How Slow Faith is changing in year three
An actual Slow Faith Bookstore(!), subscriptions, and gratefulness galore
Wow, two and a half years.
In my second-ever post on Slow Faith, I wrote that the goal of this newsletter would be “Congruence” (I stole that word from Eugene Peterson (of course)). I wrote at the time, “Congruence is a life spent in the Spirit, seeing everything as everything—whole.”
I followed that up with six values I hoped to appreciate:
An appreciation of relationship
An appreciation of focus
An appreciation of context
An appreciation of justice
An appreciation of simplicity
An appreciation of nuance
I was feeling burned by a writing industry—and world—which demanded controversy and flash and click bait. That parched my soul, and I wanted to try something new with my writing.
So I started this and have been blown away by both your support and by how much more integrated (or, if I may, congruent) I feel. This feels sustainable—both my life and my writing. And my hope and prayer is that it has helped you in some small way as well.
May you live more sustainably and feel more whole.
It’s to that end that I wanted to share a pretty major update with you as we head into year three of this newsletter.
!!!SLOW FAITH HAS A BOOKSTORE!!!
The url is www.slowfaithbooks.com, and it is officially live today! Here is a picture of the home screen:
As many of you know, I’ve been collecting second- and third-hand copies of books I love for the past seven years so that I can give them to people whenever I feel so inspired. I counted them the other day, and I have 125. I’m personally writing blurbs for each one, so I don’t even have all of them on the website yet. But each of them are books I endorse and think represent both congruence and the six values I hope Slow Faith embodies.
If you want a book but aren’t sure what you want, fill out this form and I can send you some suggestions!
Check out the website and let me know what you think! (Also please let me know if there are any bugs lol.)
But that’s not all!
Simply for subscribing to this newsletter, you get a permanent 15% off across the store! WHAT IN THE WORLD DREW ARE YOU CRAZY?!
I am.
But seriously, I’m not currently interested in making money off the store, but I just want to make enough so that I can restock the store with more books as time goes on. So anyone who subscribes to this newsletter will get an email with the password for 15% off automatically. You can get one book or all 125, and the 15% off will be applied.
The code for the 15% is Pursue Faithfulness.
Subscriptions
I’m also introducing a subscription model that you can opt into as well. Some people do subscriptions and give some writing to subscribers only and others to everyone. I’d prefer to keep giving all my writing to everyone, so the subscription options are here more as a way—if you are able—to support my writing. Seriously 0.000 pressure to do it, but I would be grateful!
As a token of appreciation, if you subscribe for $10 a month (or $100 a year), you’ll get 25% in the store. And, if you are feeling crazy, you can become a “founding member” for $250 a year and get my eternal gratitude.
I have a lot I’m hoping to share with you as Slow Faith moves into its third calendar year of existence. However, one thing I want to hold true is my commitment to not spam you and not turn this into another “venture” that tries to take up your time and your money. I hope to continue to learn more about God and life and share what I’m learning in ways that are edifying and kind, consistent with the overall mission of Slow Faith.
(So that means I will not be sending marketing emails about Slow Faith Books or generally trying to annoy you into purchasing either a book or a subscription. Most likely I’ll add a list of the new books added at the bottom of my normal emails.)
Writing online and trying to build a “platform” is tricky business. I know that I will not do it perfectly (or even well somedays), but I promise to try. I’m just so grateful you are along for the ride. Here’s to year three.
cheering for you,
drew
This post is so encouraging for me in this moment (of feeling discouraged, of wanting more simplicity). Thanks so much for sharing and looking forward to following along!