This month’s list features a few well known authors alongside others worth getting to know. All but the lowest rated book below are ones I heartily recommend to those engaged in lay and pastoral leadership roles in communities of faith focused on following the way of Jesus.
- (5+) Changing Faith: The Dynamics and Consequences of Americans’ Shifting Religious Identities by Darren Sherkat (2014)
- (5) The Mainliner’s Survival Guide to the Post-Denominational World by Derek Penwell (2014)
- (5) The Art of Communicating by Thich Nhat Hanh (2013)
- (5) Short Stories by Jesus: The Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi by Amy-Jill Levine (2014)
- (4.5) How Jesus Became God: The Exaltation of a Jewish Preacher from Galilee by Bart D. Ehrman (2014)
- (3.5) Undiluted: Rediscovering the Radical Message of Jesus by Benjamin L. Corey (2014)
So What?
Every church leader wants a crystal ball to see into the future. While no such device exists, Sherkat’s new book, Changing Faith: The Dynamics and Consequences of Americans’ Shifting Religious Identities, offers an in-depth consideration of the changing American religious landscape that should be required reading for those wanting to discuss the future of religion in America.
Penwell’s The Mainliner’s Survival Guide to the Post-Denominational World is more than another volume in a crowded category. It offers realistic, helpful, and constructive ideas that actually work in a post-world (post-denominational by title, but also post-modern, etc.). Read after Sherkat, it will be of even greater value than if read alone.
Levine’s Short Stories by Jesus: The Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi introduces readers to a host of new ideas about nine of Jesus’ better known parables. Using her world class scholarship, she offers insight about common incorrect or incomplete views, points out many ways in which Christian interpreters portray Jews negatively without cause, and suggests ways of reading each parable that would make sense to the original audiences and challenge contemporary readers.
- Share the last book you read that helped you grow in your faith. Would you recommend it to others? Why or why not?
- What books, articles, sermons, lectures, etc., have been most helpful to you in understanding the likely future of religion in America, including the role of mainline Protestantism (or your own religious tradition if other than mainline Protestantism)?