An 80-Year-Old Reader and a Catholic Priest write on We Make the Road by Walking
A reader writes:
I am an eighty year old student of the Bible and seeker of Truth. I am currently leading a small group of ten women through your book, “We Make the Road by Walking”. Our discussions have been rich and full of Life.
I have read several of your books and all of them fill me with hope and soul-full gratitude for the living and growing Presence of God. I actually met you and spoke with you at a conference around twenty years ago.
Knowing that your way has not always been easy, and knowing that much of your mail is probably negative, I wanted to let you know how much your work has blessed me. Thank you for your open heart that has allowed you to hear and receive Truth; and thank you for the hard work and courage it has taken to share with us what God is giving you.
May God bless and strengthen your continued ministry.
Thanks so much for these encouraging words! You inspire me!. I'm only 13 years behind you, and I hope to follow your example - to never stop learning, growing, and seeking truth. Warm blessings to you and the women in your group. I'm so happy the book has been a blessing.
Another reader writes:
I conducted a book study with WE MAKE THE ROAD BY WALKING which turned out to be a truly inspired experience! That group of 12 persons has truly become a little church. They call themselves “ecclesia.”I will be offering another study on the book beginning in October. What a terrific resource your book is! I’m hoping to use the book to develop a “catechism” for kids too.
As you can imagine, it warms my heart when people take one of my books and do something wonderful with it. It's an honor to be in partnership with you in this way!
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Where I’ll be this fall … hope to see you!
LaCross, Wisconsin, Franciscan Spirituality Center Retreat - September 22-23 - Retreatants will be in person. I'll be Zooming in live. Information here: https://fsc.retreatportal.com/events/f?p=EVENTS:2:::::P0_EMBED,PROGRAM_ID:0,7127
Orlando, Florida, TheoEd - September 24 - In person and livestream: https://www.theoed.com/attend
Denver, Colorado, Contemplative Outreach of Colorado - In person and livestream. October 7.: https://www.centeringprayer.net/BrianMcLaren
Sacramento, CA - Bread of Life Center - online event (via Zoom), October 14: https://www.breadoflife.org/brian-mclaren
Nashville, TN - Convergence Music Project: https://www.cmpconverging.com/
Summit, NJ - Christ Church - December 10 - https://www.christchurchsummit.org/
St. Simon's Island, GA - Southern Lights! - January 12-14, 2024 - https://southernlightsconference.com/
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A Reader Writes: More Hopeful about the church than I have been in a long time …
Thank you. I’m about 2/3 of the way through your book A New Kind of Christian and deeply appreciative of how you’ve put together a lot of pieces and helped me process my increasing disconnect with our particular church and a parachurch ministry with which I serve. I’m blessed to have a husband who understood a lot of what you’re saying before I did, but you’re more gifted with the gracious side of truth telling.Your take has allowed me to pull back and see a bigger picture where I was zooming in and mostly sitting in unspoken (sinful) criticism/judgement before.
When finished, I will tuck this book in our pastor’s mailbox with no expectations- just to say I thought it was important and helpful.With no particular predictions, I’m more hopeful now about God’s Church than I have been in a long time, and that’s exciting!
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A Reader Writes: The Book I have Been Waiting for Since 1998
Hey Brian, "Everything Must Change" is the book I have waiting for since 1998 when I first became serious about following Jesus. I kept asking the question “why aren’t Christian communities teaching us to follow the teachings of Jesus?”. Every community I engaged with was fine with worshiping Jesus but when I asked questions about his teachings concerning the Sermon on the Mount, the answers were, “it’s impossible”, “he did not mean it”, "he was just showing us how sinful we are”,…etc. But I could never get on board with those answers, so I have felt like an outsider in my own community(s) Methodist, Catholic, baptist, Presbyterian, Non-Denominational. See I’ve personally encountered the Love of God through Jesus and I don’t recognize the Jesus taught in popular culture or mainstream denomination's, they all find ways to dismiss the Gospel teachings, Paul and [other parts of the Bible] seem to dominate the conversations and the pastors seem more popular that Jesus (it really disconcerting). My hunger for more teachings on Jesus led me to Richard Rohr, Rob Bell, John Pavlovitz and now you Sir. I think your book is brilliant, I have almost highlighted the entire book. It is prophetic: you call out the “powers that be”, structural and individual and then you counter the dominant narrative with the teachings of Jesus - the Jesus I recognize, the Jesus I encountered in 1998, the Jesus I have been following all these years, the Jesus who told us to build our life foundation on his teachings. Thank you.
It took me awhile to finish the book because I would have to stop and re-read certain points- and say to myself “he’s right, why don’t more people get this”. You connected a lot of dots for me, you put word to what I knew but could not articulate. After the first reading, I was perplexed as to why this book is not standard reading for all Christians, but then I realized that messages that shake up the status quo and hold up a mirror for a society blinded by power, prosperity and possessions will never be popular. I prophet is never popular in his/her own culture.
Again I just want to say thank you for letting Jesus use you like that. You book is a gift, a light in the world, salt to the earth.
Thanks for these encouraging words! It's hard to believe that Everything Must Change came out over 16 years ago ...
My next book will be a kind of sequel to Everything Must Change. It will be out in May of 2024, and is called Life After Doom: Coming Together When Worlds Fall Apart. You'll find information here: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250893277/life-after-doom
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Our New Children’s Book! Order now – ships mid-October
My coauthor Gareth Higgins and I are happy to announce that Cory and the Seventh Story will be available in October!
Here's the book's description:
A beautifully illustrated children’s book that shows us all how to find a new way forward in a world that can be scary for kids and adults alike, from the acclaimed author of Faith After Doubt and the beloved storyteller behind How Not to be Afraid.
Cory the raccoon and Cory’s best friend Owl love their happy, peaceful village and want to keep it that way. But things begin to change for the worse when some of their neighbors, including Badger, Fox, and Weasel, become fierce and angry critters who fight and bully others in the village, driving away those who they deem "dirty and bad."
It breaks Cory and Owl's hearts to see their village filled with anger, fear, and fighting -- but what can they do? A wise visitor named Switfhorse arrives and helps Cory and Owl understand six old stories that explain what is happening:
The story of power to dominate,
the story of striking back with fury and hate,
the story of running to find a safe place,
or pointing at others to shame and disgrace,
or being stuck in self-pity for the pain we’ve been through,
or of me having more Shiny Objects than you.
Finally, Cory and Owl find a way to reunite all of the villagers through a new story—the seventh story—where the story is peace and the hero is love! Children and parents alike will delight in this hope-filled tale that teaches us how we can all extend peace, love, and laughter to everyone we meet.
Many of you may have enjoyed the self-published version that came out several years ago. The new edition, from Penguin Random House, is a bit shorter and has new illustrations. We think you'll love it ... whatever your age.
Here's ordering information: https://sites.prh.com/cory-and-the-seventh-story
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