Hops and Hope: Book and Discussion Group

What

Join us each month as we read a book on faith, justice and what it means to find hope in Christ amid a messy and complex world. Each month we will read a book related to Immanuel’s  “Just Like Jesus” theme and will gather at a local brewery to discuss and explore how the words we read impact the lives we live. All are welcome to join, whether you finish the book or not. Fat Pants Brewing also has various food and non-alcoholic beverage options available if beer is not for you.

When

Every 3rd Thursday of the month

Next Meeting: Thursday, October 20, 6:30 - 8 p.m.

At our first meeting we talked about the many different areas of faith and justice that each of us were interested in and we found there was a wide array. So, we decided that each month we would take turns leading book discussions on topics that people were passionate about. Below you will find a sign up sheet where you can go in and sign up to lead the discussion for the month. It will ask you for your name, the topic you chose, the book, and a children’s book that can be paired with the topic. One of the things we discussed was a desire to be able to talk to kids about these topics of service and justice, so we will try to start each gathering by sharing a children’s book. For ideas on children’s books, beaming books is a great place to start.

A couple things to note:

1. You are not required to lead a discussion to be part of the group. If you prefer to just participate, that is great too! Also, if you would like to lead with another person you can sign up together.
2. Leading the discussion doesn’t have to be anything huge or formal, your role will just be helping facilitate the conversation that month and bringing some questions for the group.
3. If you have a topic you are interested in but do not have a specific book or children’s book in mind, feel free to sign up with just your topic and I can send along some book ideas for you to choose from.
4. Once our list is finalized, I will order a copy of each of the books for our library and will send out a final list to everyone so you can plan ahead.
5. Take a look at a list of some possible books, but there are many more options out there!
6. Some ideas for topics include (but aren’t limited to):

• Racial Justice / Womanist or Black Theology
• Liberation Theology
• Mujerista Theology
• Native/Indigenous Theology
• Immigration and Welcoming the Stranger
• Asian Theology
• Interfaith / Global Perspectives
• Faith and Sexuality
• Environmental Theology
• Women’s Rights / Feminist Theologies
• Food or Economic Justice
• Theology and Mental Health

Sign Up to lead a book discussion here.

For our next meeting we will be gathering October 20th (location TBD) and for our first reading we will be looking at the ELCA Social Statement on “Church and Society”.

For future meetings we will be reading full books, but to start out we will look at this Social Statement of the ELCA and discuss how it impacts the way we engage with our future readings and the world around us. We will primarily be focusing on “Church and Society” but if you are interested in reading the other statements you can find them here. 

Questions

Please contact Savanah, Coordinator of Service and Justice Ministries, savannah@immanuel.us

Let us know if you're interested by submitting the form below and we'll keep you informed.

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Hops & Hope Interest

Please let us know if you'd like to be added to the interest list and we'll keep you informed.

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Hops and Hope Interest

•   Yes, I'm interested in Hops and Hope! Please add me to your email list.
•   I'm planning to attend the next Hops & Hope on Thursday, Oct. 20.
•   I have some questions, please contact me.

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