Life After Doom: Join Pastor Glen Thomas to explore Brian McLauren’s new book in which he invites us into a conversation around what McLaurne calls this “tender, sweet, piercing sadness.” Have we brought ourselves and our world to an inevitable end because of the destruction we have brought to our environment, to our institutions, and to our social connections? Or can we find in this “devastating new reality” opportunities for faith and hope? As McLaren says, “when you dance with doom, doom changes you.”
The Kingdom, the Power and the Glory: Join Pastor Brian Mass for this book study. In his book, The Kingdom, the Power and the Glory, author Tim Alberta brings his personal experience and his personal faith as an evangelical Christian to a critical examination of the alignment between most of American evangelicalism and the personality cult of former president Donald Trump. This thought-provoking book not only holds a magnifying glass before that slice of the American electorate; it holds a mirror up to any who proclaim a personal faith and who wrestle with what that means for participating in a civil society. This book and our discussion of it are not intended as merely a means for bashing an individual or a group. Rather, our intent is to wrestle with our role in accommodating such a radical shift within a portion of the Church, to critically review what we in the ELCA are bringing to this moment in our national history, and to discern together what we might do to counter the powerful and well-resourced forces that continue to drive us to ever-deeper polarization. Expect to be surprised, challenged and affirmed by the reading and the conversation.
Love without limits: There is no EMMAUS class for this one, but it’s a great resource for creating your own class. Jacqueline Bussie challenges us to move beyond what we see on the surface and the divisions and the tensions the world creates and to love everyone, no matter what. It’s an easy and engaging read that gently opens the door to tougher conversations.
Faith and Politics: How To Lead with Wisdom: Explore the complex relationship between faith and politics with Luther scholar, the Rev. Dr. Anthony Bateza in this enlightening episode of the Pivot Podcast.