Ten suggestions for your summer reads
Summer is a time when people often read. Here are ten suggestions for your summer, all published recently (or imminently), writes Andy Goodliff
In picking 10 possible summer reads, I gave myself one condition: they all needed to be authored by women. There is an abundance of what might be called Christian books published every month, but what becomes clear is something like close to nine out of ten are written by men. So I thought I’d focus on some great women.
Phoebe by Paula Gooder
This came out last year, but it’s a great read. It imagines a story of how Phoebe, mentioned in Romans 16, brings that letter from Paul to Rome and what might have happened next.
Sabbath by Nicola Slee
Nicola Slee offers another eclectic range of poems and reflections this time on the theme of Sabbath.
Searching for Sunday by Rachel Held Evans
Rachel Held Evans died tragically earlier this year, aged just 37. She had made a name for herself among American evangelicals in offering a progressive, inclusive version of faith and church. Searching for Sunday is just one of a series of great books she wrote.
Holy Envy by Barbara Brown Taylor
Barbara Brown Taylor has become something of a spiritual guru for many and has published several best-selling collections of sermons and memoirs. This latest offering explores finding God in the faith of others.
Finding Our Voice by Jeannie Kendall
This is Jeannie's first book. She’s a Baptist minister at Carshalton Beeches Baptist Free Church. In this first book she uncovers the voice of some of the unnamed people in the Bible.
Out of Control by Natalie Collins
Out of Control has come with some amazing commendations. It names the issue of domestic abuse and addresses how we can respond as individuals and as congregations.
Rediscovering Scripture’s Vision for Women by Lucy Peppiatt
Out very soon, Lucy Peppiatt re-reads the difficult passages in the New Testament and finds a positive story of God releasing women in ministry. This builds on her earlier brilliant work on 1 Corinthians.
Feminist Theology and Contemporary Dieting Culture by Hannah Bacon
Hannah Bacon teaches at the university of Chester. A practical theologian, she offers in this new book a study of one of the leading weight loss groups for what say it says theologically. When a lot of our church buildings are hired out by weight loss groups, Bacon’s book offers some insight into how we engage more meaningfully with them.
L is for Lifestyle by Ruth Valerio
This is a new edition of Ruth’s book first published in 2008. With the recent BBC programme War on Plastic fresh in our mind, here’s a book that will help you live in a way that does not cost the earth.
God of Violence Yesterday, God of Love Today? by Helen Paynter
Another Baptist minister and also Tutor at Bristol Baptist College, Helen faces up to the question of violence and the Old Testament, and how we might respond to its presence.
Andy Goodliff is minister of Belle Vue Baptist Church, Southend-on-Sea
He edits Regent’s Reviews, based at Regent’s Park College, Oxford. Regent’s Reviews is published every April and October and can be read at: http://www.rpc.ox.ac.uk/regents-reviews/
Baptist Times, 08/07/2019