A place to snark and vent about CoC doctrine and/or our experiences in the CoC. This is a place for SUPPORT and AGREEMENT only, not a place to tell someone their experience and feelings are wrong, or why we disagree with them.
Melanie wrote:Regarding book studies and such -- our church has a bookstore, but it is down the hall away from the main lobby (atrium) so there is no overt solicitation. You wouldn't even know it was there if you didn't wander down that hall; you must purposely seek it out. I liked what BH said about why not GIVE you the book if it's that important. Our elders actually DO that. Every few months, if they see a book they feel is really good, they purchase a copy for every single family! (Whether they want it or not! LOL!)
Good for your elders.
Another thing they could do is start a congregational library. And to draw the church together let the congregants be asked to buy and donate books in honor of a deceased loved one or church member. The elders or pastor could pick out a long list of books to buy and donate. A big list could be put in front of the auditorium or foyer and the person buying each book could scratch it of the list to avoid multiple buys.
The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways; the point is to change it.----Karl Marx
Melanie wrote:Regarding book studies and such -- our church has a bookstore, but it is down the hall away from the main lobby (atrium) so there is no overt solicitation. You wouldn't even know it was there if you didn't wander down that hall; you must purposely seek it out. I liked what BH said about why not GIVE you the book if it's that important. Our elders actually DO that. Every few months, if they see a book they feel is really good, they purchase a copy for every single family! (Whether they want it or not! LOL!)
I told them one time I didn't want to buy the book, they were like "oh, you can afford it and you know it".
I did not like that. They don't know what my budget is, or what my other expenses are.
BH, I think most every cofC I ever went to actually DID have a library set up much as you described. I used to use it a lot when I was teaching classes (pre-internet days). I knew whatever material I got from the church library was probably pre-approved and safe to use! : ) OK, now I'm curious; did the more conservative cofC's have libraries, or are they not "authorized?" (Do you not have homes in which to READ?!!!!)
Melanie wrote:BH, I think most every cofC I ever went to actually DID have a library set up much as you described. I used to use it a lot when I was teaching classes (pre-internet days). I knew whatever material I got from the church library was probably pre-approved and safe to use! : ) OK, now I'm curious; did the more conservative cofC's have libraries, or are they not "authorized?" (Do you not have homes in which to READ?!!!!)
I'm sure Floyd Decker would be against it for some reason. Frightened Floyd preached against everything being an innovation.
The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways; the point is to change it.----Karl Marx
Melanie wrote:BH, I think most every cofC I ever went to actually DID have a library set up much as you described. I used to use it a lot when I was teaching classes (pre-internet days). I knew whatever material I got from the church library was probably pre-approved and safe to use! : ) OK, now I'm curious; did the more conservative cofC's have libraries, or are they not "authorized?" (Do you not have homes in which to READ?!!!!)
Our church had a library but it was on the 2nd floor and not many people knew it was there.
Melanie wrote:BH, I think most every cofC I ever went to actually DID have a library set up much as you described. I used to use it a lot when I was teaching classes (pre-internet days). I knew whatever material I got from the church library was probably pre-approved and safe to use! : ) OK, now I'm curious; did the more conservative cofC's have libraries, or are they not "authorized?" (Do you not have homes in which to READ?!!!!)
Bigger places tended to have libraries. Smaller places had a problem of cost and space, so it just is not reasonable to have such a resource unless there is a certain head count. I was at a big place for long time that had a private one-person standard restroom off of the library because it used to be an office. That was very nice. You could take books into the inner sanctum and just relax and read. Just like George Costanza.
Isn't the world wonderful...I am all for rational optimism and I am staying positive.
A library in a coC? None that I ever visited/attended. Elders & preachers had private libraries at their home although not in the church building. Must be unscriptural. Only those tracts hanging in the foyer were scriptural & allowed. Also, those Truth articles were awesome. They always had plenty of copies on hand for everyone.
I'm pretty sure the only books (outside of songbooks and Sunday school booklets) in the church building when I was growing up were in the preacher's office, and belonged to him. But he was a generous book loaner!
History is the fiction we invent to persuade ourselves that events are knowable and that life has order and direction. That's why events are always reinterpreted when values change. We need new versions of history to allow for our current prejudices.
Even the NI church I attended had a library, and it was probably more used than the library at most of the churches I've attended. I ended up running it, actually, and it became after-service kid hangout -- I upgraded the small building toy set to some Duplos, and the kids would pick a VeggieTales or other similar DVD to watch while their parents chatted. The preacher and the elders sometimes added books / CDs / DVDs, but I had a pretty free hand, and snuck in some more...shall we say, subversive...materials, too; mostly on Christian view of science, reconciling the Bible with the ample evidence of an old earth, etc.
At one point, we were studying the roles of deacons, and it was clear that, in all but name, I was acting as a deaconess, but could we use that title, even though it is in the Bible? Of course not!
