Dear friends in Christ,

In late 2017, the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church invited a few of us to Atlanta to think creatively about our church and how we might focus our work. Our small group quickly settled on the idea that discipleship—the daily work of those who are committed to following Jesus—was key. And we settled on some spiritual practices. By the time General Convention rolled around in 2018, the Presiding Bishop and his staff had taken our suggestions and crafted the Way of Love as an invitation to seven spiritual practices: turn, learn, pray, worship, bless, go, rest.

There are lots of resources now—including several from Forward Movement. There are podcasts and books and courses and more. The question I kept hearing from Episcopalians across the church is, “This sounds great. How do I get started?”

That question echoes my experience as a parish priest. Churches are filled with people of all levels of spiritual maturity and commitment. This diversity is one of the wonderful facets of parish ministry. The person who spends an hour a day in prayer works alongside the person who hardly prays. Each can inspire the other at times.

What I noticed in my ministry is that there are a lot of people who want to be committed followers of Jesus, but they’re not quite sure what that might look like in their own lives. “I would love to pray every day, but I’m not sure how.” “I’ve always wanted to read the Bible, but it’s too scary to start.” And so on.

Thinking of all those people—and remembering my own journey as a disciple—I wrote a small book with very practical guidance on how to get started. Or if you’re already started in the work of discipleship, it might provide some fresh ways to renew your practices. This is not a book for spiritual ‘experts’. It’s a book for regular people who aren’t quite sure how to translate the lofty ideals of following Jesus into their own lives.

This Friday is the official publication date for The Way of Love: A Practical Guide to Following Jesus. I’ve written a short chapter on each of the seven Way of Love practices, and each practice also includes a personal testimony from a lay person who has lived out these practices. There are reflection questions, biblical passages for study, and a list of resources for further exploration. You can find reviewers’ comments on our website.

I hope you’ll buy this book if you’re not sure where to start following Jesus. And if you’re well on your way in following Jesus, perhaps you’ll get a copy or two for friends.

The book is available for a special pre-order price of just $12 now, and the Kindle ebook is also available for pre-order on Amazon. If you want to buy the book for your book group, it’s just $10 when you buy five or more.

Next week, I’ll get back to reflecting on life in the church and in the world. Thank you for indulging an excited author this week.

Yours faithfully,

Scott Gunn
Executive Director

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Listen to today’s Forward Day by Day reflection on the Forward Day by Day podcast. Find morning prayer on the Morning at the Office podcast and end your day with the Evening at Prayer podcast. Available anywhere you listen!

In case you missed it…

Finding Black Episcopal Spaces | Earth & Altar

Living Discipleship, an all-ages curriculum series | Forward Movement

Seeing the Glory of the Lord off the Mountain | Grow Christians

Check out our new digital catalog | Forward Movement

Dear friends in Christ,

Do you have a Bible app for your phone? You might, like me, prefer to read the Bible out of a paper book. But sometimes I want to look up a passage, and I don’t have my printed Bible with me. And you can’t use search in a paper book! I find it very handy—and sometimes inspiring—to have the Bible on my phone.

I’ve tried a bunch of different apps. Much of the time, I use the Logos app, because it has sophisticated study features and syncs with my desktop software. But it’s certainly not free. My current favorite free app is the YouVersion Bible app. You can get it for Android and iOS, and it includes over 1,500 versions of the Bible.

As I’ve mentioned before in Forward Today, our research through RenewalWorks tells us that daily scripture engagement is one of the most important catalysts for spiritual growth. That’s one of the reasons I was excited to think about offering daily Bible reading plans on the YouVersion Bible app, which has been downloaded almost 400 million times.

Our first plan has just gone live this week. Check out the Way of Love seven-day reading plan. It includes seven excerpts from The Way of Love Bible Challenge: A 50 Day Bible Challenge (learn more here). We hope this is the first of many plans—ways to read and be inspired by God’s word.

So often our phones are objects that get in the way of holy living. Our phones can enable us to pour hours of our lives into a tiny screen. I don’t know about you, but I for one am delighted to find ways to derive inspiration and knowledge from my phone. When the psalmist wrote, “Your word is a lantern to my feet,” I doubt he had in mind the glow of a tiny screen. But our phones can be guides to make time for scripture study.

Have you read the Bible on your phone? What was it like? If you haven’t, I hope you’ll give it a try.

Yours faithfully,

Today’s Flash Sale: The Way of Love Bible Challenge

The Way of Love is the way of Jesus. With seven core spiritual practices, the Way of Love offers an intentional, Spirit-led path to following Jesus. And what better guidebook for the journey than the Bible? The Way of Love Bible Challenge pairs each practice with a passage of scripture as well as reflections, questions, and prayers written by a variety of faith leaders.

Come and see what God has to say about the spiritual practices of Turn – Learn – Pray – Worship – Bless – Go – Rest. Informed by scripture and inspired through prayer, these practices offer the opportunity to transform our relationship with ourselves, with our family and communities, and with our Savior. Featuring fifty days of reflections, The Way of Love Bible Challenge is an extension of The Bible Challenge, a global initiative to encourage daily engagement with scripture and an exploration of the Word of God.

Regular: $15
Today: $11.25

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

Dear friends in Christ,

If you read Episcopal Church news much, you’ve heard that Bishop Michael Curry, our Presiding Bishop, has been talking about the Way of Love. You might think of this as the spiritual practices that make the Jesus Movement come to life in our lives and in our church.

The idea behind the Way of Love is pretty simple. There are seven steps: Turn, Learn, Pray, Worship, Bless, Go, and Rest. We begin by turning—or repenting—toward Jesus. And then we anchor our lives in study, prayer, and worship so that we might be bearers of God’s blessings to the world.If you want to learn a bit more about the Way of Love, you can visit www.episcopalchurch.org/wayoflove. There’s a fantastic three-minute video there where the Presiding Bishop sets out what it is and why it matters. We at Forward Movement have also created a web page with information about the Way of Love and some of our resources that connect to these practices.

If seven steps seems like too many, maybe start with two simple daily practices. Read a bit of scripture every day, and spend a few moments in prayer. I guarantee you, if you do this for a while, your heart will change. There’s nothing gimmicky about the Way of Love. These are ancient and biblical ways to follow our savior, Jesus Christ.

Our world is desperate for words and deeds of hope. If we can become people of the Way of Love, we can bear tidings and acts of hope.

Yours faithfully,

Scott Gunn
Executive Director