In an era when fandoms are often defined by conflict, gatekeeping, and endless online arguments about “canon,” Tea with Tolkien stands as something refreshingly different: a welcoming community built around faith, fellowship, and a shared love of J.R.R. Tolkien’s work.
Founded by Kaitlyn Facista, Tea with Tolkien has grown from a personal blog into a thriving online community with over 50,000 followers on X (formerly Twitter), a robust Discord server, regular book clubs, and a YouTube channel featuring interviews with Tolkien scholars and experts. The community’s approach is explicitly Catholic, reflecting Tolkien’s own devout faith and exploring how that faith shaped Middle-earth’s mythology, themes, and moral vision.
Tolkien was a lifelong Catholic whose faith informed every aspect of his creative work. As he wrote in a letter to Robert Murray in 1953, “The Lord of the Rings is of course a fundamentally religious and Catholic work; unconsciously so at first, but consciously in the revision.” Understanding Tolkien’s Catholicism is, in fact, essential to understanding why his stories resonate so deeply and why they continue to inspire readers decades after his death.
A Community Built on Hospitality
The Tea with Tolkien website describes itself as “a welcoming and positive online community celebrating the life, writings, and Catholic faith of J.R.R. Tolkien.”
The Discord server, which anyone can join for free through the website, hosts ongoing discussions about Tolkien’s works, Catholic theology, and what it means to be a “Hobbit at Heart,” a concept Facista has developed that emphasizes the virtues hobbits embody: hospitality, simplicity, courage in the face of overwhelming odds, and faithfulness to what matters most.
The community doesn’t require members to be Catholic or even Christian. It simply operates from that perspective openly and invites anyone interested in exploring Tolkien’s work through that lens to participate. The result is a space where serious theological discussion coexists with lighthearted appreciation for second breakfast and where newcomers to Tolkien’s legendarium can ask questions without being made to feel foolish.
The Book Club
At the heart of Tea with Tolkien is a free online book club that reads through Tolkien’s works throughout the year. The club operates on a structured schedule with weekly reading assignments, discussion questions, and both text-based and voice chat sessions.
Currently, the community is working through The Silmarillion, arguably Tolkien’s most challenging work. The book club format makes this daunting text approachable. Each week, participants receive printable notes with discussion questions designed to spark conversation. A text channel opens on Sunday evenings where members discuss the reading material throughout the week at their own pace. At the end of each week, a live voice chat brings the community together for an hour-long discussion, though participants can join with microphones on, participate through typing, or simply listen.
The structure is brilliant in its flexibility. Busy parents can engage through text chat when they have time. Night-shift workers can catch up asynchronously. Those who thrive in real-time conversation can join the voice sessions. The community accommodates different schedules, learning styles, and comfort levels with online interaction.
The current Silmarillion book club is in its tenth week, covering chapters 22 and 23: “Of the Ruin of Doriath” and “Of Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin.” The printable notes for each week include key quotes, discussion questions, and links to supplementary video content from Facista’s YouTube channel that provides additional context and analysis.
For readers who’ve struggled with The Silmarillion alone, this guided approach transforms the experience. The discussion questions highlight themes and connections that might be missed on a solo read. The community provides accountability and encouragement. And the Catholic perspective offers insights into the theological underpinnings of Tolkien’s mythology that secular analysis often overlooks.
Resources and Content
Beyond the book club, Tea with Tolkien offers an impressive array of free resources. The website’s Resource Library includes:
“30 Days in the Shire”: A month-long guide to becoming a “Hobbit at Heart” with daily reflections and practical applications of hobbit virtues to everyday life.
“The Silmarillion Reader’s Guide”: A free eBook designed specifically for first-time readers, breaking down the complex genealogies, geography, and narrative structure that make The Silmarillion so challenging.
“Pocket Guide to Middle-earth”: A compact reference guide to Tolkien’s world, perfect for keeping handy during reading sessions.
The YouTube channel features interviews with Tolkien scholars, lore discussions, and chapter-by-chapter guides to The Silmarillion. Facista’s approach is accessible without being simplistic—she takes Tolkien’s work seriously while making it approachable for readers at all levels of familiarity with the legendarium.
The blog regularly publishes essays exploring themes in Tolkien’s work from a Catholic perspective. Recent posts include “Welcoming the Wanderer: What The Lord of the Rings Teaches us About Hospitality,” “Embracing the Little Way of the Halfling,” and “Establishing a Shire in Your Own Heart.” These aren’t academic papers—they’re reflections on how Tolkien’s stories can shape how we live, how we treat others, and how we understand our own spiritual journeys.
Into the Heart of Middle-earth
In February 2026, Facista’s first book will be published by Ave Maria Press: Into the Heart of Middle-earth: Exploring Faith and Fellowship in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings.
The book is described as “a spiritual companion to The Lord of the Rings—an invitation to journey through J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic tale with fresh eyes and a faithful heart.” Rather than being a work of literary criticism or Tolkien scholarship in the traditional sense, it’s a guide for readers who want to explore the spiritual and moral dimensions of Frodo and Sam’s quest.
The book examines the practical and spiritual treasures hidden in Tolkien’s narrative, with the virtues demonstrated by the characters, the eternal truths embedded in the story, and how those truths can inspire readers to live with greater courage, hope, and faithfulness. It’s explicitly written for readers who want to understand not just what happens in The Lord of the Rings, but what it means and how it can shape their own lives.
Facista has been conducting interviews and book signings in preparation for the release. She’s appeared on The Prancing Pony Podcast, Sisters of the Shire, and Mater Dei Radio, among others. The book has already been shortlisted for recognition by the Tolkien Society, and early reviews suggest it will resonate with readers who love Tolkien’s work and want to go deeper into its spiritual dimensions.
A book club for Into the Heart of Middle-earth is scheduled to begin in March 2026, giving the Tea with Tolkien community a chance to read and discuss the book together using the same format that’s made the Silmarillion book club so successful.
Why This Matters
In a cultural moment when Tolkien’s work is being adapted, reinterpreted, and sometimes distorted by projects that don’t understand or respect his vision, Tea with Tolkien serves an important function: it keeps Tolkien’s actual legacy alive.
The community studies Tolkien, discusses him, and applies his wisdom to contemporary life. It takes his Catholic faith seriously rather than treating it as an embarrassing detail to be minimized. It emphasizes the virtues his stories promote: courage, mercy, faithfulness, hospitality, humility.
With over 50,000 followers on X and a growing Discord community, Tea with Tolkien has become one of the most significant Tolkien fan communities online. It’s not the largest, but it may be the most thoughtful, the most welcoming, and the most focused on what actually made Tolkien’s work meaningful.
If you wish to support Tea With Tolkien, don’t hesitate to pre-order her book, Into The Heart of Middle-earth.
What do you think? Have you participated in online book clubs or fan communities?
NEXT: The Hobbit Revisited: Tolkien’s Deceptively Deep Children’s Tale