When I Was a Child, I Read Books, Marilynne Robinson (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
If Marilynne Robinson writes it, then it’s worth reading. With Pulitzer-wining Gilead, I fell in love with her fiction. Since then, I’ve been moved by her wisdom and insight via numerous genres. In recent years, she has become one of our finest essayists, and in this collection, Robinson explores issues of culture, economy and family, to name only a few. She weaves her story amid the pages, and it invites us to find our story here as well.
Winn Collier
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The Gospel of John, Frederick Bruner (Eerdmans)
There are three Scriptural commentators that I always turn to. Frederick Bruner is one of them. His imaginative (and beautiful) weaving of provocative theology with artful prose makes Bruner a must-have for any pastor or student of Scripture. John’s Gospel is a book that’s been sitting there waiting for Bruner to arrive.
Creative Ideas for Whole Church Family Worship, Jan Brind and Tessa Wilkinson, and Creative Ideas for
Sacramental Worship with Children, Simon Rundell (Canterbury Press)
Any church seeking to involve the entire family (including children) in the community’s worship will find the task harder than it seems. We’re accustomed to shipping children off to a remote part of the building while the adults get on with the “real stuff.” This volume, emerging from post-Christian England, offers examples of prayers, music, litanies, aesthetics and crafts encouraging the family to worship together. It’s is particularly helpful for those seeking to follow the Church seasons, but that context is not necessary.
Winn Collier is pastor of All Souls, a congregation with Baptist ties in Charlottesville, Va.