Church Study Resources

Church Library

Our beautiful library with fireplace and lounge seating is located at the bottom of the main stairway. Our mission is to enrich the faith and knowledge of the congregation and support parish education.

Library Open House Sunday November 6, 2011

The library welcomes guests, provides a place for prayer and contemplation, and encourages personal and congregational growth. Our beautiful library, with fireplace and lounge seating, is located at the bottom of the main stairway. Stop by downstairs for coffee and treats. In addition to many books, there are videos, audio-tapes, CDs and DVDs.

New additions to the library

Looking At Life and Faith Through the Eyes of Others
Memoirs & Biographies - We have a fabulous collection in our library. We've dedicated an entire shelf to this engrossing and enlightening genre.

Jesus, My Father, The CIA, and Me: A Memoir. . . of Sorts by Ian Cron
"Redemptive and consoling with bright moments of humor...this story is chock-full of sacredness and hope. Cron is one of only a few spirituality authors who could articulate these themes as poignantly." - Publishers Weekly

Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith by Anne Lamott
Through Anne Lamott's many books (including six novels, her bestselling parenting memoir, Operating Instructions, and her popular guide to writing, Bird by Bird) the subject she keeps returning to is her faith, her deeply personal--"erratic," she says--journey in Christianity. Her latest book, Grace (Eventually), is her third collection of her "thoughts on faith," Other titles by Ann Lamott: Bird by Bird, Operating Instructions, Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith

The Blue Sweater: Bridging the Gap Between Rich and Poor in an Interconnected World by Jacqueline Novogratz - Novogratz combined her twin passions for banking and philanthropy after she left a lucrative corporate banking position to work with women's groups in microfinance, the pioneering banking strategy that won Muhammad Yunus a Nobel Peace Prize in 2006. Her work merging market systems with development and social empowerment led her to create the Acumen Fund for entrepreneurs in developing nations, which she describes as the opposite of old-fashioned charity. Novogratz also focuses on her own developmental path as she charts her evolving views of capitalism and how she will change the world. - Publishers Weekly

Leaving Microsoft to Change the World: An Entrepreneur's Odyssey to Educate the World's Children by John Wood. John Wood discovered his passion, his greatest success, and his life's work--not at business school or leading Microsoft's charge into Asia in the 1990s--but on a soul-searching trip to the Himalayas. Wood felt trapped between an all-consuming career and a desire to do something lasting and significant. Stressed from the demands of his job, he took a vacation trekking in Nepal because a friend had told him, "If you get high enough in the mountains, you can't hear Steve Ballmer yelling at you anymore."

A Long Way Gone Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah Told in clear, accessible language by a young writer with a gifted literary voice, this memoir seems destined to become a classic firsthand account of war and the ongoing plight of child soldiers in conflicts worldwide. - Publishers Weekly

For Youth
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope by William Kamkwamba "Discarded motor parts, PVC pipe, and an old bicycle wheel may be junk to most people, but in the inspired hands of William Kamkwamba, they are instruments of opportunity. Growing up amid famine and poverty in rural Malawi, wind was one of the few abundant resources available, and the inventive fourteen-year-old saw its energy as a way to power his dreams. ...The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind is an inspiring story of an indomitable will that refused to bend to doubt or circumstance. When the world seemed to be against him, William Kamkwamba set out to change it." --Dave Callanan
Small Steps by Peg Kehret . "In l949, there were 42,000 cases reported in the U.S.; the author was the only one stricken in her hometown that year. She writes in an approachable, familiar way, and readers will be hooked from the first page on. The author details her diagnosis, treatment, frustration, and pain. …Although this is an excellent record of the progress of the disease, it is also a fascinating account of how an ordinary girl with crushes and homecoming dreams had to live for part of her adolescence in an artificial, restricted environment…. An honest and well done book." Christine A. Moesch, Buffalo & Erie County Public Library, NY in School Library Journal

DVDs for kids:
The Torchlighters Heroes of the Faith Series:
The Richard Wurmbrand Story - The pastor who became God's prisoner
The Gladys Award Story - The missionary who helped over 100 orphans escape through war-torn China

DVDs for All:
The Hiding Place - In this inspiring true story of Holocaust survivor Corrie ten Boom, a family joins the underground resistance. But when they themselves are arrested and imprisoned in concentration camps, they realize the importance of their own faith. Florence Nightingale
Brother Sun, Sister Moon -

Our committee meets in the morning on the first Sunday of every month in the library during one of the services. We are always in need of more help. If you would like more information, please contact Connie Fermstad, DyAnn Dennie, Judy Patneaude, Kris Reekie, Laurence Ashley, Marjorie Bianco-Vernon or Beverly Berg.

Sermons and Lessons on tape and on the Web

Sound booth operators are kept busy balancing and monitoring the sound in the sanctuary, auditorium and fellowship hall during worship and other events. They also set up microphones and other audiovisual equipment for our wonderful and talented musicians and speakers. Each Sunday, the sermon is recorded on both cassette tape and digitally for the website. Archived sermons are always available online. The current class of Crossways Recordings are also available online. If you are interested in helping, feel free to stop by after any service and talk to one of the sound technicians or our Worship and Music Director, Eric Peterson.

Sermon tapes are available for $1.00 from the sound booth operator or during the week in the church office. Recent Crossways lessons are also available on MP3 players from the library and church office.