The Generosity Project
Learn, pray and work together to become the big-hearted people God calls us to be
Tony Payne & Geoff Robson
Matthias Media, 2020 (ISBN: 9781925424577, 130pp, £9.99)
Church small groups looking for a change of pace from their usual fare of bible studies could do worse than look to The Generosity Project. This six-week course which aims to ‘drag the topic of generosity out into the light of day’ is supported by a course book and website with videos. The resources are careful to emphasise that generosity is wider than financial giving but instead is an attitude of heart from which flow all sorts of generous acts.
This gospel model is shown through the many Bible verses and passages used and illustrated in the lives and testimonies featured in the videos. Many of the contemporary examples of generosity are profoundly moving and serve as useful discussion points for groups. Some of the more ‘historic’ examples are slightly more hit-and-miss; reports of John Wesley’s lifestyle have been somewhat exaggerated!
Topical courses sometimes err on the side of over-enthusiastic referencing, leaving users dazed from the number of different verses to process at once. The Generosity Project is more parsimonious and only occasionally will participants feel that ‘less’ may have been more.
The Anglo-Australian partnership which brings us this volume is a happy instance of global cooperation. Tim Keller is passingly referenced and several Americans a vox-popped, but it is a shame the ‘project’ did not take on more of a trans-Atlantic tone, not least to add to its reach. Perhaps a future edition will extend the bounds of its tent.
Edward Keene, Little Shelford
