Thursday, June 07, 2007

Unique Otter

As Doris and I conducted our reading discussion group last night at Otter, I had the thought that such an occasion would not happen at many churches in my fellowship.

This class will meet each Wed. night through the summer and discuss one book per month. We begin with Anne Lamott's Grace (Eventually), continue in July with Lauren Winner's Mudhouse Sabbath, and end in August with Eugene Peterson's Eat This Book.

Last night was so fun. We began with an introduction to spiritual reading and why one should bother reading such books. Several of those who attended suggested some books I had not heard of and which sounded worthy of going to Amazon. That bodes well for the class.

I do pray that we will all learn more about our Father and his consistent loving presence as we share books this summer.

Otter is unique in this way and in others: Not many churches I know have a female Jewish professor come and lecture on Matthew, nor have a gathering room where people can be seen drinking coffee before and after services (one of my favorite pictures of community), nor do other churches offer courses in spiritual formation during the regular Sunday School or courses in art, music, and creativity such as the one that just ended.

God has blessed Otter with so many gifts and talents--May we use them to his glory.

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