As you know, we are a small-town bricks-and-mortar store and we do not have our ever-changing inventory online. We do send out weekly BookNotes columns which offer lists and reviews, my reflections, and discount deals on most titles we announce. Those old BookNotes are all archived at our website and searchable and make for a lot of interesting reading for those who like to browse through book descriptions that don’t come from a faceless, corporate algorithm that doesn’t really care anything about you (or the books they burp out at you.) We are proud of BookNotes, quirks and flaws and all. But I know some wish for more.

As I will describe below, there is a refreshed version of a supplemental website that we created a year ago which we have updated and expanded. We’d love for you to peruse it. Let us tell you about it and the promo code we created just for you to get 20% off.

 

This is an important BookNotes post, but it will be short. Short and sweet. Or a dangerous bookish temptation if you want to look at it like that. In any case, this is a fabulous way to see a bit more of our selections here at the shop by visiting a special website that we created and using a promo code to get 20% off.

If you have followed us for long, you know about the college ministry conference in Pittsburgh called Jubilee. You may know that Beth and I worked for the CCO and served on the committee helping with the early Jubilee conferences in Pittsburgh (back in the late 1970s.) In recent decades we have served as the conference bookseller. It is by far the largest off-site event we do. We have to take a lot of books to Jubilee each year — it is, after all, about Christ’s Lordship over all of life and God’s power to bring hope and transformation to every square inch of the good but fallen creation and all that implies for faith’s impact in every sphere of society. Sometimes, Western Pennsylvania adults would swing by just to browse at the crowded pop-up book display. We took so much to Jubilee that many people thought we brought most of our store. (The sign below was a cheat-sheet for us, listing our numbered categories of topics. Whoah.)

Like last year, Jubilee 2022 was held virtually with college students signing up to watch any time this month. Most enjoyed it from their respective campuses the day of the conference but you know how these online events can linger. Some are enjoying more workshops than they ever would if there were just there for the in-person weekend. Kudos to the terrific CCO staff who figure out creative ways to do ministry on campus, even in these complicated times, and even have fun getting unchurched kids to attend and get in on the very good (virtual) good news.

A REAL ONLINE BOOKSTORE          To try to duplicate our hefty presence at the previous conferences — offering a rare mix of resources to help students take the Jubilee vision back to their home campuses and job sites and churches — we created an online, e-commerce bookstore related specifically to the 2022 “Transform Everything” Jubilee conference. It’s a typical point and click affair and it has the US Postal shipping amount calculated automatically. It’s a bit too impersonal for our tastes (trying to redeem the online sales process with more personal emails and person-to-person interaction as we typically do) but it is efficient and handy. We think it’s pretty dang awesome. You should pay it a visit. Enter that Hearts & Minds online Jubilee Bookstore here.

You can browse through my short descriptions of hundreds of titles, specially chosen for that Jubilee event that highlights how to think faithfully about society and culture, about vocation and work, about integrating Christian faith into every career and calling. We show books on health care, business, film, technology, agriculture, education, science, art, business, sociology, urban planning, environmental science, psychology, law, special education, sports and outdoor experiences, economics, politics, history, philosophy, music, literature, higher education, blue collar trades, and more — all next to books for those preparing for careers in ministry, theology, and church work. Naturally we have some daily devotionals, books about prayer, and essential reads on race and racism, poverty and justice ministry, creation care, and thinking about the best Christian postures towards cultural engagement and evaluating the ethos of the times.

Of course have a section of books written by some of the speakers for the event (such as Ashlee Eiland, Curt Thompson, Bryan Loritts, Vincent Bacote, William Romanowski, Justin McRoberts, Vince Bantu, Michael Ware…)

I did three fast-paced videoed book announcements so we have those titles listed in three categories. We created some interesting suggestions that follow-up on the four main keynote addresses from the main stage — creation, fall, redemption, restoration. You can see each in their own categories. And there are another 50 “rooms” you can visit at the site, each selected for these eager-to-learn young adults.  Enter that online store right here:  https://heartsandmindsbooks.square.site/

Featuring books in each of these 60 rooms/categories allows us to show off many of our favorite titles. Some are simple and introductory, others more complex and sophisticated. We even have a category of especially provocative and serious reads which we saddled with the generic phrase “thought-provoking.” Actually a lot of these great books are thought-provoking. And could be life changing.

