Each month the Affect magazine offers a book related to the topic being studied.  Reading group study guides are available each month to help lead group discussions about the book and its relationship to the missional topic of the month. 

View reading group selections for September 2008-August 2009.


Upcoming books:

September 2009
  • In Three Cups of Tea (Penguin Books, 2006), Reading Groups will discover the powerful story of Greg Mortenson, an ordinary man
    who has sought to bring change and peace to the remotest and poorest parts of Pakistan. By establishing schools, particularly for girls, he has made a lasting difference in this region.
  • Download a copy of the reading group study guide for September.
October 2009
  • In his book, Loving Monday (InterVarsity Press, 2006), John Beckett offers a model for incorporating the Bible into professional business practices.  This book recounts Beckett's own story of establishing a business that balances financial success with the Christian life.  Beckett begins by describing his personal model of a Christian business and then suggests how those in business can integrate biblical practices into their profession.
  • Download a copy of the reading group study guide for October.
November 2009
  • The book recommended for Affect’s November “In Reading Groups” has been helpful to many in better understanding the Chinese Protestant Church; however, some of the book's content does not reflect the strategy of the Fellowship's work in China. While it is illustrative of some Christians’ experience in China ,the following books offer a perspective more in keeping with the Fellowship’s stated strategy for working with the China Christian Council.
    • Daniel Bays, ed., Christianity in China from the Eighteenth Century to the Present, Stanford University Press (1999)
    • Tony Lambert, China's Christian Millions, Monarch Books (2006)
    • Britt Towery, Christianity in Today's China, 1st Books Library (2000)
December 2009
  • Banker to the Poor (Perseus Publishing, 2003), by Muhammed Yunus, shares the inspiring story of his micro-lending venture in Bangladesh. Yunus, founder of the Grameen Bank and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, shares how a simple loan grew into a world-wide effort to eradicate poverty through microenterprise.
  • Download a copy of the reading guide for December.
January 2010
  • Robert D. Lupton, in Theirs is the Kingdom: Celebrating the Gospel in Urban America, addresses issues of urban poverty in a compelling and provocative collection of personal experiences. Through his uplifting storytelling, Lupton breaks down barriers and assumptions about the urban poor. Lupton's honesty about his own biases toward others who are different from himself is revealed in this account of living alongside the urban poor.
  • Download a copy of the reading guide for January.
February 2010
  • In Blue Hole Back Home, Joy Jordan Lake tells the story of Farsanna, a Sri Lankan girl who moves to the Applachain Mountains. The narrator recounts how the lives of Farsanna and everyone in her town are changed by the arrival of a Muslim family to their small, xenophobic community.
  • Download a copy of the reading guide for February.
 March 2010
  • Alice Walker's acclaimed novel, The Color Purple, tells the story of Celie, a young African-American woman living in Georgia in the 1930s. Celie embarks on a painful search for God, family, love, and hope. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award, The Color Purple gives an unapologetic account of a young woman growing up in rural poverty who is surrounded by the cruelties of racism, sexism, and violence.
  • Download a copy of the reading guide for March.

 

Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, 2930 Flowers Road South Suite 133 Atlanta, GA 30341
800.352.8741
contact@thefellowship.info