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  • I would highly suggest the 9 Marks series of books aimed at building healthy churches (and church members). Even if you are not Reformed (as I am not - I tend to call myself not a 5-point Calvinist, but perhaps a 2 or 3 point :) there is a wealth of wisdom put into these titles, food for thought, and they are great discussion starters. Here's a link.

    And if it would not work to have these titles in your library, try to find another organization or book series that specifically speaks to healthy, gospel-centered churches and discipleship. Encourge church members to consider the "why" and "how" of church and Christian living, not just the "what". For example, if the "what" is a weekly prayer meeting, then find books on the "why" and "how" regarding that gathering. Do the same for communion, musical worship, children's ministry, etc.

    Perhaps even consider doing specific displays of books that speak to the various sacrements and ministries in which the church members participate. For example, when I was leading mission trips I would have my team members read "When Helping Hurts" (SUCH a good book that makes you THINK) alongside histories, language studies, and cultural books regarding the country we would be visiting. You could coordinate something like this with the leaders of any upcoming trips. You could also find out in advance what any VBS themes will be, and create family-friendly displays with various activities and reads that will compliment what they will be learning that week. You could do a display of books about communion or baptism and work with the pastor to promote them before and after each of those sacrements are performed. 

    It's so easy to take the things that are already occuring in the life of the church and use them as a starting point. A church member may have been leading musical worship for years without ever thinking about "why" the songs are chosen, "how" they should be sung, "why" musical worship happens or "how" it glorifies God. The congregants may have been singing along and never considered those quesitons, either. Your church may have been singing "It Is Well With My Soul" or the Doxology and never stopped to consider the history or theological implications of those hymns. 

    Our walk with Jesus grows deeper and richer when we only take a moment to think, ask questions, and seek more answers. It's the librarian's job to help make some of those answers visible and available through solid teaching and writing based on the Word of God. 

     

    Building Healthy Churches, 16 Volumes
    When it comes to building a thriving congregation, there are many factors to consider---membership, evangelism, worship, expositional preaching, the…
  • On the front of our church bulletin, below the church name, it says: "Developing fully devoted followers of Christ."  We have adapted this to make our library's  purpose "Equipping fully devoted followers of Christ", and we seek to have many books which are good resources in helping our people to be well-prepared to live as Christians in this rapidly changing world.  This does not mean, however, that all our books are non-fiction. Far from it!  We believe that being a follower of Christ not only means being well-taught in spiritual disciplines, but also to know how to read well; to think intelligently; to evaluate what is happening around us, what we read, what we hear...from a Biblical worldview; to learn to see spiritual truth in anything we read, whether it was put there on purpose or not.  So in our library, we have a wide variety of books and other materials (which meet different tastes) to encourage this kind of learning, and in our newsletters and conversations we often encourage our users to grow in their walk with Christ through all kinds of reading.

    I believe that as so many ideas and philosophies are changing so often and so rapidly these days, the church library needs to be a resource where church members can find materials  to help them make sense of it all.  Admittedly this is not easy, as it requires research and reading on the part of the librarian(s), but I feel the weight of it more and more these days.  Of course many people will not take advantage of these resources but some will, and it's important to have them for those who want to understand better.

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