Reading Group Schedule

Summer 2022:

Book: Love Your Enemies: How Decent People Can Save America from the Culture of Contempt by Arthur C. Brooks.

One of the most discussed challenges in contemporary American life is the degree of social and political polarization that we experience daily and our inability to overcome it. While people of various political persuasions observe this trend, ways to remedy it are hard to come by. In the Bible, we read words of Jesus like “love your enemies” and “blessed are the peacemakers,” which offer helpful wisdom and a way forward. This summer, PBLCLS will be hosting a book study of Love Your Enemies: How Decent People Can Save America from the Culture of Contempt, written by Arthur C. Brooks, William Henry Bloomberg Professor of the Practice of Public Leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School and Professor of Management Practice at the Harvard Business School. Our hope is that this study will give us tools to help bridge the many divides that we experience each day.

Summer 2021:

Book: Divided We Fall – America’s Secession Threat and How to Restore Our Nation by HLS Alumni David French.

In this thought-provoking exploration of America’s ideological rift, Mr. French warns of the potential dangers to the country and the world, if we don’t summon the courage and humility to reconcile our political and cultural differences.

We were honored to have Mr. David French participate in this discussion; challenging thought, engaging debate, and encouraging a better future.

Summer 2020:

Book: The Nature and Destiny of Man by R. Niebuhr

This book is on Time magazine’s list of the top 100 works of nonfiction published since 1923. It deserves to be. It is the published version of his 1939 Gifford Lectures. In this work, Niebuhr definitively set out his neo-Augustinian theology of Christian Realism, in which he confronted the naive optimism about human nature that characterized liberal Protestantism. He particularly questioned the validity of rationalism and naturalism as the basis to guide human action. We were joined by Prof. Healan Gaston, Lecturer in American Religious History and Ethics and a former President of the Niebuhr Society, Harvard Divinity School, Dr. Kenneth Barnes,
Mockler-Phillips Professor of Workplace Theology and Business Ethics, Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary and Dr. Robin W. Lovin, Cary M. Maguire University Professor of Ethics, Southern Methodist University.

Academic 2019-2020: Saturday Morning Reading Group

Oct. 26 – Book: Who You Are in Christ by Pastor Eric Geiger with Pastor Eric Geiger.

Nov. 16 – Book: A Simple Story about the True Essence of Leadership by James C. Hunter with author James C. Hunter.

Dec. 7 – Book: The Art of Rest by Pastor Adam Mabry with Pastor Adam Mabry.

Winter Break

Feb. 15 – Book: God of Money: How We Discovered True Riches at Harvard Business School by Gregory Baumer and John Cortines with Gregory Baumer.

Feb. 29 – Book: Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson

CANCELLED March 28 – Book: “Ordering Your Private World” by Gordon MacDonald

CANCELLED April 11 – Book: About My Father’s Business: Taking Your Faith to Work by Regi Campbell