2025 Summer Book Studies

We have six book studies planned for this summer! See descriptions and details below.
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The Six Conversations by Heather Holleman
Pathways to Connecting in the Age of Isolation and Incivility
Led by Ingram Link
O’Henry’s Coffee - Brookwood
Wednesdays, June 11, 18, July 9, 16, 23
7:00 - 8:00 am
Contact Ingram for more information: ilink@covpres.com
Heather Holleman is a professor at Penn State who is passionate about connecting people in loving community. In this book Heather lays out skills based on the wisdom literature of the Bible to encourage people to have conversations that lead to relationships of hope and deep connection. She walks through “What is a Loving Conversation?” using the Four Mindsets and the Theology of a Loving Conversation. Holleman continues with basic conversation practices, a dive into what she calls “The Six Conversations” all with the intent of moving us deeper into community and connection.

Runaways by Karen Edwards
Led by Karen Edwards
June 3, 10, 17, 24
6:00 pm
843 Vestlake Ridge Dr, 35242, Joanne Dorr’s home
Contact Connie Edwards for more information: conedwards12@gmail.com
By Karen Edwards - what do you mean? Yes! Our very own Karen Edwards has written a Bible Study about characters in the Bible who run away from God. Don’t we all run away from God in our own way? Hear Karen teach about the God who pursues his children as they try to run away from his loving care and protection.

Hearing Jesus Speak into Your Sorrow by Nancy Guthrie
Led by Melissa Powell and Caroline Royal
June 11, 18, 25, July 9, 16
11:30 am
BYO Lunch
Covenant Presbyterian Church
Childcare available for children 5k and under; email nursery@covpres.com for reservations.
Contact Caroline Royal for more information: croyal@covpres.com 
We have had the joy of hosting Nancy at Covenant over the years and her wisdom is helpful and encouraging. In this paradigm-shifting book, Nancy Guthrie gently invites readers to lean in along with her to hear Jesus speak understanding and insight into the lingering questions we all have about the hurts of life: What was God’s involvement in this, and why did he let it happen? Why hasn’t God answered my prayers for a miracle? Can I expect God to protect me? Does God even care? According to Nancy, this questioning is not a bad thing at all but instead an opportunity. It’s a chance to hear with fresh ears the truth in the promises of the gospel we may have misapplied. It lets us retune our souls to the purposes of God we may have misunderstood.

Made for People by Justin Earley
Led by Sarah Allen and Hannah Scroggins
Tuesdays, June 3, 10, 17, 24
6:15 am
1020 Edgewood Blvd 35209, Hannah Scroggins’ home 
Contact Hannah Scroggins for more information: hannahscroggins22@gmail.com
Discover the art of fostering life-giving, life-long friendships and the individual habits that make them possible. Loneliness is deadly. We know this psychologically and spiritually. Sin wants us to be alone, and it often feels like today's world is tailor-made to keep us that way. Through personal stories, research, and biblical wisdom, Justin paints of a picture of God's design for "covenant friendships." This book will teach you:

• How loneliness points to our God-given needs.

• Why vulnerability is the beginning of real friendship.

• How to deepen the friendships we already have.

• Key habits that create a lifestyle of friendship.

Waymaker by Ann Voskamp
Led by Stephanie Alonso and Maria Sivils
June 17, 24, July 1, 8, 15, 22
7:00 pm
3261 Tyrol Road, 35216
Contact Stephanie Alonso for more information: 205-739-9358
Deeply personal, Ann shares the moments of her life where the WayMaker transformed brokenness into beauty. Learn to encounter the WayMaker in surprising ways in your own life and begin to see Him working in every miraculous detail. Even now, the Way is making the way to walk through waves and into a life more deeply fulfilling than your wildest dreams. It's true: heartache, grief, suffering, and obstacles—they all come in waves. There is no controlling life's storms; there is only learning the way to walk through the waves.In WayMaker, bestselling author Ann Voskamp shares her personal experience of suffering through seemingly unbearable situations In her signature captivating poetic style, Ann reveals how God is present in the totality of our lives, making a way for the:

• Marriage that seems impossible

• Woman who longs for a child of her own

• Parents who ache for the return of their prodigal

• Sojourner caught between a rock and a hard place

• Wayfarer who feels as though there is no way through to her dreams

The Insanity of God by Nik Ripken
Led by Catherine Shields
Tuesdays July 1, 8, 22, 29
7:00 pm
3121 Overton Drive Homewood, AL, Catherine’s home
Contact Catherine Shields for more information: 205 903-2626
The Insanity of God is the personal and lifelong journey of an ordinary couple from rural Kentucky who thought they were going on just your ordinary missionary pilgrimage, but discovered it would be anything but. After spending over six hard years doing relief work in Somalia, and experiencing life where it looked like God had turned away completely and He was clueless about the tragedies of life, the couple had a crisis of faith and left Africa asking God, "Does the gospel work anywhere when it is really a hard place? It sure didn't work in Somalia. Nik recalls that, “God had always been so real to me, to Ruth, and to our boys. But was He enough, for the utter weariness of soul I experienced at that time, in that place, under those circumstances?” It is a question that many have asked and one that, if answered, can lead us to a whole new world of faith. The Insanity of God tells a story—a remarkable and unique story to be sure, yet at heart a very human story—of the Ripkens’ own spiritual and emotional odyssey. The gripping, narrative account of a personal pilgrimage into some of the toughest places on earth, combined with sobering and insightful stories of the remarkable people of faith Nik and Ruth encountered on their journeys, will serve as a powerful course of revelation, growth, and challenge for anyone who wants to know whether God truly is enough.