We hope you’ll join us for a special Ardmore Reads book-club gathering on Sunday, March 15 at 4:00 PM in F-102, led by our own church member Andy Hale! This month we’ll be discussing Mending the Fracturing Church: How to Navigate Conflict and Build Trust for Thriving Communities by Andy Hale — a timely and thoughtful resource for anyone interested in how church communities can grow stronger together.

The local church in the U.S. is facing some real challenges: declining participation, widening generational gaps, and deep tensions over cultural and theological questions. Andy’s book doesn’t just diagnose these fractures — it offers practical tools to understand conflict, rebuild trust, and foster communities where people truly belong. Drawing on both social-psychological insight and theological reflection, the book helps us see how relational pain often lies beneath surface disagreements and equips us to engage one another with compassion, curiosity, and courage.

Whether you’re a long-time believer, new to the faith, or simply someone curious about how faith communities navigate differences, this discussion will be worth your time. We’ll explore questions like:

• What divides us — and why?

• How do our biases and communication styles shape our relationships?

• What does it look like for the church to thrive rather than just endure?

Andy brings a wealth of experience from congregational life and ministry, and this book club conversation promises to be both thoughtful and deeply relevant to our life together as a church. Come ready to engage with both the book and one another — and leave encouraged, challenged, and connected.

Grace and peace,

Rev. Tyler Tankersley