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Last Sunday, during River Roundtable, guest preacher Steve Watson mentioned a book that we love! In Woven: Nurturing a Faith Your Kid Doesn’t Have to Heal From, Meredith Miller explores how we can help children connect with a loving God in ways that are healthy and lasting, and casts a vision for how to do this even while deconstructing faith and/or not having all the answers. So much of what Miller talks about aligns with the approach we've been using in RiverKids/Youth for decades. It is wonderful to be able to have a book like this to recommend to our parents and volunteers! If you are interested in checking it out, we have a copy available in the River's Lending Library! And, we were also excited to discover that Miller has additional resources available for families and churches on her website. Things like a podcast ("Ask Away") where kids can ask anything about the Bible, and a weekly subscription-based newsletter ("Great Big Bible Story Walkthrough") that equips families to explore the Bible together in life-giving ways. We recommend checking them out! About Woven Most Christian parenting books are ready with exact practices every family should follow in order to raise obedient children. In this obedience-training model, faith is a wall, constructed brick by brick, as adults tell children what to believe and how to behave. But what if obedience is not the goal of Christian parenting? What if it’s our job as parents to instead help our kids get to know God and discover that God can be trusted? And what if faith is not constructed brick by brick, but rather woven strand by strand? Much like a spider’s web, in which anchor strands and internal threads combine to form a unique web, Woven can help children anchor to who God is and have faith practices that are rich, textured, and all their own. Kids need space to explore the Bible, ask big questions, and even change their understanding of God and faith along the way. With Woven, families can nurture the kind of faith that can flex and grow, be broken and repaired. This is the sort of faith that can stand up to the life a child will live, the doubts they will encounter, and the questions that will come up along the way. So many parents want to pass along their faith, but know that God is so much bigger than the list of do’s and don’ts they were taught about as children. They want to pass along a faith their child doesn’t have to heal from. Woven is the guidebook parents have been looking for. With a deep reverence for scripture and suggested activities to help your family grow in faith together, Woven is for parents who want to go beyond a list of do’s and don’ts and pass along a resilient faith based on genuine love for and trust in God.
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As RiverKids Director Amelia Cunard was preparing for her sermon titled "Returning to the Mystery of 'I AM'," one of the resources she consulted was Karen Armstrong's book A History of God: The 4,000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. If you are interested in checking it out, we have a copy available in the River's Lending Library! Armstrong has a fascinating story. After spending seven years as a nun, Armstrong left the convent and proceeded to distance herself from organized religion for 13 years. After this long break from religion, while on a television broadcast assignment in Jerusalem, Armstrong had a "breakthrough experience" that defied her prior assumptions. This experience allowed Armstrong to revisit her own faith and was the inspiration for virtually all of her subsequent work as a scholar of world religions. Interviews with Armstrong
Armstrong's Author Bio Karen Armstrong is the author of numerous books on religion, including The Case for God, A History of God, The Battle for God, Holy War, Islam, Buddha, and Fields of Blood, as well as a memoir, The Spiral Staircase. Her work has been translated into 45 languages. In 2008 she was awarded the TED Prize and began working with TED on the Charter for Compassion, created online by the general public, crafted by leading thinkers in Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Confucianism. It was launched globally in the fall of 2009. Also in 2008, she was awarded the Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Medal. In 2013, she received the British Academy’s inaugural Nayef Al-Rodhan Prize for Transcultural Understanding. About A History of God Amazon.com Review: "Armstrong, a British journalist and former nun, guides us along one of the most elusive and fascinating quests of all time—the search for God. Like all beloved historians, Armstrong entertains us with deft storytelling, astounding research, and makes us feel a greater appreciation for the present because we better understand our past. Be warned: A History of God is not a tidy linear history. Rather, we learn that the definition of God is constantly being repeated, altered, discarded, and resurrected through the ages, responding to its followers' practical concerns rather than to mystical mandates. Armstrong also shows us how Judaism, Christianity, and Islam have overlapped and influenced one another, gently challenging the secularist history of each of these religions." —Gail Hudson
