Austin Channing Brown Convergent Books, 192 pages Reviewed by MaryAnn McKibben Dana I’m so thankful to former PC(USA) co-moderators Denise Anderson and Jan Edmiston for instituting a denomination-wide read-along of Debby Irving’s “Waking Up White” as part of their “One Church, One Book” initiative. “Waking Up White” chronicles Irving’s journey into awareness of the ways white supremacy is woven into the fabric of the American experience. As much as I appreciated the book – my jaw dropped to learn about the countless thousands of African American service members from World War II who were excluded from the GI Bill – I also found myself longing for more on this topic. Enter Austin Channing Brown’s bracing reflection, “I’m Still Here.” Whereas Irving’s work is eye-opening about the ways structural racism is all around us, Channing Brown’s book illuminates the ways that those racist structures influence individual white people’s behavior and the impact that behavior has on people … [Read more...]

Henry G. Brinton Koehler Books, 242 pages Reviewed by Michael F. Frosolono Henry Brinton, a Presbyterian pastor, crafted this novel that captures a reader’s attention without devolving into sloppy sentimentality or invoking miracles to facilitate the story. “City of Peace” incorporates fast action and believable characters, and illustrates the value of the radical hospitality Jesus advocated. Harley Camden, 57 years of age and at the peak of his career, pastors a growing and large United Methodist Church in Sterling, Virginia, with a large staff that produces programs running seven days a week. He leads his congregation through the narrow corridor between the Scylla of the Religious Right and the Charybdis of the Secular Left. Harley’s sermons avoid overt politics but, instead, help people follow Jesus by feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, visiting prisoners and welcoming strangers. Harley’s world disintegrates when Islamic terrorists kill his wife and college-aged … [Read more...]