Six New Things – Week of May 08, 2023
The world is in flux. The Church is in flux. People’s everyday lives are in flux. This Mental Health Awareness Month, ground in Love, read Love, be inspired by Love, share Love, and birth Love where you are planted.
ONE
As graduates walk across stages and out into their futures, steep them in the congregation’s Love with reminders of where they are rooted, how they have been held, and who is cheering them into their future.
Celebrate communally with Illustrated Ministry’s new Graduation Worship Liturgy (see also their Volunteer Appreciation Worship Liturgy, for when your program year ends).
Make it personal with Stuff I’d Only Tell God: A Guided Journal of Courageous Honesty, Obsessive Truth-Telling, and Beautifully Ruthless Self-Discovery (Baker), which came with a great gift idea for grads. We wrote it up and included a bunch of additional options for poetry, Bibles, or other journals – like Introvert by Design: A Guided Journal for Living with New confidence in Who You’re Created to Be (Baker).
Find the Great Idea here. Find additional Grad Gifts in our lib guide.
TWO
A key way we surround our young ones with love throughout their lives is by creating safe spaces. Safer Sanctuaries: Nurturing Trust within Faith Communities, ‘continues the tradition of Safe Sanctuaries’ with ‘step-by-step instructions on how to develop, revise, update and implement an abuse prevention plan’. Check out the print book and downloadable Online Guide.
Springtide Research always helps create safe spaces for youth and Nurturing Mental Health for Gen Z: A Guidebook for Parents is no exception.
THREE
Create safe spaces by developing awareness around those who struggle amidst the celebrations of Mother’s and Father’s Days with tips from the UMC’s Four Things to Be Mindful of Ahead of Mother’s Day and Father’s Day and Daneen Aker’s [Dear Mama God (Watchfire Media)] similar request in her sharing Dear Mama God in worship post. See also her biblical references for the feminine and mothering images of God, available here.
Find additional resources for Exploring God and Confronting Misogyny in our lib guides.
FIVE
The Center for Action and Contemplation spent a week reflecting on Holy Transitions: the importance of resting in liminal spaces for longer than we feel comfortable in order to learn what we can before following the Spirit into the Unknown.
The Innovation Culture Index (ICI) supports exactly this type of liminal-space communal reflection and discernment – and with the accompaniment of a trained facilitator, supports greater resilience and thriving in the midst of change.
The Innovation Lab is an 18-month cohort of congregations – utilizing the ICI to journey together toward greater resilience while working on particular ministry innovations, supported by the cohort and trained facilitators from CYMT and The Ministry Lab. Email Emily at The Ministry Lab to learn more and get details about applying for the Fall, 2023 Cohort (applications are due June 9!).
SIX
Take a new look at Love’s self-revelation in scripture through Even the Devil Quotes Scripture: Reading the Bible on Its Own Terms (Eerdmans) – ‘a litmus test for the validity of a scriptural interpretation measured in charity’.
Grow in love toward neighbors experiencing poverty with the reprint of James Cone’s Speaking the Truth: Ecumenism, Liberation, and Black Theology (Orbis).
Invest more fully in the work of equity by joining MNIPL’s Reparations Learning List. Contact Jessica at MNIPL to participate.
