This summer, we'll be reading through three of Paul's letters together:

• 1 Corinthians

• 2 Corinthians

• Philippians

The Good Book Club - an offering of Forward Movement - is simple. You can follow the reading list online or follow along with your own Bible at home. There is an online component and we will meet in person on select Sundays. Please let Fr. Anthony know if you are interested and for more information.

Online Bible Study - Thursdays at 3pm ET. Mark your calendars for our summer Bible study, where we'll wrestle with Paul's words and look for the blessing in them. Hosted by Miriam McKenney (Missioner for Beloved Community, Diocese of Southern Ohio) and theRev. Kelli Joyce (PhD candidate in Theology at Vanderbilt University).

Our first Bible Study will be on Thursday, June 11. 
Click here to access the Microsoft Teams meeting.

 If you click on the link below for the online reading list, you can also subscribe to the list and receive weekly reminders of the reading with an accompanying video. These weekly emails will come out on Wednesday and preview the readings for the following week.

Online reading list

Here is a sample of next week's session:

1 Corinthians 9-11

Reflection by Miriam Willard McKenney
 

Don’t you know that all the runners in the stadium run, but only one gets the prize? So run to win. Everyone who competes practices self-discipline in everything. The runners do this to get a crown of leaves that shrivel up and die, but we do it to receive a crown that never dies. (1 Corinthians 9:24-25)

For the last couple of weeks, we’ve heard Paul set the Corinthians straight about what they believe and what the Gospel says about it. He spends a lot of time talking about what they should and shouldn’t do with their bodies. Wow, that seems awfully personal, we might think in this day and age. But when he used this running analogy, my ears perked up.

After leading a stereotypical bookish life as a librarian who didn’t get much physical activity, I took up running in my 40s. I wasn’t someone people would say looked like a runner in many ways, such as size or speed. But when I commit to something, I typically go all in. You could find me outside all year long, most days of the week, no matter the weather, unless it was unsafe. The cold and rain didn’t stop me. Soon, I began to train for 5K races. Then 10Ks. My husband started to go with me. Other friends joined me for walks. Then I did a 15K! I was a running and walking evangelist until I lost my mobility in 2020. Thankfully, I've regained it, and I'm on the road to running again.

What would it be like to apply this passion for running and the care for my body to my faith? Running and walking are disciplines, to be sure. And while I wasn't competing with anyone but myself, I think I understand what Paul is saying here. If you’re going to put yourself out here in the world as a follower of Jesus, go all in. Help others see you as an example. Do it in a way that you are competing for a prize, a prize that you are, in fact, the only one who will win, but it’s as if you are.

Applying these principles to whatever way you are being a Christian will show the people around you who you are and who you follow, and that following Jesus requires you to live your life with particular standards. Taking care of your body as a child of God is not always easy. The easy thing is not to get it right. But it is, without question, worth doing, just like following Jesus.

Watch

Last week I couldn't decide which video to share with you, and decided to go with the BibleProject video. This one is good too! I also love the reference of other scripture you can refer back to for backstory. Both of these are youth group appropriate. 

Watch the video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiHf8klCCc4&t=2s

BibleProject is back with a very informative video about 1 Corinthians! You’re encouraged to get the backstory by reading Acts 18, and learn how this letter is broken down into five sections. If you went to seminary this will be old news but if like me, you didn’t, you’ll learn some things and be prepared for the readings to come. Even if you did go to school and learn about scripture, I hope you’ll think the drawings are cool!

Book of 1 Corinthians Summary: A Complete Animated Overview (from the Bible Project)

Pray

Almighty God, you sent your Son Jesus Christ to reconcile the world to yourself: We praise and bless you for those whom you have sent in the power of the Spirit to preach the Gospel to all nations. We thank you that in all parts of the earth a community of love has been gathered together by their prayers and labors, and that in every place your servants call upon your Name; for the kingdom and the power and the glory are yours for ever. Amen.
(Book of Common Prayer, p. 838)

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