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A Year of Reading for the Soul: A Free Spiritual Formation Book Club
Do you long for more than Sunday but can't spare another evening out? Our Spiritual Formation team has arranged a church-wide license for the Renovaré Book Club, a year of guided spiritual reading you can do entirely at your own pace, at home. Membership is free to anyone in our congregation.
What is the Renovaré Book Club?
Renovaré is a ministry devoted to spiritual formation, and its book club walks a community through four classic and contemporary books over the course of a year. Each book gets seven weeks. Every Monday brings a new podcast conversation with host Carolyn Arends and that book's guide, along with a reading plan, reflection questions, and a quiet members-only forum for talking it over with others on the same journey. Each book wraps up with a live Q&A where you can bring your questions.
Nothing meets at a set time. You read when your week allows.
The four books
Dwelling in Christ by Jonathan R. Bailey | October 5 – November 16
Bailey argues that we aren't merely converted to Christ, we're invited to become like Christ, and that becoming usually happens slowly and unevenly rather than in a single dramatic moment. He draws on the ancient threefold way of purgation, illumination, and union, and treats it not as mystical territory for specialists but as a description of ordinary Christian life.
The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan, guided by Karen Swallow Prior | November 30 – January 25
Written from an English jail in 1678, Bunyan's allegory follows a man named Christian from his home to the Celestial City, through the Slough of Despond, Vanity Fair, and the Valley of the Shadow of Death. It's one of the most widely read books in the English language.
Into the Quiet by John Mark Comer | February 1 – March 15
Comer's argument is that the noise of modern life, not just its pace, cuts us off from God: we're anxious, overstimulated, exhausted, and aching for God yet barely able to pay attention. Drawing on the contemplative tradition and practices from the earliest centuries of the church, he makes the case for solitude, silence, and stillness.
The Way of the Heart by Henri Nouwen, guided by Wil Hernandez | March 29 – May 10
Nouwen turns to the desert fathers and mothers for three practices: solitude, silence, and prayer. It's a short book that has stayed in print for more than forty years because people keep returning to it.
An unhurried pace
The rhythm is gentle: a chapter or two most weeks, never more than 50 pages. If you fall behind, nothing is lost, since the podcast and forum stay available. Breaks fall between books, including several weeks around the holidays.
Who it's for
This is for anyone in our church community who wants to go deeper but can’t add another weeknight commitment. You don't need any background in spiritual formation, and you don't need to have read any of these authors before. Read all four books or just one. Join the forum conversation or simply listen to the podcasts on your commute.
How to join
Email the Spiritual Formation team and we'll get you set up with the group license.
A note on cost: the book club membership is free through our church's license. You'll purchase the four books yourself. Here's a list of all four with purchase links.
To read along with the first book, sign up by early October.
Other ways to grow this year
Contemplation Lab meets Monday evenings for shared contemplative prayer and practice.
Our free guide to 7 Contemplative Prayer Practices walks through centering prayer, lectio divina, the Examen, and more.
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