Bishop Ward invites each of us to be readers, not only of books that will help us practically in the growth of our church and ministry, but reading of poetry and novels, and essays, and other enriching offerings by those who are gifted in writing. See her growing bookshelf below.
For the Sake of the Bride: Restoring the Church to Her Intended Beauty, by Steve Harper
Steve Harper shares the spiritual discoveries of his 2014 Lenten journey, a time of prayer and discernment on homosexuality and the unity of the church. In his words, he “emerged … at Easter dawn as another kind of person.” He discovered anew the centrality of love and offers the round-table discussion model of E. Stanley Jones as the ways to move beyond tribalism in the United Methodist Church. He writes from his perspective as an evangelical leader, making a strong plea for the unity of the church, the “bride of Christ.” This book will be of particular interest to us in light of the overwhelming support of the “Plea for Unity” at the 2014 Annual Conference Session.
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Consider the Birds: A Provocative Guide to Birds of the Bible, by Debbie Blue
Read this one thoughtfully, a chapter at a time. Debbie Blue offers fresh and provocative meditations on birds found scripture, focusing our attention in new ways on the ever-living message of the Bible. Each bird – pigeon, pelican, quail, vulture, eagle, ostrich, sparrow, cock, hen and raven – becomes an unforgettable image, challenge and invitation. She peels back the layers while sharing careful research, deep wisdom and careful observation. This is a glorious handbook, not only of birds, but of the Bible, faithfully loved. I will not read of these birds again in the old way: the scriptural places in which they nest are now alive and glorious.
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Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold, by Daniel James Brown
The crew team from the University of Washington in Seattle were an unlikely prospect for Olympic gold in Berlin in 1936. The amazing story of their determination, perseverance, comradeship and focus inspires every community to consider the quality of shared life. While the subtitle of the book is a “spoiler” for those who would prefer to wait for the end to read the outcome of their effort, the unfolding of the story is spellbinding, interweaving the lives of the young men who came from disparate places with their coaches and the master boat-crafter with the wider world of the emerging western United States in this sport previously dominated by teams from the east and global dynamics increasingly dominated by the rise of Hitler in Germany. Rowing is “an art not a frantic scramble.” The same is true of leadership, aligned, collegial, persistent. This is only one of many observations with impact for those of us who seek to lead.
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Chasing Francis, by Ian Morgan Cron
We are all on a spiritual journey, and our journeys have awakenings and dead ends, twists and turns. Pastor Chase Falson finds himself at a spiritual impasse, disillusioned and exhausted. His uncle, a Franciscan friar, wisely beckons him to Italy where Chase experiences the geography, theology, and spirituality of St. Francis. As this journey unfolds, Chase discovers in delightful and redemptive ways the ancient yet ever-new joy and serendipity of being a follower of Christ. As I traveled with Chase in this story, I was awakened to the simple power of the gospel shared most powerfully in simplicity, art and story.
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Learning to Walk in the Dark, by Barbara Brown Taylor
Afraid of the dark, we learn early to embrace “solar spirituality.” This is a thoughtful, faithful invitation to rethink the essential role of darkness in our world, in our lives and in the scriptures. I read it once, then immediately started reading it all over again. As a result, I take new notice of darkness within and around, of dawn and dusk and the night sky. As one endorser wrote, “This is the book I have been needing to read for a long time.” We are incomplete without the rhythm of creation, with waxing and waning moonlight, with darkness as well as light.
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The Good Fundamentalist , by John Killinger
Killinger draws from the real-life story of a fundamentalist pastor who came to his Southern Baptist Church in Somerset, KY. The pastor’s rigid adherence to Biblical literalism is challenged by unfolding events in the life of his family, his friends and his church. The story informs our continued conversations in the United Methodist Church as we seek to live well across differences, with love and understanding.
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You Raise Me Up: Making it Happen for Children of the Ark, by Catherine Ritch
Project AGAPE is “a miraculous birth” of mission in Armenia, the oldest Christian nation in the world. Catherine Ritch tells our story – the story of the North Carolina and Western North Carolina Conferences – in Nagorno-Karabakh, once a part of Armenia and now disputed territory. Our unique partnership with the Armenian Apostolic Church has yielded wonderful fruit: a hospital, a school, an orphanage, Christmas boxes, a cattle project with the support of a veterinarian, home building and repair, engagement of mission volunteers. The remarkable story of the first 20 years of Project Agape gives us inspiration for the way forward from strength to strength in ministry in Armenia.
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Living Into Community: Cultivating Practices That Sustain Us, by Christine D. Pohl*
Gratitude, promise-keeping, truth-telling, and hospitality are practices that sustain us.
