Finding Accidental Saints in Berkeley (Reading Nadia Bolz-Weber)

Accidental Saints: Finding God in All
the Wrong People by Nadia Bolz-Weber

I was part of a small group at the church I attend in Berkeley -- University Lutheran Chapel -- where we read and discussed Accidental Saints: Finding God in All the Wrong People by Nadia Bolz-Weber. (Actually, the whole congregation read the book -- discussions took place in a variety of settings.)

I am here to report that, at least in our experience, Accidental Saints proved to be a wonderful springboard for discussion.

I'm tempted to share some of my favorite lines from the book, but maybe it would be better if I invite you to pick the book up and find them for yourself.

(Well okay -- here's a clue -- you might want to start by going to chapter 12 where Nadia is puzzling over when the cool people are gonna start showing up. Classic.)

Perhaps what makes a book good for a discussion group is that it combines startling candor, brevity, and the courage to leap again and again into the middle of mysterious questions.

What we discovered is that all of us were interested in the questions she was raising, and we found the courage to share things about ourselves, and that made it compelling to listen carefully to each other.

Accidental Saints is great. Our only question now: what do we do for an encore?

Related posts

I believe when Jesus broke the bread and poured the wine and said "Remember me this way," he was much more interested in encouraging us to keep having conversations -- conversations that really matter -- with others . . . and finding ways to be in relationship with our neighbors . . . all the while reminding us "never underestimate the power of food" . . .

(See Get Outside Your Comfort Zone and Have A Conversation Today (Welcome to the Ministry))



So as I watched Ziggy for the first time last night, I asked myself, "What is it? What is it? What is the frisson that one feels? It's part charisma, part sexuality, partly the thrill of gender-bending, partly adolescent rebellion . . . . But what is it that Ziggy did (and does) for so many people?" (It can't be a single thing, can it?)

(See "You're NOT alone!" (Ziggy the Subversive) )