The best new books I’ve read in the last month are
- (5+) Funding Forward: A Pathway to More Sustainable Models for Ministry by Grace Duddy Pomroy (Fortress Press, 2024)
- (5.0) God’s Gift of Generosity: Gratitude Beyond Stewardship by Karl B. Travis (Westminster John Knox Press, 2024)
- (5.0) Jesus for Everyone: Not Just Christians by Amy-Jill Levine (HarperOne, 2024)
- (4.5) Who is a True Christian: Contesting Religious Identity in American Culture by David W. Congdon (Cambridge University Press, 2024)
- (4.5) The New CEO: Lessons from CEOs on How to Start Well and Perform Quickly (Minus the Common Mistakes) by Ty Wiggins (WIley, 2024)
- (4.5) Seasons Greetings: Christmas Letters from Those Who Were There by Ruth L. Boling (Upper Room Books, 2024)
- (4.0) Thriving on a Riff: Jazz and the Spiritual Life by William G. Carter (Broadleaf Books, 2024)
- (4.0) Where We Meet: A Lenten Study of Systems, Stories and Hope by Rachel Gilmore, Candace M. Lewis, Tyler Sit, and Matt Temple (Upper Room Books, 2023)
Funding Forward
After decades of membership decline, many local churches are now struggling with financial sustainability. Even congregations with significant assets and sizeable membership are finding that reliance on a single source of income does not provide the financial stability it once did.
Grace Duddy Pomroy, director of the Stewardship Leaders Program at Lutheran Seminary since 2020, understands that while each congregation’s journey of sustainability is unique, the numerous examples of paths chosen by other congregations are helpful to every congregation’s discernment process. Her new book is based on a survey of 200 congregations that have financial models inclusive of at least one source of income beyond tithes and offerings (101 of these congregations completed the survey) and interviews with a dozen of these congregations to better understand their stories. Funding Forward is a tremendous resource that helps congregations identify new opportunities that are aligned with and organically emerge from their mission.
Regardless of your congregation’s present financial situation, I invite you to consider this book as a means of exploring what’s possible and as an invitation to reconsider how property, social enterprise, and staffing might look in your congregation in the years ahead.
Note: Funding Forward is only the third book in 2024 to receive 5+ stars from So What Faith joining Baptizing America How Mainline Protestants Helped Build Christian Nationalism and Everything Good About God is True: Choosing Faith (additionally, only 3 books received this honor in 2023).
Welcome Back
Two of this month’s featured authors has previously appeared on So What Faith.
Amy-Jill Levine. Dr. Levine has been mentioned on this blog many times, including reviews or ratings of three of her books published over the last decade. (Each book includes a link to the blog post where it was originally rated or reviewed.)
- The Difficult Words of Jesus: A Beginner’s Guide to His Most Perplexing Teachings by Amy-Jill Levine (Abingdon Press, 2021) – Rated 4.0
- The Bible With and Without Jesus: How Jews and Christians Read the Same Stories Differently by Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Zvi Brettler (HarperOne, 2020) – Rated 4.5
- Short Stories by Jesus: The Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi (HarperOne, 2015) – Rated 5.0 and Named Top Book of 2015
And, Tyler Sit, has been mentioned twice. His prior book related mention was on the occasion of the publication of a book he authored: Staying Awake: The Gospel for Changemakers (Chalice Press, 2021) — Rated 5.0.