The View From The Pew

Author : Tim O'Donnell
Publisher : SCB Distributors
ISBN 13 : 0984534407
Total Pages : 200 pages
Book Rating : 4.01/5 ( download)

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Download or read book A View from the Back Pew written by Tim O'Donnell and published by SCB Distributors. This book was released on 2011-02-10 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Engages with the taboo questions of Christianity as investigative reportage, exploring the "mysteries of faith". Is America becoming preoccupied with religion? In a country with a tradition of keeping matters of creed private, we are now seeing religion in the headlines almost daily, while ironically, escalating numbers of Americans are abandoning organized religion altogether. A recent Pew survey of Americans show: 91% believe in God, 44% have switched religions, 71% of 18-30 year-olds are “spiritual but not religious” and the Catholic Church estimates at least one third of Catholics are lapsed. We are a nation under God, a country of believers it seems, but one undergoing a collective shift in our allegiance to organized religion. But, before the individual shifts they are aided by looking at what they were taught to believe in the first place. A View from the Back Pew: God, Religion & Our Personal Quest for Truth investigates the mysteries of faith in a no-holds-barred exposé into the very core of the Christianity. Candid, humorous and controversial, Tim O’Donnell takes us on a powerful search for balance – between faith and personal experience, between the roots of Christianity and layers of doctrine and between ritual and the connection to the entity we call God. A View from the Back Pew is not written for theologians or the so-called spiritual illuminati, but for ordinary people who are asking deeper questions about their faith. Before one can venture from the safe harbor of organized religion to the open water of spirituality, it helps to be clear about what causes our quandary. This book helps deal with the imprint religion has made while leaving out the guilt commonly linked to asking such questions. “My hope” writes O’Donnell “is that if you are drawn to the Divine but labor over dogma and ritual, you will find a fresh perspective in my view from the back pew”.

Author : Catherine Lacey
Publisher : Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ISBN 13 : 0374720134
Total Pages : 224 pages
Book Rating : 4.31/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Pew written by Catherine Lacey and published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. This book was released on 2020-07-21 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: WINNER of the 2021 NYPL Young Lions Fiction Award. Finalist for the 2021 Dylan Thomas Prize. Longlisted for the 2021 PEN/Jean Stein Book Award, the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction and the Joyce Carol Oates Prize. One of Publishers Weekly's Best Fiction Books of 2020. One of Amazon's 100 Best Books of 2020. “The people of this community are stifling, and generous, cruel, earnest, needy, overconfident, fragile and repressive, which is to say that they are brilliantly rendered by their wise maker, Catherine Lacey.” --Rachel Kushner, author of The Flamethrowers A figure with no discernible identity appears in a small, religious town, throwing its inhabitants into a frenzy In a small, unnamed town in the American South, a church congregation arrives for a service and finds a figure asleep on a pew. The person is genderless and racially ambiguous and refuses to speak. One family takes in the strange visitor and nicknames them Pew. As the town spends the week preparing for a mysterious Forgiveness Festival, Pew is shuttled from one household to the next. The earnest and seemingly well-meaning townspeople see conflicting identities in Pew, and many confess their fears and secrets to them in one-sided conversations. Pew listens and observes while experiencing brief flashes of past lives or clues about their origin. As days pass, the void around Pew’s presence begins to unnerve the community, whose generosity erodes into menace and suspicion. Yet by the time Pew’s story reaches a shattering and unsettling climax at the Forgiveness Festival, the secret of who they really are—a devil or an angel or something else entirely—is dwarfed by even larger truths. Pew, Catherine Lacey’s third novel, is a foreboding, provocative, and amorphous fable about the world today: its contradictions, its flimsy morality, and the limits of judging others based on their appearance. With precision and restraint, one of our most beloved and boundary-pushing writers holds up a mirror to her characters’ true selves, revealing something about forgiveness, perception, and the faulty tools society uses to categorize human complexity.

