Pathways to Belonging
By Dustin Benac, Erin Weber-Johnson and Glen Bell, editors
Cascade Books, 198 pages
Published May 1, 2025
“Christian belonging is precisely that thing that must be chosen,” writes Willie James Jennings in the introduction to Pathways to Belonging. He writes that choosing to belong to God is to be drawn into a “holy life of connecting, enmeshing, burden sharing, and building” that begins with our ties to Jesus and then incorporates ties to family, community, and beyond. We are invited to loosen, not sever, existing ties. First binding ourselves to Jesus enables us to enter into a belonging that has the power to reshape the world.
The editors remind us that belonging is essential for human flourishing, not just for individuals but for the very existence of faith communities, whose survival depends upon nurturing the next generation. In Pathways to Belonging, 20 authors examine Christian belonging through a variety of lenses, including memoir (Mihee Kim-Kort’s thoughtful reflection on the gospel’s “wider belonging and radical welcome”), Bible/theology (Amos Yong’s illustration of belonging in the modern diaspora, based on Lydia of Philippi), and even music (Walter Brueggemann’s connection between Revelation and the “glimpses of a common humanity”).
Armand Leon Van Ommen and Krysia Waldock’s piece is particularly useful. They invite us to “deeply reflect on how we ‘do church’” to include those with autism (such as Waldock) and others. While some essays are stronger than others, Pathways to Belonging as a whole is a thoughtful response to the epidemic of social isolation, lifting up faith communities that are “life-giving and life-receiving,” and reminding us all that we belong.
Presbyterian Outlook supports local bookstores. Join us! Click on the link below to purchase Pathways to Belonging from BookShop, an online bookstore with a mission to financially support local, independent bookstores. As an affiliate, Outlook will also earn a commission from your purchase.
Sign up for Page Turners, our monthly email newsletter, to receive book-related content in your inbox once a month.
