Academy #44 Reading List

Reading assignments from faculty of Academy #44 hosted in Nauvoo, Alabama at Camp McDowell. Books are added when received from faculty presenters. Please check back frequently for new book additions.

Session One: October 26 – 31, 2026

Attentiveness to the Word – Juan Carlos Huertas

1. This Here Flesh by Cole Arthur Riley
2. Things Hidden: Scripture As Spirituality by Richard Rohr

Traditions of Christian Spirituality – Amy Oden

1. Streams of Living Water by Richard Foster 
2. Our Unforming: De-Westernizing Spiritual Formation by Cindy Lee 

Session Two: January 25 – 30, 2027

Spiritual Disciplines - Justin Coleman

1. The Spirit of the Disciplines by Dallas Willard
2. Fire in the Soul by Justin Coleman (to be published February 2027 but access to early copies will be made available for participants)

Optional/Suggested Reading

1. God’s Voice Within by Mark Thibodeaux 
2. Joy Unspeakable: Contemplative Practices of the Black Church by Dr. Barbara A. Holmes 
3. Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life by Donald S. Whitney 

Hebrew Spirituality - Jerry Webber

1. Spirituality of the Psalms by Walter Brueggemann
2. Opening to You: Zen-Inspired Translations of the Psalms by Norman Fischer

Optional/Suggested Reading

1. Praying the Psalms: Engaging Scripture and the Life of the Spirit by Walter Brueggemann
2. Psalms for Praying: An Invitation to Wholeness by Nan C. Merrill

Session Three: April 19 – 24, 2027

Orthodox Spirituality - Fr. John Mefrige

1. The Orthodox Way by Kallistos (Timothy) Ware
2. The Face of God: An Introduction to Eastern Spirituality by Joseph Raya

Session Four: August 9 – 14, 2027

New Testament Spirituality - Shively Smith

1. The New Testament: A Very Short Introduction by Luke Timothy Johnson

2. Reading Howard Thurman by Shively Smith

Prayer and the Art of Discernment - Robin Dease

1. The Way of Discernment by Elizabeth Liebert

2. Putting on the Mind of Christ by James E. Woods

Optional/Suggested Reading

1. Listening to God by Gordon T. Smith

Session Five: November 1 – 6, 2027

Spirituality and Embodiment - Claire McKeever-Burgett

1. What I Wish Were True by Tallu Schuyler Quinn

2. The Body is Not an Apology by Sonya Renee Taylor

Optional/Suggested Reading

1. Blessed Are the Women by Claire McKeever-Burgett
2. In the Beginning Were the Women by Claire McKeever-Burgett

Session Six: January 24 – 29, 2028 

Spirituality and Ways of Healing - Beth A. Richardson 

1. My Grandmother's Hands by Resmaa Menakem

2. Davida Angelica Roared by Beth A. Richardson 

Session Seven: April 24 – 29, 2028

Christian Spirituality in the Global Context - Phuc Luu

1. Jesus of the East by Phuc Luu

2. God of the Oppressed by James H. Cone

Session Eight: August 7 – 12, 2028

Bearing Witness to the Reign of God in the World - Pat Luna 

1. Jesus and the Disinherited by Howard Thurman

2. Being Christian by Rowan Williams 

Reading for additional faculty sessions to be announced.