Before I Disconnect: Holiday Reading Lists and What's Coming Next
Paul Kingsnorth nearly convinced me to join an Amish commune. Instead, I'm just taking a few weeks off.
Hey friends, thank you for reading along with me as I think and write about children’s ministry, faith formation, and the intersection of theology, sociology and ministry practice. I pray that the articles written, books reviewed, and conversations had on Shock Absorber and Crossformed KidMin podcasts are a blessing to your ministry.
This week, I am getting ready for Soul Revival Church’s ‘Week Away’, our church holiday where members from each of our congregations come along to spend a week(ish) hearing from God’s word, living in community, and sharing life. After that, I am taking a couple of weeks’ leave and intend to disconnect from the digital world.
(Having just finished Paul Kingsnorth’s excellent Against the Machine, I’m tempted to disconnect from the digital world entirely and join an Amish commune, but that is a far less realistic goal!)
While I’m off-grid, I thought I’d leave us both with some holiday reading and some articles that I anticipate coming back with in a few weeks.
Upcoming Articles and Reviews
LEAVING THE CHURCH: Ruth Lukabyo from Youthworks College recently presented her research on ‘When Young People Leave the Church: Understanding Disaffiliation and Rebuilding Pathways of Faith’. There were several fascinating insights into the faith lives of young adults and their experiences of church. However, I have some lingering questions which I hope to explore in a longer post.
GIRLS®: As well as Kingsnorth’s book, I also recently finished Freya India’s Girls®: Gen Z And The Commodification of Everything. While this is not typical of the books I read to review, it was a compelling case against the digital lives that our young girls face and the damage that is being wrought. So, while not directly related to faith formation in children’s ministry, the deformation that comes from the online world needs to be taken seriously, and the church (when done right) plays a significant role in providing a captivating community of counter-formation.
Holiday Reading List For Me
Here’s the current pile of books that sits under my computer monitor, distracting me from what I am currently doing with the anticipation of what I still have to discover. Amongst the holiday reads, future review projects, and ‘caught-my-eye’ finds, I may even read some of these titles during my time off. (Since taking the photo, I’ve also added the 600 page beast by Iain McGilchrist, The Master and His Emissary!)
Is there something else I should add to my holiday reading list?
Let me know in the comments below.
Holiday Reading List For You
Finally, I’ll leave you with a few articles by other voices on Substack that I enjoy. If you like what you read, give the authors some love by liking and sharing their posts.
School of the Unconformed | The Sacred Triad: Where (and why) to draw the AI-mish line
Kyle Strobel | Stop Trying to Be Passionate...it is killing your faith
Whether you’re on summer vacation up north, or shivering through the winter break like I am down under, that should be plenty to keep us all going. See you on the other side.