Early one morning, for no earthly reason, Sara Miles, raised an atheist, wandered into a church, received communion, and found herself transformed–embracing a faith she’d once scorned. A lesbian left-wing journalist who’d covered revolutions around the world, Miles didn’t discover a religion that was about angels or good behavior or piety; her faith centered on…
Learn How to Contribute More Effectively and Compassionately to the Conversations that Shape Your Life “Anything could happen when we start to talk. Nothing will happen if we don’t. That alone makes the way of dialogue a journey worth taking.” —from the Epilogue Think of an issue that makes your blood boil. Now imagine lunch…
In this book, theologian Letty Russell redefines the commonly held notion of hospitality as she challenges her readers to consider what it means to welcome the stranger. In doing so, she implores persons of faith to join the struggles for justice. Rather than an act of limited, charitable welcome, Russell maintains that true hospitality is…
From the National Book Award–winning author of The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression comes a monumental new work, a decade in the writing, about family. In Far from the Tree, Andrew Solomon tells the stories of parents who not only learn to deal with their exceptional children but also find profound meaning in doing…
Over Coffee is a narrative piece couched in the coffee-house conversation between Dave and a small-town pastor concerning a gay church member who desires to be partnered in the church. Over Coffee warmly introduces the reader to a biblical, faith-based dialogue for providing room on the pew in today’s most conservative churches for gay partnered…
“The book chronicles Cheri DiNovo’s own attempts as a minister to expand the membership of a rapidly shrinking congregation in a poor, inner city Toronto neighborhood. As a result, DiNovo discovers that, in her congregation’s decision to evangelize among the marginalized and “queer” in their neighborhood, church members are radically changed by realizing how “queer”…
Rather than embracing the conflict around gay relationships as an opportunity for the church to talk honestly about human sexuality, Christians continue to hurt one another with the same tired arguments that divide us along predictable political battle lines. If the world is to “know that we are Christians by our love,” the church needs…
Different groups interpret the Bible according to their core beliefs, emphasizing some ideas while allowing others to lie dormant. In this reflection on the meaning of Scripture, Peter Fitch argues that the Bible itself gives many clues as to the appropriate lens with which to read it: love. It is not meant as a rulebook,…
“This is a breakthrough work coming from the heart of evangelical Christianity and offered into the heart of evangelical Christianity,” writes David P. Gushee, the prolific Christian author and Director of the Center for Theology and Public Life at Mercer University. In describing this book, Gushee continues: “It is unlike other books that demand revision…
How do we live out the message of Jesus in today’s ever-changing culture? The church is facing its greatest challenge and its greatest opportunity in our postmodern, post-Christian world. God is drawing thousands of spiritually curious, imperfect people to become his church but how are we doing at welcoming them? No Perfect People shows you…