As Pastor Alison was preparing for her sermon titled "Making Sense of the Trinity," she found the Center of Action and Contemplation (CAC) to be a particularly helpful resource — one that you may find beneficial as well! Founded by Richard Rohr in 1987, the CAC "offers programs and resources that introduce Christian contemplative wisdom and practices—guiding seekers toward personal transformation and inspiring compassionate action in the world." Their offerings include daily written meditations, guided spiritual practices, books and other media, podcasts, events, online education, and the Living School (a deep immersion program focused on Christian contemplative traditions). If you want to narrow things down to one simple resource, we'd recommend signing up to receive the Daily Meditations (either daily or a weekly summary). CAC describes the meditations this way: "Rooted in the Christian contemplative tradition, the Daily Meditations offer reflections from Richard Rohr, CAC faculty, and guest teachers to deepen your spiritual practice and inspire compassionate action in the world. Each meditation invites you to embody a transformative presence in your life and community." Below are some of the CAC daily meditations that Pastor Alison considered when preparing her recent sermon:  At the River, every couple months we use a special service format that we call Conversation Church! Instead of hearing a sermon, we engage with one another through intentional, guided conversations. So often at church we sit side by side without truly getting to know one another. But during Conversation Church, as we sit around tables and approach conversation as a spiritual practice, we have the opportunity to learn about one another, to make new friends, and to deepen connections.
During the first round we typically start with introductions. We ask questions like:
Then, as the prompts progress, conversation deepens. Below are some of the questions we've discussed during recent Conversation Church services. Consider using them to help you start a meaningful conversation with a friend, family member, coworker, or neighbor!
Below are some of our favorite quotes about conversation. We hope that you will find them inspiring and relatable! “The most important thing in all human relationships is conversation, but people don’t talk anymore, they don’t sit down to talk and listen. They go to the theater, the cinema, watch television, listen to the radio, read books, but they almost never talk. If we want to change the world, we have to go back to a time when warriors would gather around a fire and tell stories.” “Love without conversation is impossible.” "A real conversation always contains an invitation. You are inviting another person to reveal herself or himself to you, to tell you who they are or what they want." "Conversation doesn’t have to lead to consensus about anything, especially not values; it’s enough that it helps people get used to one another." “Find hard to talk to stranger. Terrible at chit-chat. Think people look at me funny then I start panic think have to be clever all of time. They not understand I artist, not entertainer! Magic of Bigfoot what happen when people not looking.” Last Sunday, we held a special service in honor of Earth Day! All of the elements of the service (songs, readings, prayers, sharing by River members, etc.) were selected to help us meditate on and celebrate God’s beautiful creation. And, after the service, we held an Arts & Crafts Fair to raise money for the important work of We ACT for Environmental Justice. During her message, Pastor Alison said this: "There are so many ways to encounter the God of Love, who is in us and with us always. Creation is one of these access points — an ongoing source of God’s revelation and presence. God’s beautiful creation has the power to teach us, to heal us, and to transform us. But only if we have the eyes to see and the ears to hear. And only if we are collectively inspired to love what God has created — to honor, respect and care for this planet we call Earth." As we think together about ways that we can engage in creation care, we'd like to share one helpful resource: Happy Eco News. Happy Eco News was founded in 2018 to counteract the near-constant drip of negative environmental news by providing readers with positive information about the environment and the people working to improve it. Their goal is not to encourage folks to live in denial or to embrace toxic positivity, but rather to harness the power of hope. These are the beliefs that drive their work:
Happy Eco News recommends finding a balance between "awareness of challenges and plenty of reasons for hope." This approach, resonates with how we, at the River, often speak about the nature of life and faith.
So, when it comes to environmental news (and really anything in life), consider spending some time thinking about how you can better find a balance between awareness of challenges and reasons to hope. As you read positive news stories and allow them inspire you to take action. And be intentional about engaging with God's beautiful creation!  |
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