Spiritual Book Club: Kindred Spirits Learning and Sharing Online

By Linda Orlando

In September 1999, a story in the Pantagraph announced that the newly formed Spirituality Book Club would be meeting at the Barnes & Noble Booksellers in Bloomington, IL. The club, founded by sisters Susan Baller-Shepard and Julie Baller Biever, expected a handful of people to show up. The store had told them that about 50 people had bought copies of Traveling Mercies by Anne Lamott, which was to be the subject of the first club meeting. So the sisters were startled when more than 60 people attended that first meeting.

The club has met regularly ever since, and although the numbers don’t usually match that first gathering, the club is as popular as ever. Meetings are most populated whenever an author joins the group to talk about his or her book. Regular meetings may bring about a dozen people, but the online component of the club, spiritualbookclub.com, gathers together visitors from all around the world.

Baller-Shepard has a master’s degree in divinity and has traveled the world to take part in interfaith events, to learn firsthand about other people’s faith and traditions. But her deepest questions about faith and her most insightful discussions about world religions arise every month in the corner of the Bloomington Barnes & Noble.

The Spiritual Book Club, in person or online, is a community of kindred spirits who explore spirituality through books, music, discussions, and ways to get involved in changing the world for the better. The website, which calls itself a spiritual home on the web, says, "We also have people who read along with us from around the world." The site works to feed the spirits of visitors by discussing "books that give deeper insights, music that moves you (or that just rocks and therefore moves you), discussion that makes you think about what you believe, and links that help you change the world."

Baller-Shepard believes that different faiths can exist in harmony in the world, even when different beliefs do not. So she is constantly searching for understanding. "Can you get along with someone you don’t understand?" she asks, not really wanting an answer. She isn’t studying spirituality books and listening to discussions because she is seeking faith herself; she is a Presbyterian minister. But she is seeking to learn as much as she can about other people’s faith. "I want to understand you," she says. "I want to understand what you believe. I want you to understand what I believe."

The Spirituality Book Club thrives on talking about religions, whether or not there are disagreements about particular philosophies. Spirituality is a much broader topic than simply philosophies; the club’s foundation is based on the idea that those who attempt to lead spiritual lives get a sense that it is about trying to be faithful, trying to understand, and accepting that there are things that will never be answered in this lifetime.

Reading books about spirituality raises questions in people’s minds, and the club gives people the opportunity to engage in discussions they might not have had before. At each club meeting, members discuss a particular book and the insights it has offered about life, and what new concepts it has offered for reflection.

The website itself explains why the club and the site have much to offer: "When Yellowstone National Park, in the U.S., reintroduced wolves into the ecosystem, the whole park became a much healthier place. The bio-diversity had returned, so elk didn’t graze on the trees the beavers needed, out of fear of the wolves, so the beavers could make dams, which pooled water, which reintroduced species, etc. In the same way, talk of spirituality, from a variety of perspectives, makes for a healthier system, a diverse system which can appreciate what others bring to the table because in the end there are no ‘definitive’ answers in spirituality."

The site will soon be undergoing a transformation, thanks to the assembling of an international, interreligous Advisory Team that will expand the depth of the site and its links. People with a wide variety of gifts and perspectives will be bringing to bear a diverse assemblage of valuable information and insights. If you’re interested in starting a spirituality book club in your area, or want to request a list of the books the club has been discussing, contact the website editors at info@spiritualbookclub.com.