Keeping the faith

Book discussion group ponders many topics

NEW HAVEN - Center Church on the Green, a congregation of the United Church of Christ, will sponsor a new session of Faith Forum, a weekly book discussion group starting at 10 a.m. July 15 in the Parish House library at 311 Temple St. Faith Forum is free and open to the public will include discussion of timely books and topics, said Center Church pastor, the Rev. Sandra Olsen.

The July Faith Forum will examine the book, "Christianity for the Rest of Us" by Diana Butler Ross.

Copies of the book are available in the church office. "Though we have all heard about the rapid rise of evangelical congregations, there are main line Protestant churches which are also vital and growing," Olsen said in a prepared statement. "Main line churches are often portrayed in the media as dying, because they are too theologically liberal, or hang on to a past tradition that seems outdated. But in this book the author shows that main line Protestantism is alive and well, growing and vital."

The book group recently finished "Terror in the Mind of God," a book about the rise of religious violence. Faith Forum also recently tackled C.S. Lewis’ "The Problem of Pain," a book about Lewis’ struggle with the age-old question of pain, as well as Huston Smith’s "The Religions of Man," Harold Kushner’s "Living a Life that Matters," and "What Went Wrong," by Bernard Lewis" about the fragmenting of the relationship between Islam and the West. Center Church on the Green has been on the New Haven Green for the past 370 years and is a registered New Haven Connecticut Landmark. The church is well known for its crypt, which is built over a small portion of the town’s burial ground and includes 137 famous gravestones of New Haven ‘s founders and earliest citizens dating back to 1687. The Church is actively involved in its community, offering space and assistance to the Downtown Evening Soup Kitchen, as well as being involved in Columbus House, Hill Health Center’s The Baby’s Closet, and Christian Community Action & AIDS Interfaith Network. For more information about the church or services, visit NewHavenCenterChurch.org or call (203)787-0121.