Six New Things – Week of October 24, 2022

We’re playing catch-up after a week away – so this is a pile of great resources that cover several essential and current topics: LGBTQIA+ History Month; pop culture; digital ministry; transformational – and sustainable – leadership; a quick dose of theological reflection; and, of course, Advent and Christmas. Here’s to you, blessed leader, as you navigate this transitional season in the midst of complex times!

ONE

It’s the tail-end of LGBTQ+ History Month. Affirm that history for your young people with Pride: An Inspirational History of the LGBTQ+ Movement (Penguin Workshop); with more mature readers, explore Before We Were Trans: A New History of Gender (Seal), ‘a groundbreaking global history of gender nonconformity’.

TWO

If theological history is more your speed, check out When Did Jesus Become God?: A Christological Debate (WJK), a debate including the voices of Bart D. Ehrman, Robert B. Stewart, and Michael F. Bird.

THREE

Engage people from every spectrum and all ages with Are You Still Watching?: Using Pop Culture to Tune In, Find God, & Get Renewed for Another Season (Chalice).

If this idea is up your alley, you might also join author and religion journalist John A. Zukowski as he talks about his book Christmas on the Screen, which explores the spiritual and cultural implications of Christmas movies and TV shows.

Find additional Pop Culture-related resources in our lib guide.

FOUR

Bring your ministry into the pop culture, digital age with Digital Ministry and Leadership in Today’s Church (Liturgical) – tips and tools for creating new and enhancing existing digital ministries in any context.

Find additional tips, tools, and other resources in our Digital/Hybrid Ministry lib guide.

FIVE

Recognizing that Things One through Four may involve a little ‘disruption’, a dose of Doug Powe’s and Lovett Weems’, Sustaining While Disrupting: The Challenge of Congregational Innovation (Fortress) might come in handy.

SIX

And, since MEA Weekend is in our rear-view mirror and Reformation and All Saints are just around the corner, you’re almost certainly gearing up for Advent and Christmas (for worship-related items, see here), and may be excited to find Illustrated Ministry’s In Light & Darkness: An Advent Devotional inspired by Barbara Brown Taylor’s book Learning to Walk in the Dark (HarperCollins, 2015); they offer an all ages/family version of it, too, here.

Support families and all generations in deepening their experience of the Christmas Season, with Building Faith’s 12 Days of Christmas Prayer Cards:

  • Download four cards per page pdfs here.
  • Download one card per page pdfs here.
  • Download cards as individual images here.

If we have managed to miss your driving concern, don’t hesitate to send us an email or give us a call at our new phone number: 651.279.1677. We’re here to serve you!!