The Presbyterian Outlook invited pastors and leaders from across the church to share with us their hopes for summer reading. Here are their responses:
Betty Meadows, general presbyter, Mid-Kentucky Presbytery:
Christianity for the Rest of Us, by Diana Butler Bass
Scott Black Johnston, pastor, Trinity Church, Atlanta, Ga.:
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, by J. K. Rowling
Portions of Calvin’s Institutes (the 500th anniversary of his birth is approaching fast)
A Time to Embrace: Same-Gender Relationships in Religion, Law, and Politics by William Stacy Johnson
Jeffrey Bullock, president, University of Dubuque Seminary:
Finding God at Harvard: Spiritual Journeys of Thinking Christians, edited by Kelly Monroe Kullberg
The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities For Our Time, Jeffrey D. Sachs
Faith Seeking Understanding: An Introduction to Christian Theology, Daniel L. Migliore
The End of Words: the Language of Reconciliation in a Culture of Violence, Richard Lischer
Mary Holder Naegeli, minister-at-large (San Francisco Presbytery), adjunct faculty, Fuller Theological Seminary:
Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace … One School at a Time, by Greg Mortenson & David Oliver Relin
Blair R. Monie, pastor, Preston Hollow Church, Dallas, Texas:
Heir to the Glimmering World, by Cynthia Ozick
Local Wonders: Seasons in the Bohemian Alps, by Ted Kooser
Spirit of Fire: the Life and Vision of Teilhard de Chardin, by Ursula King
Becce Bettridge, director, Network of Presbyterian Women in Leadership:
A Grace Disguised, by Jerry Sittser
Forgiveness: A Bold Choice for a Peaceful Heart, by Robin Casarjian
Jim Kitchens, pastor, Second Church, Nashville, Tenn.:
Cinnamon Kiss, by Walter Mosley
The Missional Leader: Equipping Your Church to Reach a Changing World, by Alan Roxburgh and Fred Romanuk
The Misunderstood Jew: The Church and the Scandal of the Jewish Jesus, by Amy-Jill Levine
Alexa Smith, PC(USA) associate for Joining Hands
Blood Done Sign My Name, by Timothy Tyson
Lib McGregor Simmons, pastor, University Church, San Antonio, Texas
Timothy; or, Notes of an Abject Reptile, by Verlyn Klinkenborg
Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, by Doris Kearns Goodwin
The Creed: What Christians Believe and Why It Matters, by Luke Timothy Johnson
To Hate Like This Is to Be Happy Forever: A Thoroughly Obsessive, Intermittently Uplifting, and Occasionally Unbiased Account of the Duke-North Carolina Basketball Rivalry, by Will Blythe
Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know — And Doesn’t, by Stephen Prothero
Thirst, by Mary Oliver
Dwelling Place: A Plantation Epic, by Erskine Clarke
Roger Gench, pastor, New York Avenue Church, Washington, D.C.:
Economy of Grace, by Kathryn Tanner
The Serenity Prayer: Faith and Politics in Time of Peace and War, by Elisabeth Sifton
Donald W. Shriver, president emeritus, Union Theological Seminary, New York, N.Y.:
Redemption: The Last Battle of the Civil War, by Nicholas Lemann
The Making of American Liberal Theology, 1950-2005 (Vol. 3), by Gary Dorrien
Ethical Realism: A Vision for America‘s Future in the World, by Anatol Lieven and John Hulsman
Race and Reunion: The Civil War in American Memory, by David Blight
America’s Battle for God: A European Christian Looks at Civil Religion, by Geiko Muller Fahrenholz
James S. Currie, associate dean, Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary:
American Gospel: God, the Founding Fathers, and the Making of a Nation, by Jon Meacham
Leaving Church: A Memoir of Faith, by Barbara Brown Taylor
Thirsty for God: A Brief History of Christian Spirituality, by Bradley Holt
Subversive Orthodoxy: Outlaws, Revolutionaries, and Other Christians in Disguise, by Robert Inchausti
Barbara Wheeler, president, Auburn Theological Seminary, New York, N.Y.:
Interpreter of Maladies (short stories), by Jhumpa Lahiri
Quarantine, by Jim Crace
The City of Falling Angels, by John Berendt
Omnivore’s Dilemma, by Michael Pollen
The Most Famous Man in America: The Biography of Henry Ward Beecher, by Debby Applegate
Theology: A Very Short Introduction, by David F. Ford
Carol Wehrheim, writer and Christian educator, Princeton, N.J.:
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, by J. K. Rowling
A Multitude of Blessings, A Christian Approach to Religious Diversity, by Cynthia Campbell
Welcoming Children, A Practical Theology of Childhood, by Joyce Ann Mercer
Louis Weeks, president emeritus, Union Theological Seminary, Richmond, Va.:
Sacred Games, by Vikram Chandra
God’s Potters: Pastoral Leadership and the Shaping of Congregations, by Jackson Carroll
Practicing Gospel: Unconventional Thoughts on the Church’s Ministry, by Ed Farley
Christian Iosso, coordinator for General Assembly’s Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy:
Writing in an Age of Silence, by Sara Paretsky
Crisis in the Village: Restoring Hope in African American Communities, by Robert M. Franklin
What Paul Meant, by Garry Wills
In Search of the Common Good, edited by Dennis McCann and Patrick D. Miller
Christianity and Ecology: Seeking the Well-Being of Earth and Humans, by Dieter T. Hessel and Rosemary Radford Ruether
Mysteries of the Middle Ages, by Thomas Cahill
Joan Gray, moderator, 217th General Assembly:
No Longer at Ease, and Arrow of God, by Chinua Achebe
Dave Barry Does Japan, by Dave Barry
Ann Weems, PC(USA) elder, poet, writer, speaker, and conference leader, St. Louis, Mo.
Notebooks, by Tennessee Williams
The Secret Message of Jesus, by Brian McLaren
Dreams Where Have You Gone? Clues for Unity and Hope, by William McAtee
Laird Stuart, pastor, Calvary Church, San Francisco, Calif.:
Over the Edge of the World: Magellan’s Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe, by Lauren Bergreen
The Notebooks of Robert Frost
Bury the Chains, by Adam Hochschild
God’s Universe, by Owen Gingerich
Letters to a Young Doubter, by William Sloane Coffin
