Congregational Life Centre
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Book Launch
A New Take on an Ancient Story
A Young Person's Guide to Christianity
My son
Ian in Toronto has two daughters who go to private schools. "They get
to learn about Buddhism and Islam and Hinduism - but not much about Christianity
because that would be teaching religion in the school. Could you write a
short introduction to Christianity that would let them know what it was
basically about?"
"Sure," I replied. "Knock it off in a week." Well … it took a year and a half - half a year to write it and a year to make it simple enough.
It introduces the key players in the Christian drama - Jesus, the Disciples led by Simon Peter, Mary Magdalene, Paul, and James, Jesus' brother. Insights come from the Q document, Paul's letters and the Gospels.
The best part was when my granddaughter Paige wrote to say "It is simple and wonderful."
Clair Woodbury
Contents
1. My Journey
2. Introducing the Players
3. What We Know about Jesus
4. The First Written Records
5. Letters to Live By
6. A Sketch of Jesus' Life
7. Sharing the Story
8. Jesus' Bible
9. Shifting Sands
10. Breaking News
From Chapter 1 …
I'm 75 years old and life has been an incredible journey. I have lived through a time that has seen more change than any other era in human history.
When I was young, high tech for note taking was a coil bound steno pad. Now we have the iPad - which I don't own yet but am thinking about it.
On
the farm we were on a party line with 16 other people and had one of those
phones mounted on the wall with a handle to crank when you wanted to call
someone. Our ring was two longs and a short. Then came the dial phone -
anybody under 25 probably has never seen one of those - followed by the
touch phone which is being replaced by the cell phone which is being replaced
by the smart phone. I do have one of those.
My father was a music teacher and church organist. We attended the United Church in Arcola and Caron, Saskatchewan. When we moved to Leamington in Ontario Dad got a job at the Baptist church. That meant Sunday School and church there on Sunday morning and the Christian Science Sunday School in the afternoon because dad also played there. My Anglican phase happened because we moved to London and the local Anglican church had a great youth group with girls. Our move to a farm south of London brought me full circle back to the local United Church.
Each one of those churches thought they knew more about God than anyone else. It made me wonder just who was right. The approach I adopted - which I have maintained my whole life - is to keep an open mind. That conviction was reinforced reading a book by the English writer J.B. Philips called Your God is Too Small. Each of us tends to develop a picture of God that is small enough for us to get our minds around. God, however, is bigger than any of us can imagine. . . .
Paul Tillich, a theologian I admire, says many of us are separated "from the mystery, the depth, and the greatness of our existence." We are separated from the mystery - God or Allah or Buddha or the Other - whatever name we use. We are separated from who we are at the core of our being. And we are separated from those who we love. Good religion reconnects us with the mystery, it allows us to love ourselves, and it builds bridges between us and our fellow human beings by creating community.
That's where I am coming from. Now it is time to introduce you to the players in this historical drama we call the birth of Christianity.
Use this book ...
* with your confirmation class or youth group.
* in a study with adults who want a clear introduction to progressive Christianity.
* as a gift to your teen age grandchildren.
Here is a Christianity that is clear and bright. The author sheds the claptrap and baggage accumulated by the church over the years, allowing Jesus of Nazareth to emerge as the spiritual giant he is. The book communicates a deep faith in the mystery known by Jesus as "abba", the God who is our loving, forgiving, caring and challenging companion.A primer for progressive Christians, written for the grandchildren and useful for anyone.
Clair Woodbury is an author, church consultant, and an ordained minister in the United Church of Canada.
Order your copy of "A New Take" from
The Congregational Life Centre
#11, 2020-105 Street NW
Edmonton, AB T6J 5J2
Phone: 780-619-0386
or e-mail: clair@congregationallife.com
Cost: $9.95 (No GST) + postage
ISBN: 978-0-9688358-7-6
Order five or more and we pay the postage.
"Leadership Ventures" Congregational Life Newsletter. March 2011. Volume 17 No. 4.