Christians in Action Book Club
Do you love to read? Do you like to have conversations about the books you read? Has a book (other than the Bible) strengthened your faith? One of the hopes we have for Christians in Action Ministry is to build relationships. With this in mind the CIA Book Club has formed. Books are a mix of fiction and non-fiction. We meet the last Tuesday of the month at 7pm over Zoom. Everyone is welcome at all discussions.
To join the Book Club click HERE and fill out the short form!
To join the Book Club click HERE and fill out the short form!
Book of the Month for May - Discussion 5/26 @ 7pm
"Everything is Tuberculosis" by John Green - guest speaker, Dr. Kevin Urdahl to join us!
Tuberculosis has been entwined with humanity for millennia. Once romanticized as a malady of poets, today tuberculosis is seen as a disease of poverty that walks the trails of injustice and inequity we blazed for it. In 2019, author John Green met Henry Reider, a young tuberculosis patient at Lakka Government Hospital in Sierra Leone. John became fast friends with Henry, a boy with spindly legs and a big, goofy smile. In the years since that first visit to Lakka, Green has become a vocal advocate for increased access to treatment and wider awareness of the healthcare inequities that allow this curable, preventable infectious disease to also be the deadliest, killing over a million people every year. In Everything Is Tuberculosis, John tells Henry’s story, woven through with the scientific and social histories of how tuberculosis has shaped our world—and how our choices will shape the future of tuberculosis.
Dr. Kevin Urdahl (who grew up in Jamestown), is the attending physician in Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Seattle Children’s Hospital. He will join our conversation. He has been researching tuberculosis for almost 30 years and will add his expertise to our conversation!
Click the image of this month's book to order from Amazon.com (available in ebook and audiobook as well)
Tuberculosis has been entwined with humanity for millennia. Once romanticized as a malady of poets, today tuberculosis is seen as a disease of poverty that walks the trails of injustice and inequity we blazed for it. In 2019, author John Green met Henry Reider, a young tuberculosis patient at Lakka Government Hospital in Sierra Leone. John became fast friends with Henry, a boy with spindly legs and a big, goofy smile. In the years since that first visit to Lakka, Green has become a vocal advocate for increased access to treatment and wider awareness of the healthcare inequities that allow this curable, preventable infectious disease to also be the deadliest, killing over a million people every year. In Everything Is Tuberculosis, John tells Henry’s story, woven through with the scientific and social histories of how tuberculosis has shaped our world—and how our choices will shape the future of tuberculosis.
Dr. Kevin Urdahl (who grew up in Jamestown), is the attending physician in Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Seattle Children’s Hospital. He will join our conversation. He has been researching tuberculosis for almost 30 years and will add his expertise to our conversation!
Click the image of this month's book to order from Amazon.com (available in ebook and audiobook as well)
Book of the Month for June - Discussion 6/30 @ 7pm
"Ask Me for a Blessing" by Adrian Dannhauser
Once a week Episcopal priest Adrian Dannhauser stands outside her Manhattan church beside a chalkboard sign that reads "Ask me for a blessing (because God knows you need one)." Passersby stop, chat, and ask for prayer: for a sick friend, an addicted son, an upcoming job interview, the state of our nation, or the grief of our world. Bus drivers sometimes open their doors for a quick prayer before the light turns green, and someone once took her to meet their doorman so she could bless him too. Half of those who stop are in crisis. Someone always cries. A few are simply curious.
Through the heartfelt, frank, and sincere stories of her unique ministry, Dannhauser offers glimpses into the tender, holy, and sometimes hilarious moments of sidewalk prayers. With a potent blend of reverence and irreverence, as well as insights from Christian scriptures, she delves into the power that ancient ideas--blessing, forgiveness, miracles, and prayer--hold in a disenchanted world. For people of Christian faith, other faiths, or no faith at all, having spiritual conversations, even awkward ones with strangers on the street, can help us face our vulnerability, where we may discover a grace sufficient for all.
Click the image of this month's book to order from Amazon.com (available in ebook and audiobook as well)
Once a week Episcopal priest Adrian Dannhauser stands outside her Manhattan church beside a chalkboard sign that reads "Ask me for a blessing (because God knows you need one)." Passersby stop, chat, and ask for prayer: for a sick friend, an addicted son, an upcoming job interview, the state of our nation, or the grief of our world. Bus drivers sometimes open their doors for a quick prayer before the light turns green, and someone once took her to meet their doorman so she could bless him too. Half of those who stop are in crisis. Someone always cries. A few are simply curious.
Through the heartfelt, frank, and sincere stories of her unique ministry, Dannhauser offers glimpses into the tender, holy, and sometimes hilarious moments of sidewalk prayers. With a potent blend of reverence and irreverence, as well as insights from Christian scriptures, she delves into the power that ancient ideas--blessing, forgiveness, miracles, and prayer--hold in a disenchanted world. For people of Christian faith, other faiths, or no faith at all, having spiritual conversations, even awkward ones with strangers on the street, can help us face our vulnerability, where we may discover a grace sufficient for all.
Click the image of this month's book to order from Amazon.com (available in ebook and audiobook as well)
"The Sun Does Shine" by Anthony Ray Hinton
In 1985, Anthony Ray Hinton was arrested and charged with two counts of capital murder in Alabama. Stunned, confused, and only twenty-nine years old, Hinton knew that it was a case of mistaken identity and believed that the truth would prove his innocence and ultimately set him free. But with no money and a different system of justice for a poor black man in the South, Hinton was sentenced to death by electrocution. He spent his first three years on Death Row at Holman State Prison in agonizing silence―full of despair and anger toward all those who had sent an innocent man to his death. But as Hinton realized and accepted his fate, he resolved not only to survive, but find a way to live on Death Row. For the next twenty-seven years he was a beacon―transforming not only his own spirit, but those of his fellow inmates, fifty-four of whom were executed mere feet from his cell. With the help of civil rights attorney and bestselling author of Just Mercy, Bryan Stevenson, Hinton won his release in 2015.
