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Fall 2006: Reading Recommendations
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"What shall I read?"
Wondering what books would most inspire and inform you—and other leaders—as you and your congregation engage in new opportunities to learn, grow, and serve? Congregational Resource Guide staff ask you to consider these top pics. (Click on the book's title to access the publisher's Web site and ordering information. Or if you prefer, click on "Amazon" at the end of each annotation to order the book from Amazon.)
We at the Alban Institute and the Indianapolis Center for Congregations wish you and yours a vital and transformational season .
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After This: A Novel
Alice McDermott, Author. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2006.
People make up congregations. And people come from families. This novel reminds us that all people, even the quietest and most unassuming, participate in poignant dramas. Alice McDermott takes us inside the life of John and Mary Keane’s household, which includes their four unique children (aren’t siblings always so different from one another?). The time is mostly the 60’s and the 70’s, the place is suburbia, and the faith is Roman Catholic. The understated vignettes are universal in terms of love and loss, virtue and regret. We witness a strong marriage tested, the most vulnerable child tested, and all sorts of small, almost sacred scenes from ordinary life.
Amazon
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Christianity for the Rest of Us: How the Neighborhood Church is Transforming the Faith
Diana Butler Bass, Author. San Francisco, CA: HarperSanFrancisco, 2006.
Christianity for the Rest of Us discusses Diana Butler Bass' study of mainline Protestant congregations that are not only growing in numbers, but also discovering spiritual vitality. Such vitality comes through a willingness to be formed in a faith that deepens our trust in God's love and strengthens our capacity to love others. The signposts of faith formation are practices from the Christian tradition that people do in community. Bass devotes a chapter to each of ten practices she found among congregations in her study: hospitality, discernment, healing, contemplation, testimony, diversity, justice, worship, theological reflection, and beauty. Congregational leaders interested in renewal and change will find this book essential.
Amazon
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The Compassionate Community: Ten Values to Unite America
Jonathan Miller, Author. New York, NY: Palgrave McMillan, 2006.
Despite religion's often divisive role in public life, Kentucky State Treasurer Jonathan Miller believes religious values can bring compassion to policymaking and cohesion to our common lives. Miller—who is also active in the Democratic Leadership Council and the United Jewish Communities—examines ten such values: opportunity, responsibility, work, family, freedom, faith, justice, peace, respect, and life. For each value, he presents an illustrative story of a hero from the Hebrew Bible—such as Abraham, Moses, David, and Esther. Each chapter in the book also explores a related policy initiative that our states and localities can act upon to help make the "Compassionate Community" a reality in our time.
Amazon
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Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia
Elizabeth Gilbert, Author. New York, NY: Viking Adult, 2006.
Elizabeth Gilbert knew that her life wasn’t working, but she wasn’t sure how to make it better. Her decision to take off a year during which she would live for four months each in Italy, India, and Indonesia resulted in a new understanding of herself and the world around her. In addition, it resulted in a beautifully written and deeply engaging memoir of her experiences and insights. Combining humor and self-revelation with moving descriptions of the places she visits and the people she meets, Gilbert takes the reader along on an amazing spiritual journey across three countries and into her own heart.
Amazon
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A Generous Presence: Spiritual Leadership and the Art of Coaching
Rochelle Melander, Author. Herndon, VA: The Alban Institute, 2006.
A Generous Presence introduces readers to the art of spiritual coaching and the dimensions of a coaching relationship. In such a relationship, says Rochelle Melander, people are called to accountability and invited to take responsibility for "living healthy, holistic lives of integrity." Not an exhaustive textbook on professional coaching, this book nevertheless offers tools that can be used to support our own growth and the growth of others. Part 1, "The Coaching Collage," discusses the key concepts (theological, psychological, and sociological) that surround coaching. Part 2, "The Coaching Toolbox," offers an array of skills to use as a spiritual leader. Part 3, "The Coaching Core," explains strategies for common coaching situations.
Amazon
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God's Potters: Pastoral Leadership and the Shaping of Congregations
Jackson W. Carroll, Author. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2006.
The result of a Pulpit & Pew project supported by Lilly Endowment Inc., God's Potters addresses significant questions about American Protestant and Catholic pastoral leadership: "Who are America's clergy?" "What do they do?" "How are they faring?" "What does excellent ministry by a congregation and its pastor(s) look like?" "And what can be done to nurture and sustain excellence?" Clergy were sectioned into four categories: Catholic, Mainline Protestant, Conservative Protestant, and Historic Black. In addition, clergy views were compared to those of the laity. Congregational leaders seeking to understand the broader social and historical contexts of their ministries, as well as to improve their work, will find this volume illuminating.
