Cokesbury has invited Bishop Shelton to share her book recommendations online, and once again, there will be a table of free books at the Greenville Convention Center for attendees to Annual Conference.
Bishop’s Book Recommendations
Bishop Connie Mitchell Shelton chose several books to recommend for this year’s Annual Conference. These books can be purchased from Cokesbury and borrowed from the NC Conference Media Center.
Cokesbury has additional book and supply recommendations for Annual Conference on their website.
The Art of Hospitality: A Practical Guide for a Ministry of Radical Welcome by Yvonne Gentile & Debi Nixon. Create a culture of radical hospitality that surprises and delights guests beyond their expectations. This guide is designed to permeate your entire church with common language around the ministry of welcome, hospitality, visitor care, outreach connections, and membership.
An Aura of Hope: United Methodism’s Next Chapter in the United States by Lovett H. Weems, Jr. Written with both clergy and laity in mind, this book equips United Methodist leaders at all levels with the tools and vision needed to engage their changing context and pursue faithful next steps for their congregations and annual conferences.
Beacon of Hope: Your Guide to Reaching, Witnessing, and Welcoming New People by Ken Willard. Beacon of Hope is an inspiring and practical guidebook for pastors, church leaders, and congregations eager to revitalize their ministries by embracing the call to reach out, invite, and warmly welcome new people into the life of the church.
Beyond Welcome: Centering Immigrants in our Christian Response to Immigration by Karen González. González draws from the Bible and her own experiences to examine why the traditional approach to immigration ministries and activism is at best incomplete and at worst harmful. She helps readers grow in discipleship and recognize themselves in their immigrant neighbors.
The Bible and Borders: Hearing God’s Word on Immigration by M. Daniel Carroll R. Leading Latino-American biblical scholar M. Daniel Carroll R. (Rodas) helps readers understand what the Bible says about immigration, offering accessible, nuanced, and sympathetic guidance for the church.
Building Beloved Community: The Courage to Love in the Face of Tyranny by The United Methodist Council of Bishops. This call to action from the United Methodist Council of Bishops, equips readers with theological insight, practical strategies, and inspiring global stories to resist division and foster connection.
First Nations Version: An Indigenous Translation of the New Testament. The First Nations Version (FNV) recounts the Creator’s Story–the Christian Scriptures–following the tradition of Native storytellers’ oral cultures. This way of speaking, with its simple yet profound beauty and rich cultural idioms, still resonates in the hearts of First Nations people.
Fresh Expressions of the Rural Church by Michael Adam Beck and Tyler Kleeberger. Can rural congregations flourish again? This book lays out a fresh theology for rural life and offers principles for harnessing the potential of what some consider the forgotten spaces.
Knowing Who We Are: The Wesleyan Way of Grace: What We Believe, What We Do, and Why by Laceye C. Warner. Warner invites you to a richer understanding of Wesleyan Christianity so you can have a clear sense of identity, better express your own beliefs, and deepen your connection with The United Methodist Church.
No Longer Strangers: Transforming Evangelism with Immigrant Communities edited by Eugene Cho and Samira Izadi Page. Diverse voices lay out a vision for a healthier evangelism that can honor the most vulnerable—many of whom have lived through trauma, oppression, persecution, and the effects of colonialism—while foregrounding the message of the gospel.
Silver Linings: A Memoir by Leonard E. Fairley. In this riveting, inspiring, and heartwrenching coming-of-age account, United Methodist Bishop Leonard E. Fairley recounts his upbringing through the eyes of a young boy who discovers that even the unpredictable nature of everyday life is a woven tapestry held together by God’s providence.
Social Principles of The United Methodist Church 2025-2028. Packed with the official text of The Social Principles, exercises, a topical index, and the Social Creed, this resource is your key to understanding the church’s stance on crucial topics.
Unrelenting Grace: A United Methodist Way of Life by Kenneth H. Carter, Jr. Through this book, United Methodists will rediscover, redefine, and reclaim our core values of grace, holiness, and connection, which pull and prod our hearts closer together in relentless love.
Free Books at AC!
Make sure you stop by the free books table during Annual Conference. There will be lots of free books, studies, DVDs, and curricula for you to pick up and take with you. Visit early and often. Bring a box or bag to load up!
The giveaway tables will be located in the front hallway. After you enter the Greenville Convention Center, turn left down the hallway. You will see the tables in the hall on the way to the concession stand on the corner.
These giveaways are a mix of donations that cannot be added to the Media Center and items that have been removed from the collection to make room for new additions. There will be books, DVDs, small-group studies, curriculum kits, youth ministry resources, children’s resources, and more.
If you have resources to donate to the free books table, please bring them as early as possible, beginning on Wednesday. If no one is staffing the table, place your items on top of or next to the table.