By Peggy Shriver
WJKP. 2001. 112 pp. Pb. $14.95.
ISBN 0664223338
Reviewed by Jane C. Perdue of Canyon Lake, Texas
Through her book of poems, The Dancers of Riverside Park, Peggy Shriver travels with her eyes wide open. Whether riding the subway in New York City or viewing the tomb of Lenin in Russia, her antenna is out to sense the moment.
By Christopher Tuckett
WJKP. 2001. 256 pp. Pb. $24.95.
ISBN 0-664-22431-8
Reviewed by John Barksdale of Madison, Va.
Christopher Tuckett, a lecturer in New Testament studies at the University of Oxford, has written a very readable and useful summary of what the New Testament writers thought about the significance of Jesus.
By Conrad Cherry, Betty A. DeBerg and Amanda Porterfield
University of North Carolina Press. 2001. 316 pp. $24.95. 
ISBN 0-8078-2623-5
— reviewed by Allen Proctor, Presbyterian campus minister
North Carolina State University, Raleigh, N.C.
Religion on Campus is a valuable and unique resource for all who are interested in what is actually happening in the religious life of students and faculty on college campuses today. Are you interested in getting inside a meeting of Campus Crusade for Christ to see all that is said and done? What happens during a gathering of the Lutheran Student Movement and what feelings and thoughts do students report in interviews following those gatherings?
By Howard L. Rice and James C. Huffstuttler
Geneva. 2001. 233 pp. $24.95.
ISBN 0-664-50147-8
Reviewed by Ronald P. Byars, professor of preaching and
worship,Union-PSCE, Richmond, Va.
"Word-centered worship appeals to the mind . . . sometimes to the neglect of the emotions. Partly because of this emphasis, the flight of the young from Reformed congregations has been particularly noticeable, and the feeling that something is wrong is very deep" [p. x].
Ed Hart, pastor of First church, Napa, Calif., is one of the ministers who has formally challenged the ordination of Katie Morrison, a lesbian who was ordained in San Anselmo, Calif., on Oct. 21 despite opposition from some in Redwoods Presbytery.
Everything changed on Sept. 11, including world mission. Our staff in Worldwide Ministries in Louisville did a good job of immediately contacting all of our mission workers around the world.
We shared the joy and privilege of serving as co-chairs of the Joint Committee on Presbyterian Union, from 1969 to 1983. Like many of your regular readers we rejoiced in the breakdown of barriers which had stood for 122 years, and the creation of a newly reconciled church, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
It's sort of like the mom trying to clean up the kids while they're still playing in the mud pile -- a task force created to study theological issues and lead the church in spiritual discernment, just getting started at a time when the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is talking openly about a possible split and preparing to vote on the divisive issue of ordaining gays and lesbians.
Charity Forbes suspects that, because she's 28, she gets away with some things, such as wearing jeans to the office or toe rings, that might be challenged if she were an older pastor. But she's also living out firsthand some of the difficulties of being a young, single minister in a denomination that's aging -- and in a culture where many of her peers don't view the ministry as a desirable or compelling line of work.
A connectional presbytery in this Internet culture is a wired presbytery. An underlying theological premise driving this concept is the realization that God has providentially placed us in a technologically advanced period. Not to use the communication media available to us for advancing the gospel would be like the Apostle Paul deciding not to write letters.
The congregation of Richmond (Va.) Third church celebrated on Oct. 14 the remodeling of their sanctuary, just a little emore than a year since the sanctuary ceiling fell.
ORLANDO, Fla. -- The Presbyterian Coalition is plowing at least $300,000 into its campaign to defeat Amendment A, a controversial proposal that would open the door to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)'s ordaining sexually active gays and lesbians.
The current moderator and two most recent past moderators of the General Assembly have selected the following 21 persons to serve on the Theological Task Force requested by the 213th General Assembly. Gary Demarest and Jean S. Stoner will serve as co-moderators.
In separate cases on opposite coasts of the country, presbyteries of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) are examining gay candidates for the ministry, assessing their suitability for ordination.
