Beginning in September, we'll be reading Take this Bread by Sara Miles.

Linda Post Bushkofsky from the WELCA wrote this review of the book: "I thought this was going to be yet another memoir of a California-based journalist who finds religion and becomes an Episcopalian. There’ve been a lot of those. It was this, but then so much more. Miles’s faith is grounded in the Eucharist, the table to which Jesus invites all. Since she wasn’t raised in the faith, Miles doesn’t get bogged down in rituals and pretense, like so many cradle Christians do, and instead lives the Gospel and creates church – communion – in a food bank that serves all, without question."

The "live" blog will begin at 7 p.m. on Thursday, September 16 and will cover Chapters 1-9; Chapters 10-17 on October 21 and finish with Chapters 18-25 on November 18. If you have any questions about the blog, please contact Kim Shindle at kimstamps@comcast.net.

As I finished this book, I was struck by something profound Nora says in the chapter, Pentecost. As they prepare for their workshop on homosexuality, Mark, their priest questions where the church as been as people grapple with divorce, birth control, homosexuality and other issues. And both Mark and Nora suggest this is how the church has become irrelevant in so many people's lives. Because it is "standing on the sidelines or insisting on rigid standards while a whole generation dealt with sudden sexual liberation and confusion." I think this is a fascinating observation. And the process as this church tries to decide whether to call a homosexual pastor is another issue churches grapple with as well.