Amy Plantinga Pauw Eerdmans, 198 pages Reviewed by Morgan Morse Hay I was given Amy Plantinga Pauw’s book “Church In Ordinary Time” during a season of church life that was anything but ordinary. I was returning from a wonderful sabbatical to a criminal investigation into embezzlement by the church bookkeeper. As the book attests: “No pastor has to be reminded that church is an earthen vessel. The chips and cracks of its creatureliness are in full evidence.” During the investigation and subsequent criminal charges, it was hard to make room for reading this book, but once I finally dived into it I found it to speak not only to my current church situation but the situation of church life in general in these days, which seem to be anything but ordinary. Pauw uses the wisdom literature to talk about how the church can be faithful in this liminal space in which we exist, “in the gap between the resurrection and the last things.” She posits that “church lives in this time between … [Read more...]

David E. Gray Parson’s Porch, 112 pages David Gray has written a helpful book that explores the art of a carefully written “good word.” Not only does Gray examine the various uses of blessings in Jewish and Christian scriptural traditions, he also briefly describes the Reformed understanding along with other church traditions. Why so much attention to a brief liturgical gesture? Gray is persuaded by psychological studies that the first and last words in any spoken event have the most influence on the listeners. It is particularly true for the last word, which is remembered more than any other. He wants worship leaders to pay careful attention to the charge and benediction because people will remember this word throughout the week. The benediction is critical because it sums up the entire worship service in a crisp manner that is portable. In addition to the well-known blessings found in the New Testament epistles and sprinkled through the Old Testament, there are other poetic … [Read more...]

  Leslie Williams Eerdmans, 208 pages In the summer of 1529, theology professor Thomas Cranmer decided to escape the plague and passed through Cambridge to stay at the home of the Cressy family in Waltham Abbey in Essex. In August, two of King Henry VIII’s advisors, Stephen Gardiner and Edward Foxe, happened to join him there for dinner. The three former university colleagues naturally fell into discussion about the recent trial in the Great Hall of the Blackfriars that was to decide the king’s “great matter” — the annulling of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. When the papal legate, Lorenzo Campeggio, postponed the proceedings to October, the king knew that he was unlikely ever to receive the decision he wanted from Pope Clement VII. Over dinner, Cranmer suggested to his friends that Henry change tactics. Rather than decide the case on the basis of canon law in an ecclesiastical court, the king should seek out scholarly divines to determine the issue on the basis of … [Read more...]

  The Outlook asked some of our younger readers three questions. They responded with books that are well worth checking out this spring. What is a book that was transformational for you and why? A book that was transformative in my understanding of spirituality was the classic “Celebration of Discipline” by Richard Foster. I’ve used it for a sermon series, for elder training, for devotions, for counseling and for personal spiritual development. It doesn’t completely encapsulate spirituality, but it has helped me to get a better grasp on spiritual growth. Alex Becker It isn’t a book exactly, but “The Unbusy Pastor” by Eugene Peterson has been huge for me. I first found it through one of those weird internet wormholes you go through, arriving at it completely out of context. It struck me as so timely, relevant and simple in a profound way. Peterson highlights three things he wants to do to be an unbusy pastor: pray, preach, listen. He talks about blocking out all the noise … [Read more...]

Stanley Hauerwas William B. Eerdmans, 192 pages Reviewed by Deborah McKinley I am a godmother. Though one wouldn’t know that by my actions. In God’s good providence, by steady, faithful parenting and a congregation that takes discipleship seriously, my goddaughter is now graduated from college and launched into a life of service. She boldly claims the Christian faith around which her life is formed. All without much except prayer from her godmother. This is not a book about how to be a good godparent. Though the book begins with a forward by Samuel Wells, “On Being a Godparent” is a personal book of letters that prominent theologian Stanley Hauerwas wrote to his godson, Laurie, the son of Wells (another well-known writer, pastor and theologian) and Jo Bailey Wells (a bishop in the Church of England). The letters were written annually on the anniversary of Laurie’s baptism, October 27, 2002, and continue through 2016, with an added letter dated January 31, 2017. Each letter … [Read more...]