ORLANDO -- More than 1,150 evangelical Presbyterians, meeting here at the Presbyterian Coalition's biggest gathering ever, made it clear Tuesday that they want to accomplish some kind of "new reformation" of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) --
Six years ago the General Assembly elected me to a new class of the Assembly's Permanent Judicial Commission. Elections occur every two years. They create, if you will, three two-year sessions for each commissioner. Every two years this transition brings an interesting change of style and personality as the new class arrives. Each new class constitutes at least a third of the membership.
My mother's twin sister married a Methodist minister which, in those days, was not considered a serious disgrace. His first pastorate was in Calico Rock, Arkansas, and after a series of calls (or raises) to larger churches he was elected a bishop. Soon after this elevation, I told my uncle the only thing he could now aspire to become was any kind of Presbyterian.
By Barbara Brown Taylor
Cowley. 2000. 104 pp. Pb. $10.95.
ISBN 1-56101-189-4
Reviewed by Scott Dalgarno, pastor, First church, Ashland, Ore.
"In the age just past, nationalism has brought us Hitler, science has brought us the atom bomb and religion has brought us some really awful television programming." So quips the inimitable Barbara Brown Taylor in a new book on a topic most of us think we've heard quite enough about already: sin.
By Robert W. Herron
Thomas More. 2000. 188 pp. Pb. $15.95.
ISBN 0-88347-460-3
Reviewed by Margret Barnes Perry, a pastoral counselorin Asheville, N.C.
Yet another book on marriage? Yes, and this one is a worthwhile read in large part because it has a particular focus: making it through midlife with your spouse. In writing this book, Robert W. Herron claims his hope: that he will help couples "navigate this transitional period in life and marriage and feel better about themselves as they do."
By Jean Stairs
Fortress. 2000. 213 pp. Pb. $20.
ISBN 0-8006-3239-7
Reviewed by William V. Arnold, Bryn Mawr, Pa.
In clear language, with no appeals to academic jargon, Jean Stairs undertakes a balancing act that brings pastoral care and spiritual direction into collaboration with each other. She wisely makes no attempt to have one discipline subsume the other. Rather, she recognizes and describes the gifts of each and the need of each for the perspective of the other.
By Martin E. Marty
Jossey-Bass. 2000. 240 pp. Hb. $22.50.
ISBN 0-7879-5031-9
Reviewed by Edward A. White, Washington, D.C.
This is a refreshing and clear-thinking description and analysis of the place of religion in the public life of our nation. Martin Marty sets forth six theses:
1. Public religion can be dangerous. It should be handled with care.
2. Public religion can and does contribute to the common good.
By Martin E. Marty and Jonathan Moore
Jossey-Bass. 2000. 164 pp. Pb. $23.
ISBN 0-7879-5033-5
Reviewed by Allan E. Strand, Oxford, Miss.
The thrust of Martin Marty's work in this volume is captured most succinctly in this: "In the midst of global, national and local change affecting world views and public action, religion is too widespread and too deep a phenomenon not to be reckoned with in primary, or at least secondary, schools and thereafter, no matter under what aegis or auspices" (p. 139).
By Jack Haberer
Geneva. 2001. 192 pp. Pb. $19.95.
ISBN 0-664-50190-7
Reviewed by Brent Eelman of Houston, Texas
This book should be mandatory reading for all commissioners to this year's General Assembly. Jack Haberer, who is well-known as an evangelical leader in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), has written a thoughtful book that challenges the reader to rethink the easy categories that we often use to describe theological differences.
By Dean E. Foose
Geneva. 2001. 114 pp. Pb. $9.95.
ISBN 0-664-50041-2
Reviewed by Freda Gardner, Princeton, N.J.
The subtitle of this book is "A Roadmap for Pastor Nominating Committees." It is well chosen and Dean Foose, director of alumni/ae relations and placement at Princeton Seminary, is well qualified to describe a way for congregations and pastors to discover their respective callings.
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