You never know where a book is going to take you.
Fellow bookworm Miriam Taylor once loaned a friend the book Out of the Black Shadows by Stephen Lungu. Her friend became a Christian as a result of reading that book. Later, when Stephen Lungu came to New Zealand on a speaking tour, Miriam’s friend went up to Auckland to hear him. Not only did she hear him speak, she spoke to him and invited to come and speak in her small rural area. He spoke at Ward, a place I suggest he’d never heard of when he wrote the book!
Imagine what it is like when you take on a whole library of books! When Miriam and I became Nativity’s librarians in 2022, the library was unused.
After a meeting with Kathy Taylor, the parish administrator, it was decided:
Communicating all this was and remains vital. We have given notices at church, we have a page in the Nativity News, and we write an annual report to vestry, which also goes into the AGM reports. And, of course, word of mouth… I’ve become overly enthusiastic! When Spanky Moore asked if I’d write something for Kōrero, it was always going to be a yes!
The result of all this is the library is being used.
What are Nativity’s librarians up to now, you may ask?
With the closure of the Manna Christian Store in Nelson, we realised it meant there were no more Christian book shops in the top of the South. We had an idea – I blame God. The plan: to open Nativity’s library to all the Christians of Marlborough and join the borrowing economy even more.
Glen starred in a 60-second video clip, advertising our library to other churches. Susan Schmidt, our present parish administrator designed a beautiful bookmark, containing the necessary information about the library. Phase one was sharing the news with our Anglican brothers and sisters. We are now on phase two: informing all the churches of Marlborough. We have already had a visit from a Renwick parishioner.
Why are Miriam and I doing this, when we could be sitting at home reading books? Don’t worry, we find time to read.
Also because along with regular church attendance, regular Bible reading, prayer, small group belonging and attending retreats, spiritual reading (the reading of Christian literature) has been an important part of our spiritual growth. We know we are not the only ones, because others have told us so.
We see the library as both missional and formational. Not everyone is a reader and that’s okay. Not every Christian reads Christian books and that’s okay too. We are not all wired the same.
If you’d like to give it a go, we have 2,572 books, at last count, to choose from. They fall into many categories:
Christian Biographies are testimonies, reminding me of Revelation 12:11, “They overcame…by the word of their testimony.” Jesus taught with stories and so do Christian novels.
Miriam hosts a monthly book club at Nativity, called “Nativity Bookworms”. It is based around Nativity’s library. Members, from time to time, write book reviews for the Nativity News.
Without a Christian book shop in the top of the south, the buying of Bibles for personal use and to give away takes time. Nativity has five versions to give away to new Christians and the curious. We also have two children’s Bibles for sale.
The most surprising thing that’s happened on our library adventure was the discovery of a book given to Nativity’s first vicar, Rev Dr Butt, in 1871! Since opening the library to other Anglican churches we have learnt that Bishop Richard Ellena has Rev Dr Butt’s prayer book, which one day will come into our care. I recently learnt a bit about our first vicar, reading “The selected letters of Mary Hobhouse”, the wife of Nelson’s first bishop, who wrote: “Mr Butt, a high Calvinist, and bad man of business. Ten children running wild.”
On the journey we have been reminded that the church needs all of us. Miriam and I are not carpenters, videographers or expert designers of bookmarks. We are very grateful for all the time parishioners have given. The generosity shown has been an encouragement. With a donation from one parishioner, knowing her love of the arts, we purchased a beautiful book that started our Christian art and poetry section. It has been interesting to observe people “getting the plan” at different times – not everyone is an early adopter and that is okay also.
I’m currently reading Seven Days that Divide the World by John C Lennox. It is a testament to his writing skill that I’m understanding it! Did you know “the existence of the giant planet Jupiter helps keep the other planets in the same orbital plane”?
As I wrote at the beginning: you never know where a book is going to take you. Our prayer is that it takes you closer to God.
Check out other articles in the
series below.
More articles in the
series are to come.
