Four new books from Presbyterian authors are now available through Westminster John Knox Press. While some of these new resources encourage essential spiritual habits for Christian living, like forgiveness and charity, others offer helpful guides for worship and Bible study.
Change of Heart: Justice, Mercy, and Making Peace with My Sister’s Killer by Jeanne Bishop recounts a transformation from forgiving and forgetting to mercy and reconciliation. After the murders of her sister and brother-in-law, Bishop found herself compelled by her faith to go beyond mere forgiveness and do the impossible, seek reconciliation with the killer.
Scott Dannemiller tells about the highs and lows of becoming a consumer culture drop-out in his new book, The Year without a Purchase: One Family’s Quest to Stop Shopping and Start Connecting. The rules are simple: only buy items that can be used within a year, like groceries, toiletries, and gasoline. All nonessential purchases, like clothing and gifts for the kids, are off limits. Using humor and religious perspective, Dannemiller explains how this challenge was a way to become more charitable and strengthen his relationship with God.
In Rhythms of Worship, Michael Waschevski and John G. Stevens describe in clear, everyday language why Protestants worship and help to equip worship planners and leaders for excellence in their tasks. This book will be a valuable resource for pastors, worship committees, members, and all others who engage in worship planning and leadership.
In Encountering God in Tyrannical Texts, Frances Taylor Gench provides strategies for engaging oppressive texts with integrity. By examining six texts within the Pauline tradition that have circumscribed the lives and ministries of women throughout Christian history, Gench provides access to feminist scholarship that can inform preaching and teaching of problematic Pauline texts and encourages public engagement with them.
Change of Heart, The Year without a Purchase, Rhythms of Worship, and Encountering God in Tyrannical Texts are available for purchase through Westminster John Knox Press and other major retailers. These books will also be available at the PC(USA) Store bookstore at Big Tent.