, way cool.
We have even more to offer this year. We will once again be going through four soul-expanding books from the end of October to mid-June. Members get weekly reminder emails, a bunch of exclusive resources from our facilitators, and some rich online community. This year we’re also piloting volunteer-led in-person groups in select cities (83 locations so far and growing). You can check the map on the Book Club page to see if there is an in-person group in your area. If not, you can stick with the online community, or volunteer to coordinate an in-person group yourself.
Here are some more particulars:
Book One: God-Soaked Life: Discovering a Kingdom Spirituality, written by Benedictine Anglican Priest Chris Webb. Chris himself will be facilitating.
Book Two: The Hiding Place, the contemporary classic by Corrie Ten Boom. The facilitator will be Marti Ensign, a long-time missionary to Africa who enjoyed a close friendship with Corrie.
Book Three: The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis. Inklings scholar Dr. Robert Moore-Jumonville will be leading us through this lively classic.
Book Four: Living Wisely with the Church Fathers written by Renovaré president and patristic scholar Chris Hall. Chris will facilitate this one for us.
The first week of reading begins October 30th, but it’s not too late to join. The publisher of our first book has given us PDFs of the opening chapters to tie you over while you wait for your copy to arrive.
So, please do check out the Club. The Kingdom of God truly is breaking in all around us. Here’s a chance to look out the window together.