The CCO’s Jubilee conference has been a flagship event that reminds us, year after year, of the things we care about most — generous, Biblical faith, lively piety, relevant discipleship, life-long learning with an all-of-life-redeemed theology that refuses false dualisms between soul and body, sacred and secular, grace and nature, Sunday and Monday, prayer and politics, liturgy and life. It all matters to God (Colossians 1:15 – 20) and we think one of our bookstore’s wheelhouses is introducing resources to help ordinary folks live out the public implications of our deepest convictions. We want to help people live, as Steve Garber puts it in his small book, a “seamless life.”

There are no discounts shown at the Hearts & Minds Jubilee Bookstore website, but if you enter this PROMO CODE –  H&M20% we will deduct 20% off your whole order.

That promo code has to be entered precisely: H&M20% with no spaces.

(We know that some Hearts & Minds customers prefer to be billed so you can pay by check later. That’s helpful for us, actually, so if you want to browse that Jubilee online store and come back to our regular order form page at our website and ask us to just bill you, that works, too. We’re flexible. As always, send an email or call if you have any questions.)

This limited, pop-up, on-line, e-commerce H&M website does not replace our standard website with its secure order form and an interactive place to order anything and to select payment and shipping options. This new Jubilee-inspired supplemental online store doesn’t (by far) show our full inventory — not at all. But it does curate and arrange by category some titles you might not know about, all offered, firstly, for these college students that are attending the 2022 virtual Jubilee conference. It was created to supplement that event for those folks, but we very heartily invite you to check it out. We think you’ll be fascinated. Please?

For what it is worth, it is not too late to sign up to take in the four big Jubilee talks, my three book announcements, some inspiring creative videos made for the event, fabulous contemporary worship music, and dozens of workshops, recorded live via Zoom, but still accessible or everything from health care to civil rights, from being creative to seeking community, from citizenship to rest, with other workshops for teachers, engineers, doctors, entrepreneurs, social workers, etc. Let me tell you, Heather Strong Moore’s final talk on “restoration” was one of the best such talks in the history of Jubilee, and worth the entire price of the conference to watch and watch again. Click for more information on joining Jubilee 2022 with their theme this year of Transforming Everything. I think it costs just $30.00.

(If your church is interested in young adult ministry, especially college outreach, you really should check out the Jubilee event and the CCO (Coalition for Christian Outreach) who sponsors it. They partner with evangelically-minded churches of all sorts near campuses and can send you a trained campus worker. Interestingly, in a book about young adult discipleship and faith formation called Faith For Exiles: 5 Ways for a New Generation to Follow Jesus in Digital Babylon by David Kinnaman & Mark Matlock, highlighting the best practices for sustainable young adult ministry, they write about Jubilee and, specially, the book tables there, offering young adults not only a deeper, personal faith, but unlocking visions of vocation, helping then discern their callings at this critical time in their journey. They insist, rightly, I think, that this is a key to fruitful and effective young adult ministry. Hooray.)

Again, here ya go, the portal to our updated Hearts & Minds Jubilee-related online bookstore. Enjoy. And don’t forget to enter that promo code (H&M20%) to get a complimentary 20% off on any purchases there.

BookNotes

We are still closed for in-store browsing due to our commitment to public health and the common good (not to mention the safety of our staff and customers.) The vaccination rate here in York County is sadly lower than average and the hospitals are still crowded. Our store is a bit cramped without top-notch ventilation so we are trying to be wise and faithful. Please, wherever you are, do your best to stop this awful sickness going around.

We are doing our famous curb-side customer service and can show any number of items to you if you call us from our back parking lot. We are eager to serve and grateful for your patience as we all work to mitigate the pandemic.

Of course, we’re happy to ship books anywhere. Just tell us how you want them sent.

We are here 10:00 – 6:00 EST /  Monday – Saturday, closed on Sunday.