These practices can shape our character and our shared life to embody the faithfulness and integrity God seeks to give us. Christine Pohl will be with us at the 2014 Annual Conference Session to teach and mentor us in these life-giving practices.
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Leading Causes of Life, by Gary Gunderson and Larry Pray*
There are leading causes of life: connection, coherence, agency, blessing and hope. Gunderson and Pray help us embrace an appreciative approach to health and wellness. As we focus on what is right with us, we push back what may be wrong with us! The leading causes of life strengthen us and undergird our witness. At the 2014 Annual Conference Session, Gary Gunderson and Teresa Cutts will help us see how these causes of life work in our personal lives and in our life together in community.
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24/6, by Matthew Sleeth*
Matthew and Nancy Sleeth have become our teachers and mentors through Spirited Life and retreats leadership for the Cabinet and Conference staff. They will lead us in Bible study and reflection at the 2014 Annual Conference Session on the Biblical theme of sabbath. 24/6 is an insightful guide for embracing God’s good gift of Sabbath. The book and accompanying DVD will be helpful in a variety of settings and offer guidance for group interaction. Sabbath and caring for creation are profoundly related, and the Sleeths are wonderful spiritual guides in helping us make and live that connection.
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Thin Blue Smoke, by Doug Worgul
LaVerne describes the process of making barbecue: it requires smoke, salt and vinegar, bitter things made sweet through patience and faith and willingness to learn. Baseball, blues, theology, race and good food eaten in community are interwoven themes in this redemption story that unfolds in and around LaVerne Williams’ Genuine BBQ and City Grocery in Kansas City, known simply as “Smoke Meat.” Barbecue is the process of making something special out of something that is not special, less desirable meat into comfort meals served up in a simple space of 44 chairs. “What will publicity give us that we haven’t got?” Laverne asks. A very good question indeed!
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Flight Behavior, by Barbara Kingsolver
Dellarobia Turnbow is overshadowed by a nearby valley aflame with monarch butterflies and those who come to study them. Her small and seeming insignificant life is expanded and enriched, as she becomes aware of the wider world with its new possibilities amid its ecological crisis. Trapped in poverty, she is entraced by Ovid, the biologist who asks why we should save a world with no soul left in it, even as she is counseled by a callous environmentalist to “fly less.” The monarch butterflies and Dellarobia’s journey beckon us all to love and to save this magnificent endangered world we inhabit.
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Caleb’s Crossing, by Geraldine Brooks
In 1665, the first Native American graduated from Harvard College. Geraldine Brooks creates a novel interwoven with Puritans, missionaries and Native Americans on Martha’s Vineyard. Bethia Mayfield is the teller of the tale, giving witness to her resistance to the narrow theology in which she is steeped and her deep desire to learn thwarted by gender roles in her community. She creatively “overhears” the instruction of boys and secretly builds a relationship a Wampanoag friend, Caleb. It is a sad but essential story with instructive themes for every place and age.
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Strangers at my Door, by Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove
The experiences of the extended and changing family of Rutba House in Durham warm our hearts as we sense the profound, scriptural truth: we find ourselves as we lose ourselves in hospitality and relationship with others. These experiences are beautifully told, with the simple tone of invitation. The prison cellblock is full of young men from the same zipcode. It is good to “teach people to fish”… if the problem is that they do not know how to fish… but if they do know how but have no access to the pond… then our approach is an affront. Each chapter evokes the urge to stop, to pray, to weep, to rejoice. Christ comes to us, teaches us, renews us, beckons us… through the strangers at our door.
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David and Goliath, by Malcolm Gladwell
There are advantages in disadvantages, and there are disadvantages in advantages. The Biblical story of David and Goliath teach this great, enduring truth. Compelling examples abound. A completely inexperienced coach with a novice girls’ basketball team sees the game differently and leads the team to a state championship. A community organizer in Birmingham knows that progress will only come through provoking the powerful to harsh over-reaction. Gladwell regularly helps us to fresh perspectives. Like The Tipping Point, Blink, and Outliers, David and Goliath invites us to a new way of being in the world, watching and leading.
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Seven Thousand Ways to Listen, by Mark Nepo
There are seven thousand known languages in the world. Mark Nepo suggests that there must be also seven thousand ways to listen and is a spiritual guide for all who would choose the way of humility, receptivity and wonder. Listening is a gift and an art. Nepo says “it is the doorway to everything that matters.” This book is a wonderful gift in our loud and overbearing world, teaching us to live and listen with humility, vigilance and receptivity. In the lost posture of listening, we find ourselves “staying close to what is sacred.” As we listen to the natural world, to the stranger, to our friends and family, to our own hearts, we find ourselves embraced by God.
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*Recommended reading for Annual Conference 2014.