Catholic Book Club Resource Page – Church History in a Year

The Catholic Book Club will read Steve Weidenkopf's "Timeless: A History of the Catholic Church."

Catholic Church History in a Year

Join the Catholic Book Club to study 45 exciting episodes in the History of the Catholic Church. “Church History in a Year” will commence soon and will meet monthly on a Saturday for breakfast at a local restaurant.

Register your interest in joining by clicking here:

Register your Interest

The Catholic Book Club will use two resources for these episodes: a book and a set of videos. We will not view or listen to the videos in monthly sessions, but participants are highly encouraged to view or listen to the videos on their own. Here are the details:

The Text

The text that we will read will be:

Weidenkopf, Steve. Timeless: A History of the Catholic Church. Our Sunday Visitor, 2018. This text can be found on Amazon.com here, or on BN.com here. Both Amazon and Barnes and Noble offer ebook (e.g. Kindle) and audio formats.

We’ve divided the book into 45 “episodes”, and will cover approximately four episodes every time we meet.  Each episode corresponds to about 10 pages of the text.

 

The Video Series

Our monthly meetings can be greatly enriched and supplemented by listening to Steve Weidenkopf’s video series on Church History for as little as 30 minutes per week at home. We will NOT be watching or listening to these videos as a group. These videos may be listened to, as one would with a podcast. Here are the details:

Weidenkopf, Steve, and Alan Schreck. Epic: A Journey Through Church History Study Set. Ascension Press, 2008.  An excellent series of 20 videos on Church History, each consisting of two 27:30 minute segments.  The study set includes a helpful timeline chart and a workbook.  At this time they cost about $6.95 for six months access to them online, along with an online workbook.  See https://ascensionpress.com/collections/epic-a-journey-through-church-history

 

General Format of Each Meeting

  1. Opening Prayer
  2. Recap of last time
  3. Where are we on the Timeline?
  4. Summary of Today’s Episodes
  5. The Facilitator will ask the group questions, some of which were written by the author of the text (Weidenkopf).
  6. Closing Prayer

Other Things

  • Episodes, i.e. meeting topics, will be announced via email and WhatsApp prior to each meeting.
  • Come when you can. Attendance will not be taken.
  • There will be no lectures or assigned homework, but members of the book club are encouraged to read the optional readings, watch the Epic video series and undertake followup study during the month.
  • Newcomers are always welcome!
     

Here is a list of the 45 episodes that we’ll be covering:

  • Introduction – Why Study Church History?
    • #1 Why Study Church History?
  • The Beginning — Pentecost and the Spread of the Gospel (33-49 AD)
    • #2 Pentecost and the Spreading of the Gospel
  • The Empire and the Church (49 – 305 AD)
    • #3 The Burning of Rome and the Fall of Jerusalem
    • #4 Clement of Rome and Pagan Attacks on the Church
    • #5 Early Heresies and St. Polycarp
    • #6 The Apologists and Some Horrific Persecutions
    • #7 Diocletian’s Division and Great Persecution, p.73, 7
  • Conversions (305 – 496 AD)
    • #8 Constantine and the Church
    • #9 Arius the Heretic and the Beginnings of Monasticism
    • #10 St. Athanasius and the End of Arius
    • #11 St. Ambrose and other Church Fathers
    • #12 Saints John Chrysostom, Jerome and Augustine
    • #13 Mary is the Mother of God
  • Bright Lights in a Dark Time (496 – 909 AD)
    • #14 Were the Dark Ages Really Dark?
    • #15 The Rise of Islam
    • #16 Charlemagne and the Church
    • #17 A Slide Toward Chaos and the Beginning of Reform
  • Cathedrals and Crusades (909 – 1274 AD)
    • #18 The Great Schism
    • #19 The Crusading Movement
    • #20 The First Crusade and the Crusade of Kings
    • #21 King St. Louis and the Albigensian Heresy
    • #22 The Inquisition and the Rise of Beggar Monks
  • The Family Weakens — Prelude to Division (1274 – 1521 AD)
    • #23 The Exile of the Papacy
    • #24 St. Catherine of Sienna and the Pro-Protestants
    • #25 St. Joan of Arc and the End of the Empire
    • #26 The Spanish Inquisition
    • #27 The Renaissance and Some Worldly Popes
  • The Great Divorce — Revolt against the Church (1521 – 1588 AD)
    • #28 The Rise of Martin Luther, 66
    • #29 Luther’s Heresy
    • #30 The Three Treatises and the Diet of Worms
    • #31 The End of Luther
    • #32 John Calvin
    • #33 Henry VIII and the Church of England
    • #34 Our Lady of Guadelupe and the Catholic Queen of England
    • #35 The Persecutor Queen
  • The Great Reform (1534 – 1683 AD)
    • #36 The Catholic Reform Begins
    • #37 Reforming Saints and Missionary Activity in the New World
    • #38 A Definitive Victory over Islam
  • The Modern Attack (1633 –  1958 AD)
    • #39 Science, Religion, and the Enlightenment
    • #40 The French Revolution and the Church, 85
    • #41 Modernism Rears its Head
    • #42 Fatima and War in Mexico and Spain
    • #43 Fascist Italy, Nazi Germany and World War II
  • Hope and Mercy (1958 – Present)
    • #44 The Second Vatican Council
    • #45 Some Challenges and Our Future

Here is a detailed “lesson plan” that lists the actual pages of the book and the corresponding video:

Detailed Lesson Plan