Author : Patricia G. Brown
Publisher : Westminster John Knox Press
ISBN 13 : 9780664500191
Total Pages : 168 pages
Book Rating : 4.96/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Preaching from the Pew written by Patricia G. Brown and published by Westminster John Knox Press. This book was released on 1998-01-01 with total page 168 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this deeply spiritual and prophetic collection of sermons, meditations, and prayers, Pat Brown takes the reader on a personal journey into and out of some of the most critical challenges facing the church in these turbulent and confusing times. She unveils her story of God's handiwork in shaping her life as a child of the Reformed tradition and as the mother of a special needs son. In a time when the call for justice withers on the vine as the church struggles with itself, this book is required reading for every perplexed servant of Jesus Christ.

Author : Robbie F. Castleman
Publisher : InterVarsity Press
ISBN 13 : 0830866477
Total Pages : 161 pages
Book Rating : 4.72/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Parenting in the Pew written by Robbie F. Castleman and published by InterVarsity Press. This book was released on 2012-11-14 with total page 161 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Daddy, I'd like you to meet my children." That's Robbie Castleman's attitude about taking her children to church. She believes that Sunday morning isn't a success if she has only managed to keep the kids quiet. And she knows there's more to church for kids than trying out their new coloring books. Children are at church for the same reason as their parents: for the privilege of worshiping God. Worship, Castleman writes, is "the most important thing you can ever train your child to do." So with infectious passion, nitty-gritty advice and a touch of humor, she shows you how to help your children (from toddlers to teenagers) enter into worship. In this significantly revised and updated edition Castleman includes a new preface and two new appendices that provide new perspectives on children's sermon and intergenerational community. She also provides a study guide for personal reflection or group discussion. More than ever, Parenting in the Pew is essential reading for parents and worship leaders who want to help children make joyful noises unto the Lord.

Author : Richard Starks
Publisher : Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN 13 : 0762788801
Total Pages : 259 pages
Book Rating : 4.04/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Room with a Pew written by Richard Starks and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2012-09-04 with total page 259 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An offbeat and entertaining account of a journey through Spain – staying only in ancient monasteries.

Author : Parry Ann Brown
Publisher : Villard
ISBN 13 : 0375757058
Total Pages : 258 pages
Book Rating : 4.51/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Sittin' in the Front Pew written by Parry Ann Brown and published by Villard. This book was released on 2002 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Returning to Baltimore from Los Angeles to bury her late father, Glynda Naylor and her three sisters celebrate their father's life and search for answers about who the real Edward Naylor, who had raised them after their mother's death, was. Original. 35,000 first printing.

Author : Alex A. Meñez
Publisher : Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
ISBN 13 : 1098041763
Total Pages : 143 pages
Book Rating : 4.62/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The View from the Pew written by Alex A. Meñez and published by Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.. This book was released on 2021-03-11 with total page 143 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Love stories are always captivating. And when it is the love story of a catholic priest, it is intriguing. This book is about the love story of two priests. "Both stories reveal their pain and struggles to decide against a law imbedded for centuries in the solid structure of an institution and in the cultural psyche of both laity and clergy. In the end, love and grace triumph" (From a peer review).A highlight of this book is my reformist concern related to clerical behavior. And I speak from my experience and expertise of forty years in the ministry. Ecclesiastics should know that when I left the service of the altar, I bore no bitterness or regret. I am, therefore, their best ally to tell them the truth in love. An added weight for my credibility is because my observations are based mostly on the pronouncements of Pope Francis.The book will make some clerics uncomfortable. Many will find it comforting and uplifting. All will find it a good resource for reflection and a compelling guide for examination of conscience to hopefully bring about the clergy reform in attitude and lifestyle.I have a chapter on celibacy. Some will ask, what more is there to talk about this topic. And I say, because I present celibacy with a focus on chastity. Celibacy without chastity is a farce. Perhaps someday the church will change its law on celibacy, definitely not in my lifetime. But it will. This book will tell you why.This book can be used as a primer in the seminary formation program. As Cardinal Robert Sarah has warned, "The Christian priesthood is going through a major crisis," and at the root of this quagmire "is a deep flaw in their formation."The laity will benefit from this book, especially among the churchgoing, those engaged in religious formation, those in search of their faith's relevance or simply the spiritually hungry and the families and friends of priests all over the world. The book strongly emphasizes the equality in dignity of all Christian faithful (clergy and lay) based on the grace of baptism. This will help the laity value and uphold their proper role, viz. that together they build up the Church of Jesus Christ.

