A small group from our study (pictured: Laura Patterson, Kristen Sanders, Leanna Granillo, Katie Scott, Laurie Scott, Jeane Jones, and Becky Jolly) attended the Women’s Connection Conference Keynote Session at Montreat this past weekend to meet and hear Kate Bowler speak more about her book, her faith, her fears, and her hope found through God’s presence with her in her brokenness.

This spring our Young Ladies Book Study read the best selling book, Everything Happens for a Reason and Other Lies I’ve Loved by Kate Bowler. Kate is a theologian and professor of Church History at Duke Divinity School. The book chronicles Kate’s faith journey through stage IV cancer diagnosis when “ the prospect of her own mortality forces Kate to realize that she has been tacitly subscribing to the prosperity gospel, living with the conviction that she can control the shape of her life with ‘a surge of determination.’”

This book nurtured meaningful conversation for our group about what parts of the American prosperity gospel/American dream we also subscribe to even as our Presbyterian faith and theology calls us to believe something different about God and our lives as God’s children. As Kate says in her book, “God is here. We are loved. It is enough.”  We cannot recommend this book enough:

Click here to purchase the book.

If you would like to join the Young Ladies Book Study in reading A Year of Biblical Womanhood by Rachel Held Evans this fall, please contact Katie Scott by email or 724-991-1958).

The first meeting will be Sunday, September 9 at 7:00 p.m.at Katie’s house.

As always, “young” is a self-determined status. You/All are welcome to join this group!

Click here to purchase September’s read.