Materials and Membership
Open Sundays from 10:00 to 10:45 a.m. and from 12:15 to 1:30 p.m.
Access from the theatre, to the left of the stage 
The ACP Lending Library is a special collection of Christian, English language materials that inform, inspire, and teach what it means to be a disciple of Christ. The collection includes books, magazines, CDs, DVDs, and audio- and videocassettes which are available to borrow for three-week intervals. Annual membership is only 5 euros and is valid for the academic year (that is, through September 2008). DVD rentals require a 20-euro refundable deposit. Checked out materials may be returned during the week at reception (please label "for Lending Library"). Come in and check us out!
Recent Acquisitions
June 2008
Fiction:
The Wind of the Khazars, by Marek Halter
Theology/Doctrine:
Jesus – God and Man, by Wolfhart Pannenberg
The Wound of Knowledge, by Rowan Williams
Growing Deep: Exploring the Roots of Our Faith, by Charles R. Swindoll
Devotionals/Prayer:
Developing Intimacy with God, by Alex B. Aronis
Praying with Power, by C. Peter Wagner
The Divine Romance, by Gene Edwards
Christian Living:
The House of the Lord, by Francis Frangipane
The Coming Revival: America’s Call to Fast, Pray, and “Seek God’s Face”, by Bill Bright
Simply Christian: Why Christianity Makes Sense, by N. T. Wright
Bible Study:
Sound of Heave, Symphony of Earth, by Ray Hughes
Prophetic Ministry, by T. Austin Sparks
May 2008
Fiction:
The Quilt, by T. Davis Bunn (copy 2)
Marriage/Family:
How to be Blessed and Highly Favored, by Michelle McKinney Hammond
If Singleness is a Gift, What’s the Return Policy? by Holly Virden with Michelle McKinney Hammond
The Unspoken Rules of Love, by Michelle McKinney Hammond and Joel Brooks
Sassy, Single and Satisfied: Secrets to Loving the Life You’re Living, by Michelle McKinney Hammond
Sex is Not the Problem (Lust is), by Joshua Harris
Children:
Silent Night, Holy Night, narrated by Walter Cronkite (book and CD)
Christopher and His Family, by Barbara Davoll
Christopher and His Friends, by Barbara Davoll
The Mighty One and Sam, by Marjorie McKay, illustrations by Annie Vallotton (copy 2)
From the Apple to the Moon, by Annie Vallotton (copy 3)
Christian Living:
The End of Memory: Remembering Rightly in a Violent World, by Miroslav Volf
Jesus in Blue Jeans, by Laurie Beth Jones
The Church:
The Architecture of Ralph Adams Cram and His Office, by Ethan Anthony
Theology/Doctrine:
Exclusion & Embrace: A Theological Exploration of Identity, Otherness, and Reconciliation, by Miroslav Volf
Being as Communion, by John D. Zizioulas
Rediscovering the Triune God: The Trinity in Contemporary Theology, by Stanley J. Grenz
Devotionals/Prayer:
The Prayer of Jabez: Breaking Through to the Blessed Life, by Bruce H. Wilkinson (copy 2)
Video:
La Bible Dessinée et Racontée par Annie Vallotton PAL
La Bible Racontée par Annie Vallotton (Le Paralytique) PAL
The Bible Drawn and Told by Annie Vallotton (Abraham and Lot) PAL (2 copies)
The Bible Drawn and Told by Annie Vallotton (Balaam and His Donkey) PAL
The Bible Drawn and Told by Annie Vallotton (Balaam and His Donkey) NTSC
The Bible Drawn and Told by Annie Vallotton (Heli and Samuel) NTSC
The Bible Drawn and Told by Annie Vallotton (Heli and Samuel) PAL (2 copies)
The Bible Drawn and Told by Annie Vallotton (Temptations of Jesus) PAL (2 copies)
The Bible Drawn and Told by Annie Vallotton (The Good Samaritan) PAL (3 copies)
The Bible Drawn and Told by Annie Vallotton (The Paralyzed Man) PAL (2 copies)
April 2008
DVDs:
Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Pacifist, Nazi Resister (2003), zone 1
Love’s Unending Legacy (2006), zone 1
Friends and Heroes (2007), zone 1
CDs:
Awaken, by Nathalie Grant
Hosanna, by Leader Vocal
In Christ Alone, by Keith and Kristyn Getty
Touching the Father’s Heart, by Take our Lives
Invention, by Phil Keaggy, etc.