We have invited these writers to share their experiences, ideas and opinions in the hope that these will provoke thought, challenge you to go deeper and inspire you to put your faith into action. These articles should not be taken as the official view of the Nelson Diocese on any particular matter.
You never know where a book is going to take you.
Fellow bookworm Miriam Taylor once loaned a friend the book Out of the Black Shadows by Stephen Lungu. Her friend became a Christian as a result of reading that book. Later, when Stephen Lungu came to New Zealand on a speaking tour, Miriam’s friend went up to Auckland to hear him. Not only did she hear him speak, she spoke to him and invited to come and speak in her small rural area. He spoke at Ward, a place I suggest he’d never heard of when he wrote the book!
Imagine what it is like when you take on a whole library of books! When Miriam and I became Nativity’s librarians in 2022, the library was unused.
After a meeting with Kathy Taylor, the parish administrator, it was decided:
Communicating all this was and remains vital. We have given notices at church, we have a page in the Nativity News, and we write an annual report to vestry, which also goes into the AGM reports. And, of course, word of mouth… I’ve become overly enthusiastic! When Spanky Moore asked if I’d write something for Kōrero, it was always going to be a yes!
The result of all this is the library is being used.
What are Nativity’s librarians up to now, you may ask?
With the closure of the Manna Christian Store in Nelson, we realised it meant there were no more Christian book shops in the top of the South. We had an idea – I blame God. The plan: to open Nativity’s library to all the Christians of Marlborough and join the borrowing economy even more.
Glen starred in a 60-second video clip, advertising our library to other churches. Susan Schmidt, our present parish administrator designed a beautiful bookmark, containing the necessary information about the library. Phase one was sharing the news with our Anglican brothers and sisters. We are now on phase two: informing all the churches of Marlborough. We have already had a visit from a Renwick parishioner.
Why are Miriam and I doing this, when we could be sitting at home reading books? Don’t worry, we find time to read.
Also because along with regular church attendance, regular Bible reading, prayer, small group belonging and attending retreats, spiritual reading (the reading of Christian literature) has been an important part of our spiritual growth. We know we are not the only ones, because others have told us so.
We see the library as both missional and formational. Not everyone is a reader and that’s okay. Not every Christian reads Christian books and that’s okay too. We are not all wired the same.
If you’d like to give it a go, we have 2,572 books, at last count, to choose from. They fall into many categories:
Christian Biographies are testimonies, reminding me of Revelation 12:11, “They overcame…by the word of their testimony.” Jesus taught with stories and so do Christian novels.
Miriam hosts a monthly book club at Nativity, called “Nativity Bookworms”. It is based around Nativity’s library. Members, from time to time, write book reviews for the Nativity News.
Without a Christian book shop in the top of the south, the buying of Bibles for personal use and to give away takes time. Nativity has five versions to give away to new Christians and the curious. We also have two children’s Bibles for sale.
The most surprising thing that’s happened on our library adventure was the discovery of a book given to Nativity’s first vicar, Rev Dr Butt, in 1871! Since opening the library to other Anglican churches we have learnt that Bishop Richard Ellena has Rev Dr Butt’s prayer book, which one day will come into our care. I recently learnt a bit about our first vicar, reading “The selected letters of Mary Hobhouse”, the wife of Nelson’s first bishop, who wrote: “Mr Butt, a high Calvinist, and bad man of business. Ten children running wild.”
On the journey we have been reminded that the church needs all of us. Miriam and I are not carpenters, videographers or expert designers of bookmarks. We are very grateful for all the time parishioners have given. The generosity shown has been an encouragement. With a donation from one parishioner, knowing her love of the arts, we purchased a beautiful book that started our Christian art and poetry section. It has been interesting to observe people “getting the plan” at different times – not everyone is an early adopter and that is okay also.
I’m currently reading Seven Days that Divide the World by John C Lennox. It is a testament to his writing skill that I’m understanding it! Did you know “the existence of the giant planet Jupiter helps keep the other planets in the same orbital plane”?
As I wrote at the beginning: you never know where a book is going to take you. Our prayer is that it takes you closer to God.
Check out other articles in the
series below.
More articles in the
series are to come.