Amazon
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Love Me: A Novel
Garrison Keillor, Author. New York, NY: Penguin Putnam, 2005.
Most people know Garrison Keillor as Lake Wobegon's narrator and host of a Prairie Home Companion. In this novel, he introduces Larry Wyler, a young Midwestern novelist whose best-seller lands him a position with The New Yorker. Abandoning his wife Iris (who helps the homeless by parking their shopping carts in her garage), Wyler moves to New York. He writes a disastrous second novel, falls out of favor with the literary elite, and becomes mired in writer's block. Desperately seeking purpose, meaning, and cold cash, he takes a job as the advice columnist, "Mr. Blue." Here is a funny, sobering, sweet, and wise exploration of love, ambition, and success.
Amazon
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The Mighty and the Almighty: Reflections on America, God, and World Affairs
Madeleine Albright, Author. New York, NY: Harper Collins, 2006.
Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright explores the connections between world politics and world religion, emphasizing the importance of understanding how religion affects foreign perceptions of American actions. This book examines historic conflicts among Christians, Muslims, and Jews—as well as within Islamic communities. Albright believes that, while politics and faith should be joined in the interest of peace, using religious beliefs to guide politics will foster new conflicts and inflame existing ones. She also holds that because of the Christian Right's influence, areas that had formerly been personal matters are now matters of international focus. Here is a thoughtful reflection on the crosswalks between religious beliefs and foreign policy.
Amazon
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Mind the Light: Learning to See with Spiritual Eyes
J. Brent Bill, Author. Orleans, MA : Paraclete Press, 2006.
Reminding us that "All God's creatures move toward the light—flowers, trees, people," Quaker minister and writer Brent Bill muses on the importance of light, both within and beyond us. In his uniquely gentle—and often humorous—style, Bill plumbs the rich outpourings of God's commandment, "let there be light." He is struck by the stunning light in a painting by Chardin, by the varieties of seasonal light, by the light that plays upon his wife's hair, by the light he encounters in those he loves. He also encourages us to plumb those outpourings through "illuminating moments" that invite us to reflect on creation, ourselves, each other, and God.
Amazon
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Practical Theology: "On Earth as It Is in Heaven"
Why is it so hard to nail down what people mean by "practical theology?" Maybe because it can mean and mix so many things: a little bit of theology, social science, education theory, and so on. Theologian Terry Veling has written a book that gets to the heart of thinking practically about God. He helps us reads life as a theological text, providing reflection that is at once academic (you will learn much about modern philosophy) and functional (you can use this for discussion with congregational lay leaders or a Sunday School class). Roman Catholic in his approach, he makes this book a grand conversation partner for Protestants too.
Amazon
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The Secret Message of Jesus: Uncovering the Truth that Could Change Everything
Brian D. McLaren, Author. Nashville, TN: W Publishing Group (Thomas Nelson), 2006.
"If the Christian religion 'misunderestimates' the message of Jesus—if it doesn't know or believe the truth about Jesus and his message—the whole world will suffer from Christian ignorance, confusions, or delusion." So states Brian McLaren in this highly readable book about the core messages in Jesus' life, death, and ministry. McLaren takes three approaches to understanding Jesus: first, he focuses on how Jesus' message played out against its historical and political backdrop; second, he focuses on Jesus' message itself; and third, he focuses on the spiritual and ethical implications of Jesus' message for us, here and now. Included are suggestions for discussing and implementing Jesus' foundational message.
Amazon
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The Spirituality of Welcoming: How to Transform Your Congregation into a Sacred Community
Ron Wolfson, Author. Woodstock, VT: Jewish Lights Publishing, 2006.
Ron Wolfson, President of Synagogue 3000, has written a handbook for helping our synagogues become places that exude an "ambience of welcome." In addition to explaining why hospitality is so important for congregational vitality, Wolfson gives practical advice on how to create and sustain truly hospitable synagogues. In such places, prayer, study, healing, and social action engage adults as well as children. And in such places, congregants can explore and address questions of meaning: "What is the purpose of my life?"; "Where can I connect to community?"; "Where is God's presence in my life?" Stories, exercises, and immediately-usable tips illustrating the author's concepts make this book easily accessible.
Amazon
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