Literature: Helping a Group to Read

Reading can be a fun and enlightening way to expose your group to the world and missions, if you take some time to plan. Here are some ideas:

Invest in a good chapter booktable. Buy good books that you know are readable and helpful and make them available at all of your meetings.
Develop a loaning library with books donated by your members. Many buy books at Urbana and can share them with the whole group.
Pick 2-3 books you would like your whole group to read within a year. Start passing them around and encouraging others to read them. Talk about them whenever appropriate.
Start a "You Read It" challenge. Have someone read a book, report on it at a large group meeting and then pick someone in the group to challenge, "You read it!"
Don't stop at mission-titled books. Take a look at some of the current best sellers, and draw them into the discussion. Ask questions about it, like "What does this teach us about current culture?" and "Why do people like this book so much?" and so forth.
Start a reading group. You may only read one book a quarter, but at least it's a start.
Since there is not often time to read entire books, some reading groups read chapters from books as well as journal articles and essays. If members of the group haven't read everything, the leader can still guide the group through the material. Good questions are the key.
Keep an ongoing or yearly bibliography of good reading - books, magazine articles, journal articles, editorials, and essays. Ask students, staff, faculty, and pastors to contribute. Print it for everyone.

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