Six New Things – Week of 09.15.25

Safety, belonging, compassion – amidst fear, division, and violence, these are necessity and Gospel-fueled aspirations. Becoming the body of Christ’s radical Love is complicated – and our surest hope.

ONE

What a treasure of voices, stories, experiences and visions is Hungry for Hope: Letters to the Church from Young Adults (Eerdmans) – and lots of those letters’ authors have connections here in Minnesota! Be prepared: ‘this is not a book about how to attract young adults back to church. Instead, it is an invitation to listen to young adults… [with] courageous curiosity’ and an openness to ‘relationships where young adults are valued co-creators in our shared future’.

Find more in our EcoAnxiety Toolkit: Intersectional Justice as Antidote / …and Youth; and Reimagining Church: Reorienting / New Good News lib guides.

TWO

In a similar vein of ‘forget what you think you already know’ and meeting young people where they are, Come and See: An Invitation to a Radical Encounter With Jesus (John Murray) is ‘grounded in scholarly understandings of Scripture’ and ‘tackles questions of fairness, justice, inclusion, friendship, doing the right thing, and care for community’.

For Littles: The Just Love Story Bible (Beaming; now in hardcover) offers a similar approach to Bible reading, underscoring that, ‘The big message of th bible is that God loves us and created us to love God and each other, to do justice, and to love kindness.’

Find more in our Tweens & Teens: Prayer and Children & Families: Bible w/ Children lib guides.

THREE

Taking these voices to heart, we are invited into Holy Disruption: A Manifesto for the Future of Faith Communities (Chalice), which invites us to, ’embody a resurrection-level imagination’ as it ‘dares to ask: ‘What if the definition of “church” expanded beyond four walls and Sunday mornings to encompass any community doing gospel work?’

We explore this very question in our four-part panel series, Church. Organize. Neighbor. Love.!

Join the conversation and find affirmation in solidarity, new partnership opportunities, and the refreshing joy of collaboration. Our inspiring list of panelists and moderators – including ecumenical leaders, church-adjacent and community organizers, and local pastors who have ‘expanded beyond four walls and Sunday mornings’ and found resurrection-level hope – is here. Register today to join the conversation this October – and bring a team!

Take your pick of an area of justice. New titles that need no further explanation include:

For more immediate resurrection-level joy, join the ‘love-fest’ that is Sun Day in Graco Park, September 21, 2025. Here’s a Sun Day Playlist for fuel. Here’s event details and registration.

FOUR

Some congregations are called to go out to do justice. Others provide safety and rest for justice-doers. Being a Sanctuary: The Radical Way for the Body of Christ to Be Sacred, Soft, and Safe (Baker; ebook), ‘focuses on three aspects of God’s vision for the church: that it would be sacred (Bible based), soft (trauma informed), and safe (justice centered)’ with practical instruction on ‘cultivating a sanctuary lifestyle… including repenting, pursuing sanctification, showing Christ’s compassion, healing injustices, choosing unity over uniformity, and being advocates.’

See The Web, especially Rev. Cameron Trimble’s Who Do We Choose to Be in the Age of Collapse? for more on the variety of areas of justice work.

And find more in our Creating Safe(r) Spaces and Soft Landing lib guides.

FIVE

Littles help us realize the need for sanctuary as they navigate an ever more fragile and inhospitable planet. Will and Krill (Beaming) ‘tells a tale for shy and quiet kids, encouraging them to fid where they belong – and use their voice when it really matters’; and Dream On (Roaring Brook), ‘is perfect’ for those who want ‘a gentle and accessible friendship story, as well as… SEL themes about empathy, kindness, compassion, and forgiveness’.

Find more in our Belonging, Antibullying & Friendship, Young Leaders, and NEW Graphic Novels – Middle Grades lib guides.

SIX

Courage is often found in conversation and relationships with our elders and ancestors. Feeding Ghosts: A Graphic Memoir (Picador), follows a grandmother, mother, and daughter in, ‘a vivid, heartbreaking journey into history that exposes the fear and trauma that haunt generations, and the love that holds them together’; while The Waterbearers: A Memoir of Mothers and Daughters (Penguin Random), ‘reimagines not just how we think of Black women, but how we think of ourselves – as individuals, parents, communities, and a country’.

Find more in our Spiritual Memoirs, Anti-Racism: Adults – Hearing/Reading Diverse Voices, and Youth – Perspectives and Stories lib guides.