Tag Archives: Scripture

Good Book Club to start 2022 with Exodus

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Start the new year with a renewed spiritual practice of reading God’s Word. Forward Movement, with support from partners from around the Episcopal Church and Anglican Communion, will celebrate the time of Epiphany with a new round of the Good Book Club by reading the first half of the Book of Exodus.

Exodus recounts the journey of the Israelites from slavery to freedom. We hear the great stories of Moses, from his discovery by Pharaoh’s daughter on the bank of the river to the burning bush to his presentation of the Ten Commandments. Along the way, we encounter God’s covenant and explore the grand theme of redemption.

This year, we have a bonus time of scripture engagement: the Good Book Club will dive into the first twenty chapters of Exodus from Epiphany, January 6, to Shrove Tuesday, March 1. For those who want to keep reading, we’ll offer a daily reading guide and an overview of the second half of Exodus. That reading period will conclude on Easter.

The full schedule, including the list of daily readings is available at www.goodbookclub.org.

Sign up to receive updates on Exodus.

Joining the Good Book Club is easy: Open your Bible and start reading!

For those looking for more structure, a plethora of resources from Forward Movement and partners will be available in Fall 2021 to help individuals, small groups, and churches take part in this church-wide initiative.

This is the sixth series of the initiative to encourage scripture engagement, led by Forward Movement. Past partners include the United Thank Offering, Episcopal Migration Ministries, Episcopal Church Foundation, The Living Church, Forma, GrowChristians.org, ChurchNext, the Episcopal Church’s communication, digital, and evangelism ministries, the Hive, Invite Welcome Connect, the Consortium of Endowed Parishes, Montreal Diocesan Theological College, Episcopal Asset Map, Building Faith, RenewalWorks, and the Diocese of the Central Gulf Coast. If your organization is interested in being a partner and developing resources for the Good Book Club, please contact Richelle Thompson at rthompson@forwardmovement.org.

For archived reading lists and resources from the past five series, please visit the Good Book Club website. There you will find helpful tools and inspiration to run your own Bible study while awaiting Epiphany 2022. Past series included the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts (2018), the Book of Romans (2019), the Gospels of John and Matthew (2020), and the Gospel of Mark (early 2021).

Forward Movement is a ministry of the Episcopal Church that inspires disciples and empowers evangelists. With offices in Cincinnati, Ohio, Forward Movement has been serving the Episcopal Church since 1935 by producing resources such as Forward Day by Day, books, apps, pamphlets, conferences, courses, and more. Visit www.goodbookclub.org to learn more.

Good Book Club to read the Gospel of Matthew during the season of Easter

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Good Book ClubForward Movement, with support from partners from around the Episcopal Church and Anglican Communion, will celebrate the season of Easter with a new round of the Good Book Club. Starting on Easter Sunday, April 12, 2020, and continuing through the Day of Pentecost, May 31, the Good Book Club features daily readings from the Gospel of Matthew.

“What better time to dive into God’s Holy Word than during the season of Easter, when we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus and are reminded to seek and serve the light of the world,” said Richelle Thompson, managing editor of Forward Movement. “The Gospel of Matthew is a sure and faithful companion, especially when so much else feels uncertain.”

Joining the Good Book Club is easy: Open your Bible and start reading! New this season is an invitation to help “illustrate” the gospel. With the support of Forma and Episcopal Church Foundation, Forward Movement is soliciting artwork, images, and photographs for the daily readings. Submit your work online, and follow the Good Book Club Facebook page for a new type of illuminated gospel!

Back by popular demand is a free, online, live Bible study presented by ChurchNext. Subscribe to weekly emails for a preview of the readings and reflection questions. And for those interested in daily reflections on the readings, check out A Journey with Matthew, one of the Bible Challenge series books available in print and as an e-book from Forward Movement. Spanish resources and information are also available here.

This is the fourth series of the initiative to encourage scripture engagement, led by Forward Movement. In previous rounds of the Good Book Club, partners have included Episcopal Church Foundation, The Living Church, Forma, GrowChristians.org, ChurchNext, Missional Voices, the Episcopal Church’s communication, digital, and evangelism ministries, the Montreal Diocesan Theological College, the Episcopal Asset Map, Building Faith, RenewalWorks, and the dioceses of the Central Gulf Coast and Pennsylvania.

For more information or to access the reading list and resources, please visit the Good Book Club website.

Forward Movement is a ministry of the Episcopal Church that inspires disciples and empowers evangelists. With offices in Cincinnati, Ohio, Forward Movement has been serving the Episcopal Church since 1935 by producing resources such as Forward Day by Day, books, apps, pamphlets, conferences, courses, and more.

Visit www.forwardmovement.org to learn more.

Join Presiding Bishop Michael B. Curry in reading the Gospel of John

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Presiding Bishop Michael B. Curry calls upon followers of Jesus to join with him in the Good Book Club, reading the Gospel of John each day during the Epiphany season.