Jesus: Seigneur de la vie/Lord of Life
Fiction:
The Ruse, by Tamela Hancock Murray
Giver of Roses, by Kathleen Morgan
Leonardo’s Chair, by John DeSimone
The Pilgrim Song, by Gilbert Morris
Quest of Hope, by C. D. Baker
A Promise for Ellie, by Lauraine Snelling
Theology/Doctrine:
The Trinity and the Kingdom of God, by Jürgen Moltmann
The Peaceable Kingdom, by Stanley Hauerwas
Tokens of Trust, by Rowan Williams
Marriage/Family:
The New Hide or Seek: Building Confidence in Your Child, by Dr. James Dobson
The Comfort of Home: A Complete Guide for Caregivers, by Meyer and Derr
The Comfort of Home: Multiple Sclerosis Edition, by Meyer and Derr
The Comfort of Home for Alzheimer’s Disease, by Meyer, Mittelmann…
The Comfort of Home for Parkinson Disease, by Meyer and Derr
The Comfort of Home for Chronic Lung Disease, by Meyer and Derr
The Comfort of Home for Stroke, by Meyer and Derr
Caring for your Aging Parents, by Barbara Deane
A Family Caregiver Speaks Up, by Suzanne Geffen Mintz
A Caregiver’s Survival Guide, by Kay Marshall Strom
Youth:
Dragonfire, by Donita K. Paul
Christian Living:
Power & Passion: Six Characters in Search of Resurrection, by Samuel Wells
The Doors of the Sea: Where was God in the Tsunami? by David Bentley Hart
Acquisitions in October 2007
Children:
The Mighty One and Sam, by Marjorie McKay, illustrations by Annie Vallotton!
Good News Bible: Good Shepherd Edition, illustrations by Annie Vallotton! (2 copies)
From the Apple to the Moon, by Annie Vallotton (2 copies)
Devotionals/Prayer:
Life Training: Devotions for Parents and Teens, by Dr. Joe White
Only a Prayer Away: Finding Deeper Intimacy with God, by John Guest
Marriage/Family:
The How and Why of Home Schooling, by Ray E. Ballmann
The Church:
Major United Methodist Beliefs, by Mack B. Stokes
Bible Study:
One Anothering: Volume 2, by Rev. Richard C. Meyer
Acquisitions in September 2007
Reference:
The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language, by Eugene H. Peterson
Fiction:
Chateau of Echoes, by Siri L. Mitchell
Shepherds Abiding, by Jan Karon
Biography/Missions:
Augustine of Hippo: A Biography, by Peter Brown
Christianity/Issues:
Epicenter: Why the Current Rumblings in the Middle East will change your Future, by Joel C. Rosenberg
Divided by God: America’s Church-State Problem and What We Should Do About it, by Noah Feldman
God Laughs and Plays, by David James Duncan
Evangelism:
A Ready Defense, by Josh McDowell
Christian Living:
You Can If You Think You Can, by Norman Vincent Peale
Milk and Honey Cooking School: Learning the History of God’s People Through Cooking and Eating, by Daphna Flegal and LeeDell Stickler
After “I Believe” – Experiencing Authentic Christian Living, by Mark D. Roberts
Living the Sabbath: Discovering the Rhythms of Rest and Delight, by Norman Wirzba (recommended by Pastor Sarah Sours)
The Glorious Pursuit: Embracing the Virtues of Christ, by Gary L. Thomas
The Great Omission: Reclaiming Jesus’s Essential Teachings on Discipleship, by Dallas Willard (recommended by Pastor Alex Aronis)
Marriage/Family:
Mixed Matches, by Joel Crohn, Ph. D. (recommended by the Multicultural Couples)
Intercultural Marriage: Promises and Pitfalls, by Dugan Romano (recommended by the Multicultural Couples)
Theology/Doctrine:
Finding God in the Questions: A Personal Journey, by Dr. Timothy Johnson (recommended by Pastor Ken Stenman)
The Language of God, by Francis S. Collins (recommended by Pastor Ken Stenman)
The Case for a Creator, by Lee Strobel
Jesus and the Eyewitnesses: The Gospels as Eyewitness Testimony, by Richard Bauckham
Youth:
Left Behind >The Kids<, Nos. 1-6 (The Vanishings; Second Chance; Through the Flames; Facing the Future; Nicolae High; The Underground), by Jerry B. Jenkins and Tim LaHaye
Cassie, You’re a Winner!, by Renée Kent
DVDs:
Luther (2003), zone 1
Love Comes Softly (2003), zone 1
Love’s Abiding Joy (2006), zone 1
Mass in B Minor by J.S. Bach, all zones
Videos:
Adventures in Odyssey: The Caves of Qumran AND In the Nick of Time
CDs:
Glad: The Acapella Project
Credo: Enfants d’Abraham
DVDs:
Amazing Grace (2007)
Acquisitions in June 2007
Marriage/Family:
The Power of a Parent’s Words, by Norman H. Wright
The Church:
In the Ruins of the Church: Sustaining Faith in an Age of Diminished Christianity, by R. R. Reno
