Dead Theologians Society

I have a weekly meeting with my friend Jake.  We usually gather for coffee on Tuesday mornings.  Conversations range from literature, music, cultural trends, presentation planning, married life, church-planting, why this might be THE year for the Cubs, and the deliciousness of Mello Yello Zero.

A few weeks ago we kicked around the possibility of having a summer reading book club with youth from our two churches.  We called it "Dead Theologians Society" - a blatant rip-off from this Oscar-winning film.  The purpose would be to introduce young people to scholarly works written 50+ years ago.

We were excited about this new thing, so we got to work on some promotional materials.  After some rudimentary attempts at creating a logo, we both looked up at each other and uttered the same word:

SOUPISET!


Paul Soupiset is the brilliant artist at Toolbox Studios who designed the fantastic re:form confirmation videos as well as Jake's tattoo.  We thought his particular style would provide the perfect logo for this project.  Graciously, he agreed.  He created and sent it to us within a day.  What a cool cat!

With our logo in tow, we were ready to invite people to participate.  We put the word out via Facebook, newsletters, special emails, and a barrage of text messages.  Obviously, not every person (regardless of age) is super excited to read Bonhoeffer, Newbigin, etc., but there were several young people who responded enthusiastically.  It seems that teenagers take theology seriously and are interested in gathering in public places for these conversations.  Who knew!?

We're off to a good start, reading Life Together.  Summer schedules are sometimes hit-or-miss, so we're offering two sessions a week.  Even if a person can't make it a week or two, they can keep up with the reading schedule and check in with the group periodically.  We're also hoping to generate some conversation on our Facebook page...so feel free to weigh in.