New Book Study Begins January 8!

The Thursday Book Club returns in 2026 with Ted V. Foote Jr. and P. Alex Thornburg's Being Presbyterian in a Dysvangelical America: A Guide to Reclaiming the Good News of God. After taking a book writing break following the release of the successful Being Presbyterian in the Bible Belt: A Theological Survival Guide for Youth, Parents, & Other Confused Presbyterians (2000) and Being Disciples of Jesus in a Dot.Com World: A Theological Survival Guide for Youth, Adults, and Other Confused (2003) books, Foote and Thornburg return with more wisdom for disillusioned Presbyterians.

The book study will meet on Thursdays at noon via Zoom beginning on January 8. Free copies of the book are available by contacting General Presbyter Tim Blodgett at tim@eokpresbytery.org. 

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From the publisher: Dysvangelical names a theology that is distorted, dysfunctional, and dystopian, twisting the good news of God’s grace into a message of fear, partisanship, and exclusion.

In Being Presbyterian in a Dysvangelical America, Ted V. Foote Jr. and P. Alex Thornburg speak directly to Presbyterians who are disillusioned and confused by how Christianity is being misused in American culture. So often, our beliefs as faithful Christians do not line up with the shouted chants and disturbing actions taken by those claiming to represent a true vision of Christianity. Twenty-five years after their best-selling book Being Presbyterian in the Bible Belt, the authors return with fresh urgency to affirm the heart of Reformed theology and what it means to be truly evangelical in a time of theological and cultural distortion. With clarity, compassion, and a touch of humor, Being Presbyterian in a Dysvangelical America equips readers to name what feels wrong, rediscover what is right, and live into a gospel that is still good news for all.

It is impossible to ignore the many loud voices who claim to speak for God with the absolute certainty and divisive rhetoric that has become the playbook for Christian nationalism. To help readers counter this overwhelming narrative, Foote and Thornburg provide an accessible, faithful alternative rooted in the core Presbyterian convictions of grace, community, humility, and ongoing reform. This is the message to speak loudly in our time: not one of fear and exclusion, but a living, evolving faith that proclaims the wide welcome of God’s grace.