Christian Living:
The Spirit of the Disciplines, by Dallas Willard
Recent Reviews
The End of Memory: Remembering Rightly in a Violent World
by Miroslav Volf
Reviewed by Peter Bannister (June 2008)
In recent years the Croatian Pentecostal theologian Miroslav Volf (formerly of Fuller Theological Seminary and currently Henry B. Wright Professor at Yale Divinity School where he heads the Yale Center for Faith and Culture) has emerged as one of the leading Christian thinkers on issues such as conflict, forgiveness and reconciliation between individuals and communities. The End of Memory follows on from his excellent Free of Charge, a meditation for believers and seekers alike on the inter-personal and societal implications of divine Grace for today's world. Volf's new book draws powerfully on the author's first-hand experience of oppression as the target of sustained interrogation during his enforced military service in the Yugoslav army in 1984. Reflecting on his subjection to intense pyschological intimidation, the author asks searching questions whose continued relevance needs no underscoring in an age marred by planetary violence, ethnic strife and systemic oppression. To what extent can or should experiences of suffered injustice be made 'meaningful'? Where is the dividing-line between a proper and healthy use of memory in order to claim redress for the victims of wrongdoing and the unhelpful nurturing of historical grievances that can in turn make future oppressors out of those formerly persecuted? How can victims ensure that they themselves remember their suffering 'justly' without vilifying or dehumanizing their oppressors?
Volf proceeds to discuss the Exodus and Christ's Passion as foundational narratives remembered by Jews and Christians, examining the Biblical witness and its interpretation in terms of the use and misuse of memory. He emphasizes that 'communities of sacred memory are, at their best, schools of right remembering', stressing that a commitment to recalling past sin in the interest of opposing wrongdoing needs to be placed in the service of reconciliation, the formation of a forgiving community of love.
The book's third section, 'How long should we remember?' deals not so much with memory as with forgetting and its vital role in shaping human personality in response to lived experience. Entering into creative dialogue with thinkers such as Kierkegaard and Ricoeur as well as the more secular perspectives of Freud and Nietzsche, Volf looks forward to the eternal kingdom of love promised by the New Testament, a world in which the fullness of God's transforming presence will not only put all things to right but ensure that the wrongs of human history will no longer 'come to mind'.
Miroslav Volf is always thought-provoking and sometimes controversial, for example in seeking to nuance (though by no means to dismiss) the calls for perpetual memory of crimes against humanity of figures such as Elie Wiesel, or in suggesting that even Christ's crucifixion may not be an eternally remembered event in the next life. Volf appeals to Dante's image in the Divine Trilogy of two rivers: Lethe - the river of forgetting - and Eunoe - the stream which can restore the 'recall of each good deed', both of whose waters must be drunk before the soul enters Paradise. He argues that the Christian vision is one that offers a unique promise of perfect and eternal reconciliation. The End of Memory is however not primarily concerned with theory or speculation about the after-life; perhaps the most powerful section of the book is the concluding section in which he conducts a 'thought-experiment' suggesting how possible healing of his relationship with Captain G, his interrogator of the 1980s, might come about in the light of the Gospel.
This is not a book to offer platitudes or simple solutions to problems whose complexity Volf is at pains to acknowledge. He does not shy from challenging some fundamental assumptions of modern religious as well as secular culture in a way that some may find intensely uncomfortable. Yet for a penetrating, Spirit-filled and personally engaged analysis of some of the burning questions of our time, The End of Memory is essential reading.
