FLC Book Club

 

We are a ministry group of Faith Lutheran Church founded in 2007. This year (2024-2025) is the seventeenth year of our existence. Friends of members and community neighbors are welcome to join!  We read an in-common book ahead of the meeting date. Come and enjoy the fun; join in on the discussion as much or as little as you wish … we want you to feel comfortable! 

 

We usually meet at 2 p.m. the third Tuesday of the month in the Faith Lutheran Church Youth Room. Our meetings are in September, October, and November, and then again in the winter/spring months of January through May.  We don’t meet in December, or during the summer.

 

At our meeting in May, we join for "Dessert and Decisions" at which time we review summaries of candidate titles for next year and vote to choose the seven that will constitute our upcoming schedule. Information about each month's title is given in the monthly Beacon of Faith (available in paper form from the church office or download it here).  Orders are taken for used copies which are then purchased by the leaders through the online services of Amazon.com and Thriftbooks.  These used copies are usually in the $4-$8 range and payment is made to the co-directors.  Ordered copies are delivered to book club members at the monthly meeting ahead of the scheduled discussion of the book. If members wish, they are welcome to secure copies from public libraries, bookstores or other locations.

Co-leaders are Faith members Marilyn Wilson and Steve Thompson.  Marilyn is a former middle school language arts teacher and Steve is a former high school English teacher and college professor.  Reach Marilyn at (330) 608-8817, marsiewilson7@gmail.com, and Steve at (330) 666-5065, st53024@yahoo.com.  Steve and Marilyn lead the book club discussions.  Other members are invited to lead the monthly discussion groups when they are inclined to do so, but that is not required!   

We meet because we all like to read and share our responses to what we’ve read.  We think that happens best when there is a warm and accepting welcome for everyone’s point of view.  Hearing and considering multiple “takes” on a book enriches everyone.  However, just coming, sitting, and listening is ok, too.  Above all, we want everyone to leave a book discussion feeling that they’ve had a good time with friends! 

 

Our further hope is that our choice of in-common books is based on these factors:  that a book inspires our better nature … that it uplifts our spirits.  That doesn’t mean that a book has to have a happy ending!  But rather that it puts us in touch with characters and events that give us hope and encourages us to lead grace-filled lives.  Books thus chosen are likely to be well written:  the dialogue sounds like the conversations we hear real people have;  the characters are multi-dimensional;  the plots are usually linear in time and are not multi-layered;  the descriptions amaze our senses;  and we don’t have to worry about extensive and gratuitous unbecoming language and situations!  Overall, there’s a truthfulness and authenticity in the narrative, which, although hard to quantify, is discerned by heart and mind.  These factors can be found in fiction and non-fiction alike.    

     

We hope to see you at our next meeting.  We have a chair waiting for you!