Sanctuary Book Club- February 2025
We’re excited to announce our second round of the Sanctuary Book Club- reading the book Faith After Doubt by Brian McLaren.
How Does This Work? Folks who want to participate in the book club will register below. The reading will kick off the week of February 2nd. You will receive a weekly email every Sunday or Monday with the suggested reading for the week, a few summary thoughts, some questions to consider, and more. Then, on Saturday, March 8th those who can and want to will gather from 9:30-11:30 a.m. at the Sanctuary office for coffee, juice, and some breakfast food and discuss the book together. You’re still welcome to sign up and participate even if you can’t make the March 8th gathering.
What’s This Book About? The subtitle of the book is “Why Your Beliefs Stopped Working and What To Do About It.” In our (Jared & Sarah’s) own spiritual journeys, we have seen “doubt” play an essential role, but also to be very disorienting and difficult. We didn’t really know what to do when some of our long-held beliefs began to not feel so sure (or even right) anymore. From being told things like “just doubt your doubts and trust your faith”, or being made to feel like doubt is the enemy of faith and must be avoided at all costs, we found ourselves struggling greatly and not really knowing where to turn. But this book helped me (Jared) to see doubt in a new light, not as the enemy of faith, but as a necessary companion of true, authentic, and mature faith. This book is one of the things that actually helped save my “faith” in a season of deep questioning- even if many of my core beliefs ended up being necessarily reshaped along the way. That journey continues- as well as the reshaping- but I’m grateful for the impact of this book in my life!
Here’s a further description from the publisher’s website:
Using his own story and the stories of a diverse group of struggling believers, Brian D. McLaren, a former pastor and now an author, speaker, and activist shows how old assumptions are being challenged in nearly every area of human life, not just theology and spirituality. He proposes a four-stage model of faith development in which questions and doubt are not the enemy of faith, but rather a portal to a more mature and fruitful kind of faith. The four stages—Simplicity, Complexity, Perplexity, and Harmony—offer a path forward that can help sincere and thoughtful people leave behind unnecessary baggage and intensify their commitment to what matters most.
Is This Book For Me? I would say if you’ve encountered sincere doubts and questions in your spiritual/life journey and haven’t known what to do with them or if they are even okay, and especially if you’ve been afraid to process those and not known who you can safely talk to, this book could be for you. You may find this book really helpful in guiding you to reflect on where you are in your faith journey, how you got there, and where you might be headed (or- WANT to be headed). That may mean staying right where you are and gaining further confidence in where you currently stand and your current beliefs and assumptions, or it could help you see the need to let go of some things and be more open to new ideas and approaches- maybe even things you’ve sensed and thought for a long time but haven’t felt the freedom to explore further. The author does NOT tell you what to think and believe, but rather helps you thoughtfully and honestly examine your own spiritual journey and how you feel led to move forward in that.
Where Can I Buy The Book? Here’s a link to the publisher’s website with various links- basically anywhere you normally get books, either in hard copy or electronic: Faith After Doubt
What Is The Cost? The cost to participate is $25. This does NOT include the book. (Note: If you’d like to participate but the $25 is too much for you, we have a “pay what you can” option.)
Please sign up now if you’re interested, and we’ll send you a welcome email and more info before we begin our reading on February 2nd.
REGISTER HERE TO JOIN US!
