Lent Reading for 2025 

As Lent and Easter come, so we are called to prepare ourselves.  Why not seek to embrace a pattern of studying, spiritual or prayerful structure during the season of Lent, guided by some helpful reading?  Whether you consider yourself as a committed Christian, or you are seeking to be so, here are some choices for you.  Amongst these titles are offerings of prayer, biblical studies and spiritual life - there is truly something for everyone.  

All of these books are available to purchase online, or can be order from our local retailers.  Many suppliers are available, but you may find this suggestion of online Christian bookshops helpful.  If you prefer, you may also let the Parish office know who can then order you a copy of your choice.  

	How to Eat Bread Miranda Threlfall-Holmes Church ministers are used to being asked to recommend a book on how and why to read the Bible.  It's not always that easy to answer.  There has been a need for an accessible book to fill the gap between popular Bible reading notes and more academic books.  How to Eat Bread seeks to fill that gap, for anyone wanting to explore the Bible as part of their faith journey, to those seeking to understand.   This is one of two books which will be included in our Lent Course for 2025 - God's Good Words.
	How to Read the Bible for All It’s Worth Stuart, Douglas, Fee, Gordon D. How to Read the Bible has been in constant print for more than twenty years.  In this classic guide to bible study, the authors explore the genres of literature to be found in the Old and New Testaments.  A few essential insights into the Bible can clear up a lot of misconceptions and help you grasp the meaning of Scripture and its application to your 21st-century life.  This is one of two books which will be included in our Lent Course for 2025 - God's Good Words.
	Lent and Easter for Everyone Tom Wright As part of his well known and established 'For Everyone' series, this is a thorough yet accessible read for those wanting to explore the detail and character of the approach to Easter and it's tumultuous events.  As with all Tom Wright books, he uses the familiar and the amazing to provide thought-provoking reading.  A book of quality and quantity, for seasons of great important to Christians.
	And Yet Rachel Newman In a life full of highs and lows, choice and challenges, the words ‘and yet’ can change everything. We are surrounded by darkness and yet there is light. We feel we are lacking and yet God provides. We are broken and bruised and yet there is hope.  In the depths of depression and plagued with suicidal thoughts, the author ever thought she’d find herself writing a book on joy.  And yet, if her journey with mental health illness has taught her anything it is that true, deep, lasting joy can only be experienced when we allow ourselves to enter into lament and be honest about our pain before God.
	Heresies and How to Avoid Them Ben Quash and Ben Wards A throughout-going and quite challenging read which seeks to lay out all the ways in which Christ, humanity and the Holy Trinity has been understood in history.  Quash and Ward are academic theologians, who present to us the many seemingly rational presentations of Christ alongside the miraculous mysteries for our faith, with clear explanations as to why we say all the things we do about Jesus in the Christian creed we have held for 1,700 years.  A real brain exerciser for Lent.
	The Surprising Rebirth of Faith in God Justin Brierley Justin Brierley is the host of the popular radio show and podcast 'Unbelievable?'  In this very popular an influential book, Brierly outlines the dramatic fall of New Atheism and the birth of a new conversation on whether God makes sense of science, history, culture, and the search for meaning.  This work is very readable, as it sets out the effects of society, truth and our reliance on morality and authority.  What emerges is an return to our Christian heritage and the society that it has shaped for most of modern history.
	Humber Church Bigger God Sam Wells In what is probably his most influential book, Sam Wells has established himself as the one of the most prominent voices in the Church of England today.  Wells explores the key tenets of Christian belief by engaging with the most widely used arguments against religious faith - that it's a crutch for the deluded, a fairy tale for the simple minded, the cause of so many wars, a drug for the poor, powerless against suffering, one path among many, and so on.
	Tis Mercy All Natalie Williams In a world of polarising politics, cancel culture and social media virtue signalling, we risk losing any sense of what it means to have mercy.  And yet Jesus calls us to 'be merciful, just as your Father is merciful' (Luke 6.36).  In this thoughtful and practical book, Natalie Williams explores what it means to be a true mercy-bringer.  First, we need to develop a deep appreciation of the mercy of God, which is more astonishing than we dare to believe.