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Winter 2004: Reading Recommendations
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"What shall I read?"
Wondering what books would most inspire and inform you—and other congregational leaders—as you enter the coming year? Congregational Resource Guide staff offer you our "top pics" of the season. (Click on the book's title to access the publisher's Web site and ordering information.)
We at the Alban Institute and the Indianapolis Center for Congregations wish you and yours the best of the season and peace in the new year.
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Credo
William Sloane Coffin, Author. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2004.
"Only a fool hasn't learned in the twentieth century that the political order in which people live deeply affects the personal lives they lead." So says William Sloane Coffin, in a book that distills decades of wisdom gleaned through his experiences as a chaplain at Yale, a senior minister at Riverside Church, a "Freedom Rider" for civil rights, and an outspoken opponent of the Vietnam War. Coffin offers short but provocative reflections on a variety of themes: faith, hope, love; social justice and civil liberties; social justice and economic rights; patriotism; war and peace; nature; life in general; the church; and the end of life.
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Food for Life: The Spirituality and Ethics of Eating
L. Shannon Jung, Author. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2004.
Food for Life presents a cornucopia of ideas about food and how they relate to God and God’s created. L. Shannon Jung discusses God’s intention for food and sautés it down to a new vision for the church. Her ultimate point is that food is a delight to be shared. "Food is itself a means of revelation. Through eating together we taste the goodness of God." Jung also examines global and local food system disorders, making the point that eating disorders ultimately are a cry for community. This book could serve as the basis for a small group or adult education course on the spiritual context of food.
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Gilead: A Novel
Marilynne Robinson, Author. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2004.
The Reverend John Ames, age 77 in 1956, is writing to his six-year-old son. The letter is an account of his own life—as well as the lives of his pacifist father and abolitionist grandfather. Speaking with the voice of a seasoned Presbyterian preacher from a prairie town, Ames reflects on life, death, love, and grace in language that is full of colloquial eloquence. At the same time, the narrator's reflections transcend the era and location from which he writes. Compelling in its simplicity, this story may especially appeal to pastoral leaders who are called to stand with others in the face of life's greatest mysteries.
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A Hidden Wholeness: The Journey Toward an Undivided Life
Parker Palmer, Author. San Francisco: Jossey Bass, 2004.
Affirming his faith in the reality and integrity of the human soul, Parker Palmer has written a book that calls upon us to live in ways that honor the soul within ourselves and others. He distinguishes the voice of the soul from the voice of the intellect, emotions, will, or ego. He then describes settings and communities in which the soul's voice can be heard. One setting is the "circle of trust," a small group that allows people to reflect upon what matters most to them—without being advised, judged, or manipulated. From such circles, people are enabled to live "undivided lives" that foster healing in the larger world.
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Jayber Crow
Wendell Berry, Author. New York: Counterpoint Press, 2001.
In this novel, poet and essayist Wendell Berry crafts the story of a young man who abandons his plans to become a preacher and instead becomes the barber for a small town in Kentucky. Through Berry’s beautiful prose, the reader travels with Jayber Crow from his early days as an orphan to his journey back home to Port William. Along the way, the barber’s reflections on life, theology, friendship, faith, love, and community provide sources of humor, tenderness, and inspiration. Berry also paints a portrait of a small-town community in which ordinary people demonstrate what it truly means to be human.
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Mere Discipleship: Radical Christianity in a Rebellious World
Lee C. Camp, Author. Brazos Press, 2003.
Lee Camp asserts that the modern world has subverted biblical discipleship into an individual and privatized spirituality, rather than the radical and uncompromising community–oriented life that Jesus taught. Warning against a faith in which "religion" replaces "discipleship," Camp urges church leaders to teach the contemporary relevance of Jesus' words and actions, as well as Jesus' life, death, and resurrection. The author also urges leaders to help congregations address contemporary cultural and political dilemmas in light of Jesus' teachings. While not everyone may resonate with Camp’s Anabaptist orientation, many Christians will identify with the profound implications in his understanding of true discipleship.
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The Millennium Matrix: Reclaiming the Past, Reframing the Future of the Church
M. Rex Miller, Author. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2004.
Rex Miller, relying on current business models, lays out a matrix of the church over four temporal periods based on how information is stored and communicated. The Oral period covers early BC to AD 1500; Print, from 1500 to 1950; Broadcast, from 1950 to 2010; and Digital, from 2010 forward. In each era, the church uses a different method to reach and involve people. Miller believes there is great renewal hope for the institutional church as the culture moves from the broadcast era into the digital society. Described by one reader as a very interesting and provocative read, another found this book too reductionist to be meaningful.
