Presbyterian Outlook's Page Turners - Laying the groundwork for Advent 📚

How to lay the groundwork for Advent Dear Outlook Readers,   As we head into the season of festive meals, some of us come with excitement (Family! Friends! Overflowing tables!) while others are more reserved. So our Book of the Month is a deck of cards intended to spark conversation around the dinner table.   A few years ago we covered the Day by Day Deck, a whimsical introduction to Visio Divina (seeing with God), also intended for daily family use. These kinds of resources are invaluable for everyone, offering individuals a reflection prompt and groups a way into deeper conversation.     Holiday nostalgia can create an openness to deeper conversations and a willingness to try something new — check out Everyday Faith Moments below.   Happy Reading,    Amy Pagliarella  Book Review Editor   P.S.: Prepping for Advent? Last month’s Advent Webinar is available on demand here, and covers many recent releases (as well as some favorites from prior years). Perfect for those seeking materials for small groups, worship, or personal devotions.    And, Dear Pastor: Advent Letters, the Outlook’s Advent devotional, is available now We also have several liturgies available — from Advent wreath lighting to Blue Christmas to a simple Christmas pageant.   Browse all Advent resources BOOK OF THE MONTH Everyday Faith Moments: Simple practices for forming faith at home PC(USA)    Advertised for “ages 5 to 105,” Everyday Faith Moments is a simple concept: A “deck” of cards, each with a Bible passage and an activity. Part of the denomination’s “Around the Table” project, each box of cards is made to sit on the dinner table and to fit into the rhythm of daily life.    Questions are organized around the categories “Ordinary Days, Significant Moments, and Sabbaths” — this flexible approach allows kids to pick a card at random and follow the prompt. A final category, “Sacred Celebrations,” includes cards for All Saints Day, Advent, Christmas and beyond. Parents looking to introduce a new Advent tradition around the dinner table will find this one accessible and meaningful, and the format makes it easy to continue into the new year.    Everyday Faith Moments worked nicely with my teenagers and I could imagine it working even better with younger children; ideally, parents would introduce this to their preschool/kindergarten aged kids and the conversations would deepen over many years of use.    It’s also made its way into a parent group I lead at church. We’ll use the questions in pairs or small groups, modeling a practice they can take home. I’ve worked with children and families for nearly 20 years, and I’ve learned there’s no perfect resources. But families that set an intention to deepen faith formation at home will find Everyday Faith Moments a welcome addition to the table, carpool line, bus stop or anywhere they find themselves.  QUOTE OF THE MONTH “Yet we’ve allowed the ‘best’ of our pastoral practices to be measured by their ability to bring resource growth. The ‘best’ pastors and congregations are growing, producing. But following such logic — considering the growth of resources to be our highest good — leads us to take on the yoke of Baal…we’ve become prisoners of a late-form capitalist idea which asserts that stability is dependent on continual growth…”  Baal and the Gods of More: Rescuing Church Growth from Idolatry Andrew Root Baker Academic, 268 pages Published April 21, 2026 Book lovers in Chicagoland! Come join us for an evening with Kate Bowler and Shelby Van Pelt! Book Giveaway!  Congratulations to Page Turners reader Martha Jordan, who received a copy of last month’s quoted book, Gifts of the Mother, generously donated by our friends at Broadleaf Books.    A lucky reader, selected at random, will receive a copy of this month’s selection, kindly offered by our friends at Baker Academic.    If you’re reading this note, then you’re all set!  Know someone else who should be reading Page Turners? Send them this link, and they’ll get entered for a chance to win, too. The contest closes November 16.  OTHER READS Weathering the Storm: Navigating the Anti-Social Justice Wave Tiffany G. Townsend’s "Weathering the Storm" addresses the obstruction of social progress and offers several paths towards healing. Veronica Johnson offers a review. At This Time: Dialogues in Theological Education What does theological education look like beyond enrollment and budgets? Amy Pagliarella explores the answers in "At This Time." Paul and John in Harmony What if John influenced Paul? Eric C. Garner reviews Michael J. Gorman’s “Paul and John in Harmony,” a book that invites readers to find fresh beauty in treasured texts.