The Good Book offers an array of resources developed by partners from across the Episcopal Church, making it easy for people to read, learn, and wrestle with the Gospel of John, said Bishop Curry. The church-wide Bible initiative starts January 6, 2020.

“John’s Gospel is a marvelous gospel,” said Bishop Curry. In John, “we get some of the most powerful and pregnant moments of Jesus teaching about love and the Way of Love.”


Joining the Good Book Club is easy: Open your Bible and start reading! In addition, Episcopal and Anglican partners have come together and prepared resources to support the journey, including print and online Bible studies, webinars, reflections, blogs, and social media posts. New this year is a set of downloadable bulletin inserts with the daily readings and cartoons drawn by well-known artist Jay Sidebotham. ChurchNext is offering a free online live Bible study, led by scholar Vicki Garvey. Both the Episcopal Migration Ministries and the United Thank Offering have prepared excellent group studies, available for free download. And for those interested in daily reflections on the readings, check out A Journey with John, one of the Bible Challenge series books available from Forward Movement.

This is the third year for the initiative to encourage scripture engagement, led by Forward Movement. Other partners include the Montreal Diocesan Theological College, the Episcopal Asset Map, Building Faith, Episcopal Church Foundation, The Living Church, Forma, GrowChristians.org, ChurchNext, Missional Voices, the Episcopal Church’s communication and evangelism ministries, RenewalWorks, and the dioceses of the Central Gulf Coast and Pennsylvania.

“I look forward to reading John’s Gospel with you,” said Bishop Curry. “May this coming year, this Epiphany—as we celebrate the coming of the wise men—be the coming of new wisdom, new life, and new love as we read John’s Gospel together.”

The Good Book Club website lists the daily readings and partners as well as a variety of resources and formation tools. Spanish resources and information are available here. You can also sign up for a weekly email that previews the coming readings and highlights participants and partners. Organizations, including dioceses, that would like to partner and develop resources for the wider church should contact Richelle Thompson at rthompson@forwardmovement.org.

Forward Movement is a ministry of the Episcopal Church that inspires disciples and empowers evangelists. With offices in Cincinnati, Ohio, Forward Movement offers online resources, digital products, books, pamphlets, and Forward Day by Day. Learn more at www.forwardmovement.org.

For more information, contact Richelle Thompson at rthompson@forwardmovement.org or 513-721-6659, ext. 315.

Forward Today: Romans

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Dear friends in Christ,

The guiding principle of the Good Book Club is simple (but not easy): When people read scripture, they are transformed. And so are their families and friends, neighborhoods and cities.

By inviting people to read a full book of the Bible, in community with others around the world, we prayed the experience would spur a lifelong spiritual practice of reading scripture — sometimes wrestling with it, often times discovering new insight, and always letting God’s Word be a beacon of light for the journey.

Last year, thousands of us read together the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts, learning and recalling the stories of Jesus and the early days of the Church. Ten days ago, we began the second Good Book Club journey, with Paul’s Letter to the Romans. By most accounts, this book is a harder read. Thanks to Christmas pageants and Charlie Brown, the opening passages of Luke are familiar territory for most. Parables such as of the lost sheep, the Good Samaritan, and the prodigal son helped form our core understanding of faith, and even if we couldn’t recount all of the plot points of Acts, Saul’s conversion is so well-known that a “Road to Damascus” moment is part of our pop-culture lexicon to indicate a sudden turning point.Good Book ClubBut Romans is different. Instead of the stories about what Jesus does, Paul is earnest and insistent about explaining the why: Why was Jesus born? Why did Jesus die? Why does this matter? Paul digs deep into theological principles of justification, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, precepts that scholars and priests have explored, dissected, and debated for centuries.

But at the heart of Romans is the profound and simple (but not easy) truth: We are transformed by God’s grace. Period. Nothing we do or say or strive for can save us from our sinful nature. We are saved only by the grace of an ever-loving God through the death and resurrection of Jesus.

God loves us. God forgives us.

As you continue your journey through Romans (and if you haven’t started, it’s not too late! Join the Good Book Club community), let these two truths be your guide and open yourself to being formed and transformed by God’s Holy Scriptures.

Only God knows what might happen next.

Yours in Christ,

Richelle Thompson
Deputy Director and Managing Editor, Forward Movement

Today’s Flash Sale: Note to Self

Note to SelfDiscover what God has written onto your heart. What do you want for your life? Who do you want to be in your life, and how do you want to live? We humans need reminders, and when it comes to making a consistent effort to be better people, it’s important to have constant reminders. A “Rule of Life” is an ancient method for building soul memory, and offering reminders to ourselves of the person we hope to be—it is a practice of training your mind and soul to be kind and good.

Creating your own rule of life is grace that only you can offer to yourself, helping remind you to live the life you desire, and the life God wishes for you. Join author and Episcopal priest Charles LaFond as he guides you through the wisdom, creation, and application of your own Rule of Life.

Regular: $18
Today: $13.50

*Discount is valid until 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time