Click the image of this month's book to order from Amazon.com (available in hardback, ebook, and audiobook as well)
In 1985, Anthony Ray Hinton was arrested and charged with two counts of capital murder in Alabama. Stunned, confused, and only twenty-nine years old, Hinton knew that it was a case of mistaken identity and believed that the truth would prove his innocence and ultimately set him free. But with no money and a different system of justice for a poor black man in the South, Hinton was sentenced to death by electrocution. He spent his first three years on Death Row at Holman State Prison in agonizing silence―full of despair and anger toward all those who had sent an innocent man to his death. But as Hinton realized and accepted his fate, he resolved not only to survive, but find a way to live on Death Row. For the next twenty-seven years he was a beacon―transforming not only his own spirit, but those of his fellow inmates, fifty-four of whom were executed mere feet from his cell. With the help of civil rights attorney and bestselling author of Just Mercy, Bryan Stevenson, Hinton won his release in 2015.
Click the image of this month's book to order from Amazon.com (available in hardback, ebook, and audiobook as well)
Upcoming Books - dates to be determined
The Journey of God, by UJ Professor Jonathan Lyonhart
An exploration into the rich tapestry of Christianity, designed to captivate both mind and soul. The Journey of God transcends traditional theology writing, weaving a compelling narrative that journeys through the six pivotal acts of the Christian story―Creation, Fall, Nation, Redemption, Church, and End. Each chapter unfurls as part novel, part sermon, and part philosophical inquiry, challenging readers to engage with deep theological questions in the order they naturally arise.
Click the image of this month's book to order from Amazon.com (available in ebook and audiobook as well)
An exploration into the rich tapestry of Christianity, designed to captivate both mind and soul. The Journey of God transcends traditional theology writing, weaving a compelling narrative that journeys through the six pivotal acts of the Christian story―Creation, Fall, Nation, Redemption, Church, and End. Each chapter unfurls as part novel, part sermon, and part philosophical inquiry, challenging readers to engage with deep theological questions in the order they naturally arise.
Click the image of this month's book to order from Amazon.com (available in ebook and audiobook as well)
Previous Books we've read together:
March 2026 - "The Correspondent" by Virginia Evans
January 2026 - "The Screwtape Letters" by C.S. Lewis
December 2025 - "The Serviceberry" by Robin Wall Kimmerer
November 2025 - "The Lemon Tree" by Sandy Tolan
October 2025 - "Peace By Chocolate" by Jon Tattrie
September 2025 - "The Small and the Mighty by Sharon McMahon
August 2025 - "The Hiding Place" by Corrie TenBoom
July 2025 - "Tiny Habits" by BJ Fogg PhD
June 2025 - "A is for Alabaster" by Anna Carter Florence
May 2025 - “A Witness: The Haiti Earthquake, a Song, Death, and Resurrection” by Renee Splichal Larson
April 2025 - “The Measure” by Nikki Erlick
March 2025 - “The Collected Regrets of Clover” by Mikki Brammer
February 2025 - “Where God Meets Man” by Gerhard O. Forde
January 2025 - “The Day the World Came to Town” by Jim DeFede
December 2024 - "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens
November 2024 - "Help, Thanks, Wow: The Three Essential Prayers” by Anne Lamott
October 2024 - "The Man in the Dog Park" by Cathy A. Small
September 2024 - "Love Without Limits" by Jacqueline A Bussie
August 2024 - "Who Told You That" by Laurie Etta Niell
July 2024 - "What is the Bible" by Rob Bell
June 2024 - "Love is the Way: Holding on to Hope in Troubling Times” by Bishop Michael Curry
May 2024 - "Ask Me for a Blessing (You Know You Need One)" by Adrian Dannhauser
March 2026 - "The Correspondent" by Virginia Evans
January 2026 - "The Screwtape Letters" by C.S. Lewis
December 2025 - "The Serviceberry" by Robin Wall Kimmerer
November 2025 - "The Lemon Tree" by Sandy Tolan
October 2025 - "Peace By Chocolate" by Jon Tattrie
September 2025 - "The Small and the Mighty by Sharon McMahon
August 2025 - "The Hiding Place" by Corrie TenBoom
July 2025 - "Tiny Habits" by BJ Fogg PhD
June 2025 - "A is for Alabaster" by Anna Carter Florence
May 2025 - “A Witness: The Haiti Earthquake, a Song, Death, and Resurrection” by Renee Splichal Larson
April 2025 - “The Measure” by Nikki Erlick
March 2025 - “The Collected Regrets of Clover” by Mikki Brammer
February 2025 - “Where God Meets Man” by Gerhard O. Forde
January 2025 - “The Day the World Came to Town” by Jim DeFede
December 2024 - "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens
November 2024 - "Help, Thanks, Wow: The Three Essential Prayers” by Anne Lamott
October 2024 - "The Man in the Dog Park" by Cathy A. Small
September 2024 - "Love Without Limits" by Jacqueline A Bussie
August 2024 - "Who Told You That" by Laurie Etta Niell
July 2024 - "What is the Bible" by Rob Bell
June 2024 - "Love is the Way: Holding on to Hope in Troubling Times” by Bishop Michael Curry
May 2024 - "Ask Me for a Blessing (You Know You Need One)" by Adrian Dannhauser