Jesus and the Eyewitness
by Richard Bauckham
Reviewed by Peter Bannister (June 2008)
Hailed as one of the most significant works in the field of New Testament studies in recent years, Jesus and the Eyewitnesses by Professor Richard Bauckham of St Andrews University (Scotland) is certainly a monumental piece of scholarship. However, its importance arguably lies not so much in its undoubtedly impressive marshalling of historical source material as in its chief contention - that the New Testament Gospel records are far closer to the eyewitness reports stemming from the circle of Jesus's disciples than is often assumed by modern historico-critical exegesis. Mounting a persuasive case against the view that the Gospel narratives are so heavily embroidered by the first Christian communities as to render their factual basis effectively inaccessible, Bauckham uses the latest research into first-century near-Eastern literary conventions in order to assert that the substance of the apostolic witness to Jesus was carefully guarded by the early church, which saw fidelity to that witness as vitally important. Crucially, he contends that the concept of eyewitness testimony is fundamental to the New Testament. Far from being less reliable than 'impartial' neutral observation, engaged testimony ought to be seen as the most appropriate literary genre for capturing the response to extraordinary events, the prime example being the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
In opposing the trends prevalent in much late twentieth-century writing on the New Testament influenced by the methodology of Form Criticism, Professor Bauckham's work has sparked considerable controversy. Without specialist knowledge of the ancient sources cited it is difficult to evaluate the scholarly merits of his endeavor. However, this book is a precious resource for anyone interested in seeking harmony between Christian faith and modern critical inquiry; Bauckham's approach provides inspiring evidence for the assertion that, if we are serious about claiming that Jesus is Truth itself, Christian conviction has nothing to fear from the proper pursuit of academic research. At over 500 pages, Jesus and the Eyewitnesses is definitely not a casual read (it took two months of serious study for me to finish it!). However, it offers rich rewards in return for patient effort on the part of the reader. This is fides quaerens intellectum (St Anselm's famous phrase for "faith seeking understanding") at its best.
The Great Omission
by Dallas Willard
Reviewed by MaryClaire King (February 2008)
After watching Christa Lesté-Lasserre’s excellent play about the history of the American Church during the 150th anniversary weekend last fall, I found myself often meditating upon the challenges that must have faced Dr. John McClintock, the pastor who had the ominous task of leading and uniting the American Church in Paris through the years of the American Civil War. It is easy to imagine the painful divisions that must have pierced the congregation and the high price that church members must have paid in their lives and their families for their beliefs. It is far more difficult to imagine how those differences were overcome in this congregation in order to maintain one body in Christ. As I read a book recently acquired by the lending library, however, I began to have an idea of the answer.
The book is The Great Omission by Dallas Willard, a professor of philosophy at UCLA and one of the most influential theologians writing today. In this collection of previously published articles, Willard lays out his belief that the major failing of churches today is that they have misinterpreted the Great Commission. Instead of following Christ’s mandate, churches have settled for making Christians, as if discipleship was optional.
With his skills as a logician, Willard outlines the weakness of this approach, which restricts the gospel to the domain of sin alone and fails to recognize Christ as Lord and Authority over all aspects of life and knowledge. He points out that Grace is opposed to earning but not to effort. The book goes on to cover a detailed discussion on becoming an apprentice to Christ through Spiritual formation and discipleship and includes reviews of several other books that readers can reference. For, as Willard notes, “obedience [to Christ] is the only thing which can overcome the divisions imposed by differences in doctrine, ritual, and heritage.”
Christ the Lord, Out of Egypt
by Anne Rice
Review by Kerry Lieury (September 2007)
If you are like me and you recognize Anne Rice as the author of the vampire books, you would be a bit surprised to see her latest title, Christ the Lord, Out of Egypt. But a lot has changed in her life since those earlier books. She has become a Christian after years of being an atheist and has put her research and writing skills to work to discover who was and who is Jesus Christ.
If you are looking for action, this is not the book for you.
If you would like to understand Jesus better, especially his Jewish roots, this book offers excellent insight. You'll gain a better understanding of not only the political and social climate, but also the daily life of Jesus and his family--what they ate and what they wore, how they lived. You can imagine Jesus at seven years old, trying to understand who he is, as little by little his own story is revealed to him, until finally he understands and accepts his identity, the Son of God.
If you would like to submit a review of an article available in the Lending Library, or if you have other comments or questions about the lending library, please contact Paula Taquet-Woolfolk or inquire at the library desk during opening hours. You may also leave a note for librarians at the reception desk during the church's opening hours.