Drawing on her life as an indigenous scientist, and as a woman, Kimmerer shows how other living beings―asters and goldenrod, strawberries and squash, salamanders, algae, and sweetgrass―offer us gifts and lessons, even if we've forgotten how to hear their voices. In reflections that range from the creation of Turtle Island to the forces that threaten its flourishing today, she circles toward a central argument: that the awakening of ecological consciousness requires the acknowledgment and celebration of our reciprocal relationship with the rest of the living world. For only when we can hear the languages of other beings will we be capable of understanding the generosity of the earth, and learn to give our own gifts in return.

Do I Stay Christian? addresses in public the powerful question that surprising numbers of people―including pastors, priests, and other religious leaders―are asking in private. Picking up where Faith After Doubt leaves off, Do I Stay Christian? is not McLaren's attempt to persuade Christians to dig in their heels or run for the exit. Instead, he combines his own experience with that of thousands of people who have confided in him over the years to help readers make a responsible, honest, ethical decision about their religious identity.

In Dusk, Night, Dawn, Anne Lamott explores the tough questions that many of us grapple with. How can we recapture the confidence we once had as we stumble through the dark times that seem increasingly bleak? As bad newspiles up—from climate crises to daily assaults on civility—how can we cope? Where, she asks, “do we start to get our world and joy and hope and our faith in life itself back . . . with our sore feet, hearing loss, stiff fingers, poor digestion, stunned minds, broken hearts?”

We begin, Lamott says, by accepting our flaws and embracing our humanity.

Drawing from her own experiences, Lamott shows us the intimate and human ways we can adopt to move through life’s dark places and toward the light of hope that still burns ahead for all of us.

Is there just one “you”? We’ve been taught to believe we have a single identity, and to feel fear or shame when we can’t control the inner voices that don’t match the ideal of who we think we should be. Yet Dr. Richard Schwartz’s research now challenges this “mono-mind” theory. “All of us are born with many sub-minds―or parts,” says Dr. Schwartz. “These parts are not imaginary or symbolic. They are individuals who exist as an internal family within us―and the key to health and happiness is to honor, understand, and love every part.”

Way Collective is connected to all sorts of folks who have had this experience of trying to find a way forward in your Christian spirituality in a time when so much is shifting. Especially in our times of division, many of us can't find a clear vision of how contemplation can play a role in keeping us grounded and tethered to Love. Dr. Holmes unpacks through story, practices, and practical reflection questions what it looks like to find our way, together -- and not only for us as individuals, but so we can know what healing our communities looks like through the contemplative path.

We are excited to announce our next Sophia Reading Group around this hot-off-the-press book by Brian McLaren, Faith After Doubt. Brian will be joining us LIVE for Q&R on the night of our wrap-up conversation on 4/25.

Way Collective is connected to all sorts of folks who have had this experience of trying to navigate the waters of faith after a season of doubt, and Brian's new book brilliantly addresses this journey through highlighting four stages: simplicity, complexity, perplexity, and harmony. You won't want to miss this series of conversations led by Tim and Karen as we explore the waters of faith after doubt.

This 8-week series entitled "Living Well" will be the next step of communal preparation as we move toward a more official launch of the Way Collective at the beginning of Advent. This book is one of the best books we’ve read in the last 10 years, and almost no resource speaks so directly to the changes that are afoot in translating Christianity and religion for our time. Krista’s insight and depth of wisdom will inform a study through 5 main topics: Words, Flesh (Body), Love, Faith, and Hope. These conversations will be a more in-depth look at the Jesus Way we are all being invited into: a way of artful living committed to connection, contemplation, critical thinking, creativity, and compassionate action for the 21st century.

In preparation for Rob Bell's visit to SB, join us for the Sophia reading group on Thursday evenings at 8pm at Third Window Brewing Co.  We will meet on July 19, Aug 2, 16, 23 to discuss Rob Bell's What is the Bible?, a book about reading scripture with new potentials for Christianity in the 21st century. You can grab a copy of Rob's latest book off Amazon and join us, and we'll be meeting this Wednesday, July 19th for our first conversation on the book's first section: There's Something More Going on Here...We hope you'll join us!