Erin Wasinger, Author at year of small things

5 Small Things you don’t want to miss

January 18, 2017January 17, 2017Erin Wasinger

Friends, we present you today with 5 small things you won’t want to miss sharing, reading, listening to, or participating in before The Year of Small Things‘s launch day (in two weeks!!).

The feeling of “is this really happening” met its apex last week when at our weekly dinner with the Arthurs, YoST marketing guru and our project editor surprised us with dessert and copies of The Year of Small Things: Radical Faith for the Rest of Us. The! Real! Book! Soon you’ll have your own in hand … Ah, that new-book smell.

Erin’s mom, Phyllis, cradled her latest grandchild last weekend on a visit to Lansing. Erin made her leave the book here. #buyyourown #jk #ErinalreadyhasaMothersDaygiftidea

OK, small talk over. Let’s get to those 5 things:

Dudes, Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove’s on the NEW Small Things podcast! Sarah and I interviewed him about his upcoming visit to our home church, Sycamore Creek Church, in Lansing, Mich. Listen to a preview of what he’ll be sharing with our church and guests at the link above or in the player to the right —>
Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove
Plan on joining Sycamore Creek in a workshop on this new monasticism thing, community, and hospitality! The basics: Sunday, Jan. 29, 9:30 and 11 AM worship service with Sarah & special guest Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove. Then, 12:30 — Lunch and Jonathan’s workshop. Be there! (More details here.)
Join the discussion about the Year of Small Things with our Facebook group. Fill that puppy with questions, conversation starters, your #yearofsmallthings photos and more. Sarah and I frequent the page and we love to interact with our readers.
We’re just beginning to get requests for book signings and author events. We’re keeping you in the know on our calendar here (and below). To request us to speak, visit, smile-and-be-friendly, talk, etc., fill out this Year of Small Things Speaker Request form.
Have you pre-ordered your copy (and asked friends to)? All our pre-ordering folks get a special gift from our team: a Small Things companion calendar. Details here.

Preorder ‘Small Things,’ get a free calendar

January 12, 2017Erin Wasinger

Really good things come to those who pre-order The Year of Small Things: Radical Faith for the Rest of Us. The creative folks at our publisher (high-five Brazos Press) have created a companion calendar specially for those who order a copy of the book before launch day on Jan. 31.

The calendar begins in February and asks questions that complement each month of small things in the book.

Because this is a book that engages different topics in (small) ways over a year, the calendar’s a perfect way to keep your eye — and time — focused on what God’s doing in your life. Plus, the questions make for conversation starters or journal prompts, prompting self-reflection about tough topics like money, social justice, and more.

Getting the calendar for free download is simple. Just fill out the form and we’ll handle the rest.

<a href="https://bakerpublishinggroup.wufoo.com/forms/x12dixp20haztiy/">Fill out my Wufoo form!</a>

Hey Michigan, meet Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove

January 9, 2017January 6, 2017Erin Wasinger

Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove will be coming to Lansing, Mich., to join Erin and Sarah’s church community in a conversation about hospitality, new monasticism, and The Year of Small Things.

Jonathan — who penned the foreword for The Year of Small Things — will join Sycamore Creek Church Sunday, Jan. 29, in opening its five-week series on the book’s themes. He’ll join us at SC’s South Lansing location during worship for a discussion with Sarah Arthur about covenantal friendship. A similar message by Erin Wasinger will be held that same morning at SC’s Potterville campus.

At 12:30 p.m. our venue at 1919 S Pennsylvania Ave., Jonathan will then lead a workshop that will dive deeper on practices such as hospitality and community. Join us for this one-time opportunity to hear from one of the voices who influence Sarah and Erin thanks to his leadership in new monasticism.

(Fun fact: Jonathan’s The Wisdom of Stability is the book that started Sarah’s and Erin’s discussion about the feasibility of new monasticism in our own lives. Geek moment.)

Jonathan is a celebrated spiritual author and sought-after speaker. In 2003, Jonathan and his wife Leah founded the Rutba House, in Durham, N.C., a house of hospitality where the formerly homeless are welcomed into a community that eats, prays, and shares life together. Jonathan directs the School for Conversion, an organization that has grown out of the life of Rutba House to pursue beloved community with kids in their neighborhood, through classes in North Carolina prisons, and in community-based education around the country. He is also an Associate Minister at the historically black St. Johns Missionary Baptist Church.