Author : Meirwyn Walters
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781683072683
Total Pages : 212 pages
Book Rating : 4.85/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Intentional Preaching written by Meirwyn Walters and published by . This book was released on 2020-03 with total page 212 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Intentional Preaching, written by Meirwyn Walters, is the handy guide that every preacher needs. In preparing and delivering their sermons, preachers make dozens of decisions, some intentionally, many perhaps less so. Why not make thoughtful decisions for everything that goes into preaching a good sermon? From first words to hand gestures, choosing a text, masterful use of exegesis, captivating illustrations, titles, approaches to reading Scripture, use of voice, PowerPoint, applications that stick, and scores of other aspects of sermon preparation and delivery, this book explores the panoply of elements in good preaching. Targeted at preachers, the book consists of 117 "squiblets" ranging from a sentence to three or four pages, each on a particular aspect of preaching. Some are quite short, offering practical wisdom, some provide specific advice and tools, and some contain vignettes from the field. In this delightful and sage book, there is something for every preacher to improve his or her preaching. "Although pastors may have talked among themselves about how to construct effective sermons, they have seldom brought the listeners into the conversation. . . . They need a word like this from a layman, a lawyer, and a committed follower of Jesus who really is a friend of preachers." --Haddon Robinson Key points and features: - Explores the panoply of elements in good preaching, from hand gestures, to use of voice, to captivating illustrations, and more - Easily readable (and incredibly humorous) short chapters for busy pastors - A handy guidebook in a small trim size, packed with snippets of sage advice

Author : Rebecca Nichols Alonzo
Publisher : Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
ISBN 13 : 1414338295
Total Pages : 306 pages
Book Rating : 4.93/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Devil in Pew Number Seven written by Rebecca Nichols Alonzo and published by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.. This book was released on 2010-07-27 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 2011 Retailers Choice Award winner! Rebecca never felt safe as a child. In 1969, her father, Robert Nichols, moved to Sellerstown, North Carolina, to serve as a pastor. There he found a small community eager to welcome him—with one exception. Glaring at him from pew number seven was a man obsessed with controlling the church. Determined to get rid of anyone who stood in his way, he unleashed a plan of terror that was more devastating and violent than the Nichols family could have ever imagined. Refusing to be driven away by acts of intimidation, Rebecca’s father stood his ground until one night when an armed man walked into the family’s kitchen . . . And Rebecca’s life was shattered. If anyone had a reason to harbor hatred and seek personal revenge, it would be Rebecca. Yet The Devil in Pew Number Seven tells a different story. It is the amazing true saga of relentless persecution, one family’s faith and courage in the face of it, and a daughter whose parents taught her the power of forgiveness.

Author : Clifton Floyd Guthrie
Publisher : Abingdon Press
ISBN 13 : 0687066603
Total Pages : 138 pages
Book Rating : 4.05/5 ( download)

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Download or read book From Pew to Pulpit written by Clifton Floyd Guthrie and published by Abingdon Press. This book was released on 2005 with total page 138 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A down-to-earth, practical introduction to the ins and outs of preaching for lay preachers, bivocational pastors, and others newly arrived in the pulpit. Recent years have seen a considerable increase in the amount of financial resources required to support a full-time pastor in the local congregation. In addition, large numbers of full-time, seminary trained clergy are retiring, without commensurate numbers of new clergy able to take their place. As a result of these trends, a large number of lay preachers and bivocational pastors have assumed the principal responsibility for filling the pulpit week by week in local churches. Most of these individuals, observes Clifton Guthrie, can draw on a wealth of life experiences, as well as strong intuitive skills in knowing what makes a good sermon, having listened to them much of their lives. What they often don't bring to the pulpit, however, is specific, detailed instruction in the how-tos of preaching. That is precisely what this brief, practical guide to preaching has to offer. Written with the needs of those for whom preaching is not their sole or primary occupation in mind, it begins by emphasizing what every preacher brings to the pulpit: an idea of what makes a sermon particularly moving or memorable to them. From there the book moves into short chapters on choosing an appropriate biblical text or sermon topic, learning how to listen to one's first impressions of what a text means, moving from text or topic to the sermon itself while keeping the listeners needs firmly in mind, making thorough and engaging use of stories in the sermon, and delivering with passion and conviction. The book concludes with helpful suggestions for resources, including Bibles, commentaries, other print resources and websites.