Robin Mitzcavitch, Director of Religious Exploration & Education
Settle in, get into that comfortable place, in your best chair or propped up on a pillow in bed. Maybe you have a hot tea, or a hot chocolate by your side as you crack open the first page or turn on your electronic reader. Settle in, forget what’s happening in the world for a couple of hours, or maybe just 15 minutes. That’s good. Travel to the mountains, or back in time, or inside another person’s brain. Reading can be a meditation.
Isn’t it exciting when you can experience something new? It’s even better when you can mutually discuss your experiences with others. Have you ever read something so inspiring that you just want to tell everyone about it? This is how book groups gained their popularity, no doubt.
The Religious Exploration Team has been hosting an “All Church Read” for a number of years and always takes the task of choosing a book very seriously. We have shared some unforgettable books. This year, we hope you find the book we’ve chosen to be something you can get lost in and get talking about: The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek written by Kim Michele Richardson.
The themes you will find in this book are wide and each individual reader will connect with them in a different way. We encourage all readers to join in discussions, maybe start a group on Zoom or jump into the Google Classroom! On February 7th, the RE Team will host a Zoom Sunday morning service and are eager for all readers to help share their thoughts!
The themes that struck a chord with our team are:
Love, Giving, and Hope
Perseverance
Social Justice- reading/literacy, classism, hunger, women’s rights
Racial Justice
Role of animals in human lives
Historical exploration opportunity- Appalachia, Kentucky Blue Fugate people and methemoglobinemia. Pack Horse Library Project.
There are 3 books available about the subject of the Pack Horse Library Project: We will give away 10 books; 5 on 12/6 and 5 on 12/13. Winners can pick which book they’d like. We will order books on Amazon Smile (to give buying credit to the church) and will have them mailed to the winners. Interested participants can put their name into the chat on the church service or email their name to Robin and we will draw 5 names on those two dates.
We will have a discussion board up on Google Classroom.
https://classroom.google.com/c/MjM1NzQ4MzM1NDI4?cjc=yfgpnqq class code: yfgpnqq
Book Group Discussions: Do you want to host one over Zoom? Please let Robin know:
THE BOOKS TO CHOOSE FROM:
The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson- High School and older- or read by parent to younger teen and editing a few challenging (but respectfully written) excerpts that deal with violence against women and detailed descriptions of medical procedures, and death.
Down Cut Shin Creek by Kathy Appelt – All ages can discover this non-fiction account, and it would be great to offer to middle school or younger readers.
That Book Woman by Heather Henson- All ages can enjoy, but it’s written for children.
We are excited to bring the comfort, adventure, and warmth of a book into your lives during the darkest and coldest time of the year. We truly hope that the all -church reading experience can connect us during this time of year which for many, can be an isolating time. The more people who can be involved, cracking that book open and exploring its pages, the more opportunities we can have to talk with each other, yet another comfort of being in this community.
Happy Reading!
Robin