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Ploughshares and First Fruits

Aug 29, 2021 | 2021 - Autumn - Free, Book Reviews

Ploughshares and First Fruits

Author Chris Thorpe
Publisher Canterbury Press £16.99
Format pbk
ISBN 9781786222909

This book is a treasure chest of valuable resources for use throughout the church’s year and it intertwines with the farming calendar. Written for rural parishes and using the author’s own tried and tested rural ministry experience, it offers fresh insights into welcoming and fresh worship. It is mission focussed and recommends inviting local groups and clubs to be involved – riders, farmers, walkers and wildlife groups. Two services per month are described in detail with suggested music, worship songs, intercessions, readings, reflections, conversations, prayers and symbolic actions such as drama, craft, gifts or shared food. As the seasons change so do the themes and much careful planning has gone into these resources. Written primarily for use in the country parish (or group of parishes) it has much to offer city parishes, particularly as we are encouraged to explore our own gardens and parks. We have become more aware of the need to treasure and preserve our resources and are now more connected with the natural world around us. The time is right for this beautiful book.

Reviewed by SUE PIPER

Worship; Environment

 

Jack

Aug 29, 2021 | 2021 - Autumn - Free, Book Reviews

Jack

Author Marilynne Robinson
Publisher Virago £18.99
Format hbk
ISBN 9780349011813

This carefully crafted novel by America’s foremost Christian writer is the fourth of a quartet which charts the lives and religious journeys of the Boughton family in the Midwest in the middle of the twentieth century. Jack is the tale of the prodigal son who has not quite come to his senses and returned to his Presbyterian family, although in this narrative he is tantalizingly close to redemption. He meets Della, high school teacher and devout daughter of an African Methodist Episcopalian preacher, and love develops in the unlikely setting of a night spent in Bellefontaine cemetery in St Louis. But this is Missouri in the 1940s, and apartheid prevails; state laws ban interracial marriage and buses are segregated. Any relationship between a down-at-heel white man and a respectable black woman appears doomed. Marilynne Robinson writes superb prose, studded with biblical texts to highlight the ambiguities of her narrative. She also deploys many literary allusions, especially from Hamlet and also Milton’s Paradise Lost. The cloying atmosphere of post-war America is brilliantly drawn. I warmly recommend this wise and perceptive book.
Review by ALICE BURDETT

Fiction

 

Beyond the Children’s Corner

Aug 29, 2021 | 2021 - Autumn - Free, Book Reviews

Beyond the Children’s Corner

Author Margaret Pritchard Houston
Publisher CHP £16.99
Format pbk
ISBN 9781781401644

The author writes about creating a culture of welcome for all ages. Most churches try to welcome people, but few develop the culture. The book examines the changing pastoral needs of modern families and relates them to what it means to belong to a church and worship within it. It offers some ‘quick wins’ such as making a children’s corner truly child-friendly, and addresses deeper challenges with church buildings and leadership. It deals with real issues such as noise, toilets, changing facilities and prams. And there is wise advice regarding consultation, ownership and management of change. It would not be possible to do everything in this book, but there are some strategies which any church could do to improve ministry to children and families. The author writes practically and with empathy for mature church members who remember how things used to be, using case studies and discussion topics. I am lending it to my incumbent and churchwardens so we can pursue what it may mean to my church. I recommend it for yours.

Reviewed by HOWARD ROWE

Pastoral; Worship

 

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