Jonathan is a co-compiler of the celebrated Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals, and is the author of several books on Christian spirituality, including The Awakening of Hope, The Wisdom of Stability, and The New Monasticism. Bio courtesy of his website.

Admission is free, but a freewill offering will be taken toward event costs.

***

At Sycamore Creek Church you’ll hear great music and practical, understandable teaching all in an informal setting. Read: Engaging messages, Paramount Coffee bar, a professionally staffed nursery, and a great kids’ program = the best way to spend a Sunday. We are one church in multiple locations:

Sundays @ S Lansing (1919 S Penn, Lansing) – 9:30 & 11 AM

Sundays @ Potterville (105 N Church St, Potterville) – Traditional Worship @ 9 AM. Contemporary Worship and Potterville Kids and Nursery @ 11 AM

Mondays @ Buddies (Holt & Aurelius Rds, Holt) – 5:30 & 7 PM. Free burger and fries for first and second-time guests.

Year of Small Things: Graphics to share

December 26, 2016December 26, 2016Erin Wasinger

About a month from now The Year of Small Things: Radical Faith for the Rest of Us will hit bookstores and mailboxes (eep!). To celebrate, we present this — our first set of shareable graphics for you to paper the Internets in.

Send these graphics whirling around the Twittersphere, bloggosphere, Facebookland, or wherever else you cool cats are hanging out nowadays. Heck, print one and tack it on your fridge. Or your church’s fridge. We have faith your creativity will guide you.

We appreciate your help spreading some of our words. May they spark conversations and imaginations in others as we start to think about our 2017s.

To use: Click the image you want to share — a new page will open with just the image you chose. Right-click and save. Share. Repeat!

Remember to use the hashtag #yearofsmallthings wherever you’re posting!

Thanks for sharing the Small Things love!

Erin & Sarah

Preorder, watch trailer for ‘Year of Small Things’

December 2, 2016December 2, 2016Erin Wasinger

The Year of Small Things: Radical Faith for the Rest of Us — releasing Jan. 31, 2017 — is almost here! Want the book in your hand or on your Kindle when it releases? Preorder your copy from a favorite retailer and The Year of Small Things will be yours on the same day it’s released into the wild.

Preorders also make great Christmas gifts — and to give someone something to unwrap on Christmas morning, we’re offering an incentive.

BONUS: Those who already have or will preorder our book receive in January a free download for a printable, artistic-quality calendar! Simply fill out the form with your purchase information below.

Consider the calendar our invitation for you to embark on your own Year of Small Things in 2017!

(At right is a “conceptual preview,” meaning the image and typography might be slightly different.)

Watch our book trailer above to hear more about the authors’ year of small things — and start imagining what God might have in mind for your small things!

<a href="https://bakerpublishinggroup.wufoo.com/forms/x12dixp20haztiy/">Fill out my Wufoo form!</a>

Year of Small Things: 10 things to know

November 29, 2016November 29, 2016Erin Wasinger

Where did the idea for The Year of Small Things come from?

As Sarah tells in more detail in The Year of Small Things: Radical Faith for the Rest of Us, when she and Tom transitioned from a “new monastic” community in the inner city (a Christian household that included homeless guests) to a suburban parsonage, they struggled to translate their former “radical” practices into their new not-so-radical setting.

Mapping out the Year of Small Things

October 4, 2016November 4, 2016Erin Wasinger

Early summer, two years ago:

I (Sarah) pitched an idea to our two families: what if we all took some of the “radical” Christian practices touted by folks like Shane Claiborne and his community The Simple Way and spent a year growing into them? Can downward mobility for Jesus actually happen with debt and diapers and dishes–in suburbia?

Here’s what this looks like on the ground:

Let’s change the world! But first, naps

September 26, 2016November 4, 2016Erin Wasinger

We had found our church; we had met Tom and Sarah and a slew of other friendly folks there.

But it took us a while to get from acquaintances to deeper friendships.

See, The Year of Small Things’s backbone was a relationship between our two families that went beyond a friendship based on mutual interests. After months of figuring out what to even name this relationship, we settled on “covenantal friendship.” Covenantal because we actually ratified a document between our families. The piece of paper bound us to uphold, support, and challenge each other. Covenantal is serious business.