Suggested Book Titles to Purchase at Amazon.com
The clergy will suggest six titles of books that you may consider adding to your library or starting your library. A synopsis of each book follows.
NRSV Harper Collins Study Bible :
This is a great Bible for home reading and study; the New Revised Standard Version Bible is the one used for the Episcopal Church lectionary, and is both classic and modern in its interpretation.
A Lector's Guide and Commentary to the Revised Common Lectionary,
Year C by J. Ted Blakley
The Guide provides a brief, reliable commentary for each lectionary reading, and offers suggestions as to how the text can be delivered. Pronunciations for unfamiliar words and names are also included. The Guide has also been written with other groups and uses in mind. For example, to trigger discussions in a Sunday school class or group Bible study, or a resource for personal study, reflection and devotion. A Lector's Guide and Commentary is for anyone who wants to read the Bible with understanding.
The Rev. Cole Gruberth's Suggestions:
My Faith, My Life by Jenifer Gamber is a concise introduction to the Episcopal Church, Baptism and Confirmation, church history, faith, worship, and spirituality. It is subtitled A Teen's Guide to the Episcopal Church and is intended to be used for confirmation preparation. It's also a good handy reference for some basics about our faith and church.
Jenifer Gamber has now co-authored a new book with Bill Lewellis, titled Your Faith, Your Life. This book covers most of the same ground, but adds some depth about spirituality, and is intended for adults-- it would be a great parents' companion for anyone whose teenager is preparing for Confirmation this year.
The Rev. Fred Thayer's Suggestions:
One of the most compelling books I’ve read in years is The Hole in Our Gospel by Richard Stearns. Stearns has met the question “what does God expect of us?” head on and his book gives us “the answer that changed my life and might just change the world.” In chapters with titles such as: You Lack One Thing, The Towering Pillars of Compassion and Justice, The Three Greatest Commandments (to love God, to love our neighbors, and to go and make disciples of others who will do the same), The Great Omission, and What Are You Going to Do About It?, Stearns invites us to look beyond the walls of the church, to demonstrate God’s love for the world instead of just talking about it, and to embrace the whole Gospel of loving God and loving our neighbors.
An outstanding paraphrase of the Bible is Eugene Peterson’s The Message//Remix 2.0. Brief introductions help establish the original context of each book of the Bible. Also helpful are end pages which include the books of the Bible organized by the order of events, some maps of the Holy Land in biblical times, and a topical guide to verses on everything from Ambition to Worry. Most helpful for encountering Scripture in a fresh, new way, is Peterson’s use of vibrant, contemporary English. Texts come alive and really connect with us in our present day context. You’ll notice this from the very beginning. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters” (Genesis 1:1-2, Revised Standard Version) becomes: “First this: God created the Heavens and the earth – all you see, all you don’t see. Earth was a soup of nothingness, a bottomless emptiness, an inky blackness. God’s Spirit brooded like a bird above the watery abyss.”
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