Library

About a month ago I received a phone call that warmed my heart. Elizabeth asked me to help her think about reviving, reorganizing and generally making her congregation's library more accessible and useful to the members of the congregation. She allowed that I was probably busy preparing for World Conference, but promised to check back with me soon.

I put a note in my calendar (for yesterday!) to call her back. Before I could do that, my phone rang again. It was Elizabeth, ready to call me to action. We set a date and next week we'll be seeing what we can do with that library!

I have been thinking about her idea. I love the notion of making some of the amazing books available to help us with our collective and individual discipleship. And I love the notion of making such a collection of books and other resources right there for folks to borrow and use. It's what libraries have done forever and what they continue to do.

Church libraries have a rather poorer reputation, however. They tend to be repositories for grandad's old books, or for the rag tag collection nobody knows what to do with. Much of our congregational collection is outdated or unattractive or of questionable theology or practice.

So do stay tuned. Elizabeth and I are going to work to refresh one congregation's library. We'd love to hear from you if you've already tackled this challenge where you live. And we'll let you know what we learn so our idea of making new, current, helpful books more available and attractive can be shared.

Posted by Marion