Six New Things – Week of June 22, 2026

Practice liberation!

Music… prayer… preaching… The Gospel builds up individuals and community and makes the world a better place.

ONE

Sing – and preach – liberation!

Joe Davis & The Poetic Diaspora – On the Rise Album: 15 Songs + Live Concert Recordings. This album was born in community. Your pre-order directly funds mixing, mastering, live production, and independent artistry. Learn more and place your order here.

Proclaim liberation with support from, Preaching and the Margins: Justice and Hope as Good News in Homiletical Practice (Pilgrim): ‘Good news must be empowering to those who have been marginalized by society and liberating for all.’

TWO

Embody liberation!

Body Phobia: The Western Roots of Our Fear of Difference (Broadleaf), ‘is an examination of the western societal fear of the body’, including:

• the religious roots of this fear;
• the revelation of how body-fear permeates culture, influencing who gets to be perceived as more than their body, and who does not.

‘By becoming self-aware of how our bodies interact with the world and what it means to have a body, we can begin to overcome the harm done in divorcing the western body and the western mind for centuries.’

A World Worth Saving (Dial; paperback) is a YA exploration of body politics in which the young protagonist has to wonder, ‘how is one trans kid who hasn’t even chosen a name supposed to save his friend, let alone the world? And is a world that seems hellbent on rejecting him even worth saving at all?’

THREE

Pray liberation!

Praying with Jonah: Practices for Imperfect Pilgrims (Upper Room), ‘is a gentle yet compelling invitation to rediscover God’s sacred rhythms — stillness and boldness, being and doing, contemplation and action — woven into the messy magnificence of everyday life.’

FOUR

Study liberation!

‘Financial anxiety is widespread and consumerism shapes the assumptions most people bring to questions of wealth and spending.’ Hearts of Generosity: A Biblical Study of Tithing and Offering (Judson), ‘offers a different frame: rooted in Scripture, shaped by two thousand years of faithful practice, and oriented toward the kind of generous life that Jesus described when he said that it is more blessed to give than to receive.’

This study moves beyond tithing to explore:

• Who God is and what God is like;
• Who we are as stewards of what has been entrusted to us;
• What it looks like when a community of faith actually believes that God can be trusted with the rest.

FIVE

Feel liberation!

Lucky & Norman: Saying Goodbye Is Bittersweet (Rocky Pond), is an, ‘endearing family story [that] illustrates the strong bond between people and animals in a tender, meaningful portrait of the bittersweet experience of saying goodbye to something or someone you love.’

Amidst all the change and chaos – and the need to let go of so many destructive narratives, -isms, and ways of being – the story might serve as a sermon with adults, too.

For instance, Grace over Guns: Pursuing Peace in a Militarized World (MennoMedia/Herald), ‘offers a prophetic call to reject the sin of military violence and embrace the grace of Christian pacifism’ as it, ‘challenges readers to think through common justifications for military violence and to consider how those justifications might not measure up to the teachings of Jesus’.

SIX

Generate liberation!

‘Many churches separate children and teens from congregational life, unintentionally signaling that ministry is only for adults.’

Church Together: An Essential Guide to All-Age Ministry (Chalice), ‘offers a better way—practical, inspiring tools to bring generations together in meaningful, faithful… worship and community practices’. Pastors, worship leaders, formation staff, and seminary students will find the global perspectives offer, ‘an indispensable resource for churches united across generations’.

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Be sure to check out our Six New Things Semiquincentennial Supplemental with resources for 2026 4th of July observances in worship, learning, and throughout the community.