Libraries

Children and adults are encouraged to read the books and articles available in a comfortable setting. The adult library is in the parlor, just up the steps from the Celebration Room. Books may be checked out by filling out the card in the pocket and leaving it in the marked box.

The children's library is known as the Discovery Center and is on the second floor. Read more about the Discovery Center here.

Treasures for Summer Reading:
Father of the Wesleys, Samuel Wesley by Franklin Wilder (1971)

Son to Susanna: the private life of John Wesley by Elsie G. Harrison (1938)

God's Trombones: seven Negro sermons in verse by James Weldon Johnson. Illustrated by Aaron Douglas, born and raised in Topeka. Hope you have all noticed the mural at 12th and Lane of one of Mr. Douglas' pictures.

The Green Pastures; a fable suggested by Roark Bradford's Southern sketches, "Ol' Man Adam and his chillun" (a play) by Marc Connelly. Published in 1929.

Deep River; reflections on the religious insight of certain Negro spirituals by Howard Thurman. (1945.)

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. (1960.)

A Real Christian: the Life of John Wesley by Kenneth J. Collins (1999) focuses on Wesley himself. It explores Wesley's ancestry, birth, death, and every major event between, focusing on Wesley's spiritual growth and maturation.

John Wesley: a Biography by Stephen Tomkins (2003), written with verve and a light, sure touch, tells the story of Wesley's colorful and dramatic life for a new generation.

Three more books by our bishop, Scott J. Jones, are ready to be checked out:

John Wesley's Conception and Use of Scripture offers an investigation of John Wesley's understanding and use of the Bible. Jones argues that for Wesley, religious authority is constituted not by a "quadrilateral," but by a fivefold locus comprising Scripture, reason, Christian antiquity, the Church of England, and experience.

The Evangelistic Love of God and Neighbor. There are many definitions of the term evangelism. In this book, Scott Jones proposes to ground the practice of evangelism in an understanding of God's love for the world, specifically as seen in the incarnation of God in Christ. Because in Jesus God took on all of what it means to be human, evangelism must be a ministry to the whole person.

Wesley and the Quadrilateral is written by W. Stephen Gunter, Scott J. Jones, Ted A. Campbell, Rebekah L. Miles and Randy L. Maddox. "Wesley believed that the living core of the Christian faith was revealed in Scripture, ilumined by tradition, vivified in personal experience, and confirmed by reason." (The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church) Since this first appeared in the Discipline in 1972, it has come to be known as the Wesleyan Quadrilateral. These authors are convinced that Scripture is primary - first and foundational - but argue that it cannot function in a manner that negates the other components, for Scripture cannot be read or interpreted without the mediation of tradition, reason and experience.

New in the Adult Library in February:

Meet the Methodists; an Introduction to The United Methodist Church, by Charles L. Allen. For anyone interested in the denomination, this book gives an overview of what it is and why it exists.

Wesley and the People Called Methodists. In this book, Richard P. Heitzenrater surveys the Wesleyan movement in the eighteenth century, and presents the story of many of those whose lives and thoughts were woven together in the developing theology, organization and mission of Methodism.