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People of a Compassionate God: Creating Welcoming Congregations
Janet F. Fishburn, Editor. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2003.
People of a Compassionate God explores the ways in which five Methodist faith communities struggled with a difficult issue: welcoming homosexuals as individuals, couples, and families. That is the central issue in these five studies, but the diverse ways in which each congregation responded can serve as a template for reconciling any difficult problem within a congregation. Editor Janet Fishburn understands the seriousness of an issue that has the potential to divide a congregation and divert it from its mission and ministry. In response, she has distilled lessons from these studies to create guidelines that would be useful for any faith community.
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The Practicing Congregation: Imagining a New Old Church
Diana Butler Bass, Author. Herndon, VA: The Alban Institute, 2004.
Diana Butler Bass points to signs that mainline Protestant churches are finding a new vitality, intentionally grounded in Christian practices and laying the groundwork for a new type of congregation. Christian "practices" embrace moral acts (such as hospitality and stewardship) and ascetical disciplines (such as prayer and meditation) that deepen our relationship with God and help to build faith communities. Such practices both embody beliefs and are formed by them. The signs of vitality that Butler Bass identifies will enable us to move beyond thinking in terms of "liberal vs. conservative" dualities. In so doing, we can develop a more fluid understanding of contemporary ecclesiology and faithfulness.
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The Quotable Jewish Woman: Wisdom, Inspiration, and Humor from the Mind and Heart
Elaine Bernstein Partnow, Editor. Woodstock, VT: Jewish Lights Publishing, 2004.
Columnist and playwright Elaine Bernstein Partnow brings together the wit and wisdom of 317 Jewish women from different eras, locations, and vocations. The topics on which they speak include faith, religion, politics, love, death, friendship, children, motherhood, and leadership. Readers will find the ancient prophets Deborah and Miriam, the modern scholars Hannah Arendt and Carol Gilligan, and a host of writers (Gertrude Stein, Cynthia Ozick), entertainers (Carole King, Barbra Steisand), politicians (Dianne Feinstein, Bella Abzug), and others—including Supreme Court judge Ruth Bader Ginsberg, artist Frida Kahlo, and historian Barbara Tuchman. A short biography of each woman is featured along with her most notable quotes.
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Resplendent Light
Christopher Burkett, Photographer. Milwaukie, OR: West Wind Arts, 2004.
This collection of 68 color plates reflects Christopher Burkett's sense of calling to the art of photography. With nature as his subject, Burkett captures his vision of the "grace, wonder, and glory of creation" in photographic images that are stunning in their composition, lighting, and imagination. The photographs range from brilliant fall leaves at sunset in Oregon to a grove of Dogwoods in full bloom Kentucky to a full frame of extraordinary purple foliage in Pennsylvania. In addition, the volume includes James Enyeart’s essay "Nature Always Wears the Colors of the Spirit."
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Small Group Idea Book: Resources to Enrich Community, Worship and Prayer, Study, and Outreach
Cindy Bunch, Editor. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2003.
Looking for ways to get your small group started? Or perhaps your small group has grown deeper, and you would like help with going to the next level of intimacy? No matter how you are involved, the Small Group Idea Book provides much useful material for small-group leaders. And while the book is "just" a collection of ideas and activities, examining the table of contents will give new small-group leaders the sense of a group's life cycle. This book would be helpful not only to lay leaders and clergy, but also to anyone leading a small group or interested in small-group dynamics.
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A World of Wonders: Prayers and Pictures
Robert Cooper, Author. New York: Church Publishing, 2003.
This book is a glorious antidote for every saccharine, adorable, "oh-so-cute" children’s book on the market. Gorgeous photography, whimsical illustration, and short, poignant prayers create an oasis of spiritual refreshment that appeals to children of all ages, as well as the child in each of us. Writer and photographer Robert Cooper introduces the book this way: “I think that prayer is a way of looking at the world. When I pray, I see how beautiful the world can be and also how sad. Prayer is sharing this with God.” This sensitive book is a definite must-have or must-give (get two—one for you and another for your godchild!).
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