Here’s a rip-snorter of a South Texas murder mystery, with a Presbyterian flavor, a Presbyparson’s first book. Mark Stoub, pastor in Bay City, Texas, weaves a yarn of murder, conniving and the dark (and lighter) sides of human nature among small-town Presbyterians in Shoestring, Texas.
Jossey-Bass (a Leadership Network publication). 256 pages
reviewed by ANDREW PLOUCHER
What about the inactive members? Where’d they go? If you’ve ever asked this question, deflected it during a tense session meeting or been frustrated with the challenges of developing a more active church membership, “The Other 80 Percent” is a must read.
HarperOne, San Francisco. 208 pages
reviewed by MIKE LITTLE
Can our charitable efforts to help the poor actually harm the very people we set out to help? In his most recent book, “Toxic Charity: How Churches and Charities Hurt Those They Help,” Robert Lupton contends the answer is unequivocally “yes.” In fact, he believes the harmful consequences of our charitable work are a national scandal.
Grand Rapids, Mich.: Wm. B. Eerdmanns. 286 pages
reviewed by SARAH SCHERSCHLIGT
On a morning walk, I caught sight of a bird circling over a pond. I was awestruck to witness it plummet into the pond and emerge with a catch.
by Thomas H. Groome
New York: Harper Collins. 384 pages
reviewed by JAMES F. CUBIE
Thomas Groome is a wise practical theologian who has written a superb book on how to do educational ministry that gives both a compelling, systematic vision of the theology that should support any practical effort to educate and grow disciples, and leads its reader through a series of personal and communal questions that relate directly to how a church operates day-to-day.
reviewed by JANICE HORTON
This book hits the spot. The “Vocational Sweet Spot” that is. Defined by Amy Sherman as “that place where our gifts and passions intersect with God’s priorities and the world’s needs,” it’s the place Christians ought to be aiming for when they consider their life’s work.
reviewed by JOELA RANAIVO
Cynthia Holder Rich provides a volume with a huge historical and informative value, tracing the Fifohazana, a spiritual revival movement in Madagascar, from its genesis in the late 19th century until now.
by Peter Bush
The Alban Institute. 138 pages
reviewed by MARY HARRIS TODD
“No, Lord! This shall never happen to you!” Peter cried when Jesus declared that the way to life led through death.
by James C. Howell
Westminster John Knox Press, Louisville, Ky. 178 pages
reviewed by ROY HOWARD
I have read plenty of books on the art of preaching. I would sacrifice most of them for this one by James Howell.
by Wendy Farley
Westminister John Knox Press. Louisville, KY. 438 pages
reviewed by DEBRA AVERY
Anyone who comes to this book with the hope of finding THE answer is likely to be surprised.
by Benjamin T. Conner
Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. Paperback. 129 pages
reviewed by JEFF KREHBIEL
Two of the most important movements in the mainline church in recent decades have been the focus on Christian practices represented by the Valparaiso Project on the Education and Formation of People in the Faith (represented by Practicing Our Faith, 1997), led by Dorothy Bass and Craig Dykstra, and the emergence of “missional” theology out of the Gospel and Our Culture Network, led by Darrell Guder and George Hunsberger (represented by The Missional Church, 1998).
by Wesley Granberg-Michaelson
Wm. B. Eerdmans, Minneapolis. 312 pages
reviewed by JOSEPH DELAHUNT
Wesley Granberg-Michaelson stepped down recently from his position as general secretary of the Reformed Church in America.
by Timothy Beach-Verhey
Baylor University Press, 320 pages
reviewed by ROGER J. GENCH
In this fine book on public theology, Timothy Beach-Verhey seeks to find a way for American Christians to contribute to public discourse without seeking to dominate it (as in the past) or to accommodate to its assumptions (our current temptation).
by Nicholas Wolterstorff
Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. 282 pages
reviewed by DAVID LITTLE
Sometimes, a book comes along that entirely reshapes consideration of a key topic in theology and philosophy. Such a book is Nicholas Wolterstorff’s “Justice in Love.”
by Allister Sparks & Mpho Tutu
HarperOne. 368 pages
reviewed by CAMERON BYRD
Toward the end of this book, written on the occasion of Bishop Desmond Tutu’s 80th birthday, the authors raise this question: “What kind of person do we have here in this humble high school teacher who became a lukewarm priest and eventually grew into a turbulent peace activist and Nobel Laureate (1984) and is now entering his octogenarian years not just as a man for all seasons but for all faiths and all humanity?”
Beauty Will Save the World:
A Sense of Being Called
by Richard Stoll Armstrong
Wipf and Stock Publishers. 192 pages.
reviewed by MELANIE HAMMOND CLARK
I was in the ninth grade, in the last few weeks of communicants/confirmation class,
and the new senior pastor of our 2,700-member congregation came to get to know
us and to let us know him.
by Allan Hugh Cole Jr., ed.
Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press. 249 pages.
reviewed by KENNETH E. KOVACS
This is a sumptuous banquet offering rich food for our souls.
To the End of the Land
by David Grossman
Harper One. 288 pages
reviewed by LESLIE A. KLINGENSMITH
“From the instant they’re born, you’re losing them.”
Natural Saints: How People of Faith are Working to Save God’s Earth
by Mallory McDuff
Oxford University Press. 240 pages.
reviewed by BENNETT
“Natural Saints” is both a memoir and a record of actions taken by Christians around the U.S. to protect the environment and provide a sustainable future.
by Abraham Verghese
Alfred A. Knopf. 560 pages.
There are many good books. The number of great books is drastically fewer, but when a reader finds one, we sense within a chapter or two that the book we hold in our hands is something special.
by Jean F. Risley
WIPF and Stock Publishers. 141 pages.
The last several years have seen a bevy of books extolling the virtues and enumerating the challenges of small-church ministry, such as Jason Byassee’s “The Gifts of the Small Church” and Brandon O’Brien’s “Strategically Small Church: Intimate, Nimble, Authentic, and Effective.”
by Brian McLaren
Harper One. 288 pages
reviewed by RYAN S. T. BYERS
Christian spiritual practices are rooted in the deep of well of our faith.
by Jonathan Dudley
New York: Crown Publishers. 208 pages
reviewed by JOHN BUSH
Jonathan Dudley is a young man on a mission, and in “Broken Words” he makes a significant contribution to fulfilling it.
by Michael Card
InterVarsity Press. 272 pages. Includes CD.
reviewed by ANDREW NAGEL
I once joked that I would not pay attention to the political opinions of musicians, nor would I listen to the musical opinions of politicians.
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