The first video segment from the study DVD:

The Awakening of Hope

Book by Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove
DVD features Shane Claiborne, Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove and others.
Zondervan, 2012.
Buy now: [ DVD – Amazon ]
[ Book – Amazon ]  [ Books – Kindle ]

*** Books by Shane Claiborne *** Books by Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove ***

Why We Eat Together (Featuring Shane Claiborne / Chris Haw)

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Listen to a clip of C.S. Lewis giving a talk on the BBC on God and Time…

This talk would later be compiled as part of the classic book:

Mere Christianity

C.S. Lewis

Paperback: Harper.
Buy now:  [ Amazon ]  [ Kindle ]

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Here’s a superb theological reflection for Black Friday…

An 11-minute video introduction to:

Being Consumed: Economics and Christian Desire.

William Cavanaugh

Paperback. Eerdmans, 2008.
Buy now:  [ Amazon ]  [ Kindle ]

A 2008 Englewood Honor Book…
[ Read our review... ]

A recent lecture given at the Buechner Institute at King College (TN) by Doug Worgul, author of the superb novel:

Thin Blue Smoke: A Novel
Paperback: Burnside Books, 2012.
Buy now: [ Amazon ]  [ Kindle ]

Read our Review by Larry Shallenberger…

A Feast Is Prepared For All That May Come

“I think a person eating alone is more alone, more lonely, than a person doing other things alone. A person alone in their car is going somewhere, that’s all. Persons walking by themselves are exercising. Good for them. People reading books or watching television alone are relaxing. Lucky them. But people who are eating alone are, well, sad. They’re the alone-ist of alone. That’s because eating is meant to be done together, with other people, not alone. I believe that’s how God made us.”

There’s hardly a week that goes by here at Englewood Christian Church that I’m not thinking about, re-reading or talking about Willie Jennings’ book The Christian Imagination (which was our theology book of the year in 2010).
[Read my review ].

The challenge is that the book is pretty intense, and probably not one that everyone would pick up. So, I was delighted to stumble across the above video from Luther Seminary yesterday.  The video is almost two hours long, but it is worth every single second and is a superb introduction to Jennings’ work…  Included in the longer video is a 30 minute overview of the book (see the start and end times below), as well as a compelling Q/A session that helps to flesh out the basic themes of the book.

If you don’t have time to watch the whole video right now, at least get a taste for it by watching this 5 minute segment on “How to Be the Church in a Place” (Starting at 1:24:08 through 1:29:37).

Then, if you want to get the overview of  The Christian Imagination, it runs from 24:35 through 52:15.

I hope that you find Willie Jennings’ work as compelling and mindblowing as I do!

• NPR Books: Listen to Mary Oliver read poems and talk about her new collection A Thousand Mornings.
• Blogger Matthew Paul Turner on Rachel Held Evans’ controversial new book and the deeper issues of why Lifeway won’t carry her book.
• Religion News: Jana Riess reviews J.K. Rowling’s much anticipated novel for adults.
• The Millions: Cataloging David Foster Wallace’s The Pale King.
• Ploughshares:  Literary Costumes for Halloween.

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Writer Timothy Kurek was on ABC’s The View today discussing his new book:

The Cross in the Closet.
Timothy Kurek
Paperback: BlueHead Publishing, 2012.
Buy now:   [ Amazon ] 
[ Kindle - Only $4.99! ]

This book details Kurek’s one-year experiment of pretending to be a gay man.  In the clip below, he likens his endeavor to John Howard Griffin’s classic book Black Like Me. Watch the clip below and discuss in the comments below.  Is this project helpful in the light it sheds on the gay experience? Exploitative?  Both?

• The Guardian: Unpublished Arthurian epic poem by JRR Tolkien to be published next spring.
• HuffPo Books: “Where I like to Read.” Interview with John Green.
• The Millions: Chinese Novelist Mo Yan Wins the Nobel Prize for Literature

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• The Millions: The Anatomy of Book Reviews.
• FlavorWire: Banned Books Week – Famous Authors’ Funniest Responses to Their Books Being Banned
• How feasible is a completely digital library? One writer investigates.
• NPR Books: “When Words Were Worth Fighting For” (A snippet of lexicographical history).

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On Tuesday night September 18, we here at Englewood Christian Church on the Near Eastside of Indianapolis were pleased to host a conversation about churches and neighborhoods facilitated by ERB editor Chris Smith and Paul Sparks of the Parish Collective.

This “Reimagining the Parish” conversation drew a diverse crowd of participants from around central Indiana (A huge thanks to all who attended!)

An overview of the conversation:

1) Chris sketches the Slow Church vision and why Englewood is excited about the work of the Parish Collective

2) Paul overviews the work that he is involved in with the Parish Collective

3) A wide-ranging Q/A conversation on churches, neighborhoods and place.

Please download, listen and freely share this recording as you see fit.
The evening was also video recorded and clips from that video will be available in the near future.

 Reimaging the Parish - Englewood Christian Church - 18 September 2012 [84:56m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download