Book 5 of 2017 -- Journey: A Quest for Canadian Gold

This is one of the books I picked up while in the used bookstore back in February. When I saw it lying on the coffee table it seemed a nice light read with which to start vacation.

I have not read a James Michener book for decades. And for Michener this one is tiny. Not a grand look at the history of a place, just a tale of one group of people over two years as they travel from London to the Klondike gold fields.

I was right. It was a nice light read. As much a study in character as a narrative, but one that really draws the reader in.  I finished it n Saturday and all Sunday afternoon there were scenes that kept jumping into my mind...

Turns out this story is one that was originally conceived when Michener was writing his novel Alaska but was cut from that volume both for space reasons and because it really doesn't fit.  After all the guiding principle used by the British noble leading the expedition down the Mackenzie in this work is to get to Dawson City without setting foot on US soil.

TO say more would lead to giving spoilers.  And even though the book is almost 30 years old I don't want to give spoilers. SO I will content myself with recommending it as a good read (if it is possible to still find it that is).

Book 4 of 2017 Bullseye: Aiming to Follow Jesus

During his term as President of Alberta and Northwest Conference Rev. Paul Walfall encouraged/challenged the church to enter an intentional discussion about evangelism.  The Conference website has a number of articles related to that challenge here
.

As a result of this conversation the Conference bought a copy of this book for every congregation.

And I am glad they did. Maybe.

I liked much of what Holtom and Johnson had to say. And I saw lots of possibilities. But to move from possibility to action requires work. At teh same time we are planning some sort of Needs Assessment/Congregational Visioning/"What are we all about?" discussion in the fall so maybe there is stuff here that can be mixed in there. Indeed, as I was finishing the book this afternoon some questions were forming in my mind that could (should?) be included as part of this discussion.

Of course one of the markers is Giving Generously and another one is Serving and we are already planning something around Stewardship for the fall so there are a couple areas of overlap. [The other four markers are: Using Spiritual Practices, Worshipping Together Weekly, Discovering Authentic Community, and Sharing Christ.]

In the end, as with much around congregational development, this is a book that needs to be read by more people in a congregation than the person in paid ministry. It needs to be shared by a core group of leaders.  I wonder how I can make that happen....