Six New Things – Week of December 09, 2024

As Advent moves us through Hope into a Joyous Peace, we know these feelings are predicated on and necessary to the work of Love: Love for self, neighbor, and the planet. As we prepare for God’s Love being born, we, too, are called to bear Christ – the Love of God-with-Us – into this broken and weary world.

ONE

For some folx, the future looks bleak. Plant seeds of Hope and Joy with a look at two ‘alternative futures’ that are not only possible, but far more aligned with God’s desire of loving our neighbor than current prospects seem to be.

  • Join The Ministry Lab’s first Book Discussion Group featuring Cynthia Moe-Lobeda’s ground-breaking and breathtaking Building a Moral Economy: Pathways for People of Courage (Fortress), which, ‘explicitly faces the paradox of enormous moral challenges such as climate change held together with infinite hope’, by asking: ‘Are we the disinterested individuals motivated by material self-interest that neoclassical economics declared us to be, or are humans called to “think with” others, past, present, and future, seeking communion with all creation?’

Learn more about and register for the Discussion Group (and order the book), here.

Our discussion will pave the way for welcoming Dr. Moe-Lobeda as keynote speaker at the 2025 Regional EcoFaith Summit.

  • For another hopeful future, see The Story of the Noosphere (Orbis), which ‘challenges readers to move past Modernity’s overemphasis on rationality and embrace the dynamism of imagination and reflection, into the noosphere – the unification of humanity’. The book has an accompanying YouTube series.

Find more inspiration around Science & Faith in our lib guide.

TWO

Bring ‘anyone who’s longing for more hope, connection, and meaning this holiday season’ together with The Many’s Advent/Christmas Dinner Church Guide, which includes a how-to-guide and script, the MP3 of their Advent song, “Waiting for You” (and sheet music), and ‘inclusive-language versions of lyrics to a lot of traditional carols and songs’.

Further expand folx’ notion of ‘church’ with the pile of Great Ideas from Bryan Wilkom, who is ‘pioneering innovative forms of church like Beer Church, Trail Church, and Pizza Church to practice hospitality, build community, and follow Jesus’ way of gathering with people in public’. Listen to the Faith+Lead podcast here.

THREE

Affirm familial Love – and learn a bit about the country where Jesus’ family found refuge from Herod – with, Zamzam: Two Worlds (Reycraft), as Zamzam ‘divides his time between his grandparents’ homes in New York City and Alexandria, Egypt’, which ‘are different in terms of sights, sounds, and flavors’, but ‘share family love’.

Building Faith’s The BIG Way of Love for Kids Playing Cards / El GRAN Camino del Amor para Niños Barajas de cartas are take-anywhere cards ‘with short prompts for prayer, conversation, and activity that engage the seven practices of the Way of Love’. The kit includes a Grown-Ups Companion Guide with group-friendly games appropriate for age-specific or intergenerational groups and a link to the BIG Way of Love Audio Stories. The printables and audio are available in English, Spanish, and French.

Find more ideas for Multicultural Church, Grandparents, and Sunday School in our lib guides.

FOUR

Recognize Love in action – and explore the theme of Jesus’ refugee status –  in Border Patrol (Reycraft), which follows Lily, a middle-grade Mohawk girl, who rescues a young refugee from Myanmar who nearly drowned attempting to cross the Canada/US border: join Lily as she endeavors to get the girl back to her family undetected by the authorities.

Find more stories of Immigrants and Refugees for all ages – and ways you can engage – in our lib guide.

FIVE

Prepare for Epiphany with:

  • Hooray, It’s Three Kings Day!: A Picture Book for Epiphany (Familias)
    • Lucía yearns to be in Puerto Rico celebrating Día de los Reyes, but is, instead, surrounded by cold and silence in snow-blanketed Ohio. How will she ever guide the Three Kings to her new home in the frosty Midwest? This ‘is a celebration of Puerto Rican culture, heartwarming family tradition, and a reminder that we all carry a piece of home with us wherever life may take us’.
  • Dreams of Green: A Three Kings’ Day Story (Astra Young Readers)
    • A delightful story of how Sofia and her abuela share a special Three Kings Day tradition – based on the author’s experiences – with her Puerto Rican abuela – of the food, stories, and traditions that surround Three Kings Day; includes backmatter with traditional recipes, a Spanish glossary, and details about the way this holiday is celebrated in different countries around the world.

Find more Epiphany inspiration in our lib guide.

SIX

Develop Hope, Joy, Peace, and Love amongst your young people – and all generations: support – and access – two self-published works:

  • If you’re scrambling for a last-minute pageant, we’ve got you covered with our Minnesota-based, congregationally-inspired, Surprised by Hope: A Rainbow-Infused Christmas Pageant. It’s a bit of a hoot, with everything from dinosaurs to dragons; gorillas to cheerleaders – it’ll stretch the imagination, might bust a gut, and will infuse the Season with some Hope and Justice.
  •  Dive into the lives of Holy Troublemakers and Unconventional Saints #2 – and help give it birth! You can join the Kickstarter campaign and reserve your copy at the same time. We’ve added our support, so TML will have a copy – but don’t let that stop you from the Joy of knowing you helped bring it into the world. Check out Holy Troublemakers and Unconventional Saints – the original – for inspiration.