Your Shepherd Leaders will be reading these throughout the 2023-2024 year, so you’re invited to read along with us! There’s no formal program to go along with these, although small groups are welcome to use them for discussion, and you’re encouraged to talk about them amongst each other. We’ve provided some free copies in the bookstore, so feel free to grab one! The third book for the Spring is TBD. Please note we don’t necessarily endorse every theological view or their use of Scripture, nor will we necessarily try to implement every suggestion at church. We simply believe they have insights we all could benefit from.
Fall: Emotionally Healthy Spirituality by Peter Scazzero
Written by a pastor in NYC, this is a wonderfully accessible book about practical ways in which we can grow in the Christian life. Its subtitle is crucial: “It’s impossible to be spiritually mature while remaining emotionally immature.” If you feel stagnant in your walk or often sense that you have enough theology, but aren’t witnessing real growth, this is a great place to start. It deals with important topics such as the impact of our family of origin on our habits, how we approach past grief and loss, how God wants to shape our whole person into Christ’s image, and how emotionally mature Christians ought to handle conflict. We’re recommending this book not necessarily for its theological depth, but rather for the exciting opportunities it lays out for us to grow into more holistic and integrated Christians.
Winter: The Soul of Shame by Curt Thompson
This book is intentionally being read by us after “Emotionally Healthy Spirituality” because it takes similar themes to a whole new level! Written by a Christian psychiatrist in our theological tradition, this book underscores the all-too-often hidden ways in which shame controls and destroys us - at home, work, and church. Sometimes it’s obvious, sometimes it’s hidden away for years, but the spiritual disease of shame can cause incredible depths of brokenness. Saturated with the liberating truths of the gospel, this book offers very insightful ways to diagnose our selves and to bring healing to ourselves and our community. To those who are courageous enough to read through it, we hope it will unleash the power of the gospel among us.