Recommendations
To recommend a new title for purchase contact:
Laine Walters Young, Bibliographer for Religion, Psychology, Culture
Featured Titles
Grace in the Maybe by ISBN: 1451689284Publication Date: 2013-08-13Written with honesty and humor, this delightful collection of essays will stimulate your thinking, stir your heart, and nurture your soul. In Grace in the Maybe author Katie Savage beckons you to join her as she embraces the mystery of faith and gently eases into the sometimes turbulent waters of contemplative exploration. She writes with honesty and humor about the uncertainty and doubt that is inherent in the life of the growing believer, finding that even in the midst of questions, bold assurances of faith emerge. You’ll find yourself falling into step with Katie as she meanders through the liturgical calendar of Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, and Pentecost, as this insightful book weaves ordinary stories and surprising insights into satisfying reflections of the spiritual life, relationships, and life as we know it. This delightful collection of essays will stimulate your thinking, stir your heart, and nurture your soul.
Always with Us? by ISBN: 0802875025Publication Date: 2017-04-18A strong theological call for ending the abomination of systemic poverty Jesus's words "the poor you will always have with you" (Matthew 26:11) are regularly used to suggest that ending poverty is impossible, that poverty is a result of moral failures, and that the poor themselves have no role in changing their situation. In this book Liz Theoharis examines both the biblical text and the lived reality of the poor to show how that passage is taken out of context, distorted, and politicized to justify theories about the inevitability of inequality. Theoharis reinterprets "the poor you will always have with you" to show that it is actually one of the strongest biblical mandates to end poverty. She documents stories of poor people themselves organizing to improve their lot and illuminates the implications for the church. Poverty is not inevitable, Theoharis argues. It is a systemic sin, and all Christians have a responsibility to partner with the poor to end poverty once and for all.
Recent Practical Ministry Categories and Titles
The Practical Ministry project is an intentional effort to build out and highlight resources on a variety of parish, community, or global ministry topics. Every two months, displays in the Study Area section of the Divinity Library will rotate between books concentrating on a personal practice category like Rest and Self-Care and a more community-centered category such as Racial and Social Justice or Youth and Children’s Ministry.
Books highlighted in this collection are books published or acquired in the past few years.
Upcoming Scheduled Displays:
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Aug.-Sept. 2017 |
Reflection and Practice |
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Oct.-Nov. 2017 |
Racial Social Justice |
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Dec. 2017-Jan. 2018 |
Spiritual Direction |
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Feb.- March 2018 |
Eco Spirituality/ Embodiment |
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April-May 2018 |
Art and Writing |
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June-July 2018 |
Rest and Self-Care |
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Aug. -Sept. 2018 |
Youth and Children's Ministry |
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Oct.-Nov. 2018 |
Interfaith |
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Dec. 2018-Jan.2019 |
Leadership |
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Feb.-March 2019 |
Prayer |
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April-May 2019 |
Church Types and Future |
Display Categories and Titles
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Reflection and Practice This collection aims to help the minister discover methods, practices and rhythms of reflection and spiritual growth. It ranges from improving listening, to carving out space for rest, simplicity, and silence. It meditates on abundance and everyday practices for remaining focused and intentional. |
Abundant Simplicity by ISBN: 0830835474Publication Date: 2011-05-28Which activities give you energy and connect you with God? Do you know what behaviors are life-draining for you, separating you from God?Simplicity is about choosing the engaging, relational life we were meant to live. It means shedding obligation and pretension. It means spendingtimeenergymoneyin ways that help us become clear-headed. It means being intentional about what we do and how we live. These choices allow God's power to move through us and bless others as we have space to do good.In each chapter Jan Johnson provides small experiments with simplicity as well as questions for discussion or reflection to get you started.Come and discover the unhurried rhythms of grace.
The Art of Work by ISBN: 0718022076Publication Date: 2015-03-24Having taken several vocation journeys in my own life with their twists and turns, the wisdom in this book rings true, such as the fact that leap that leads you closer to your life is more of a bridge you don’t acknowledge having built, because it is still scary to cross it. This book meditates on painful practice, accidental apprenticeships, the virtue of failure, and more. Highly recommended.
Awaken Your Senses by ISBN: 0830835601Publication Date: 2012-01-12This book offers a handful of exercises pertaining respectively to each of the five senses, starting with scripture and personal anecdotes and ending each exercise with bullet point suggestions for concrete practice.
Discovering Our Spiritual Identity by ISBN: 0830810927Publication Date: 2010-12-04A beautifully typeset and well researched book, this collection of spiritual practices goes deeper than most, focusing on for example, speaking words of life and power, witnessing to good news, loving those closest to us, etc., as well as covering all the basics. Highly recommended.
Eager To Love by ISBN: 1616367016Publication Date: 2014-07-31– This thick book by one of the best spiritual writers of the time, Richard Rohr, covers the nature of Francis as a spiritual genius who encounters other worlds by paying attention to different things, different ways of knowing, different departure points and paths.
Embracing the Call to Spiritual Depth by ISBN: 0809146274Publication Date: 2010-07-01Written by one of the leaders of contemplative living of the 20th century, Tilden Edwards, this book moves through an aspect of contemplative living in three parts: deepening, gifts, and leadership.
The Gift of Hard Things by ISBN: 0830846085Publication Date: 2016-08-08Youth ministry writer Mark Yaconelli continues to spread wisdom with this book which starts with the hard thing of burnout, journeys through other hard things such as powerlessness, and ends with death.- Grace in the Maybe by ISBN: 1451689284Publication Date: 2013-08-13This personal reflection of a minister’s wife is organized around practicing the liturgical seasons of Advent through Ordinary Time by focusing on the spirit of each season, like growth in Easter and making space at Christmas time.
The Leadership Ellipse by ISBN: 0830835385Publication Date: 2010-01-28This book’s goal may be wiser leadership, but it gets to that end by highlighting rarely mentioned spiritual practices such as the practice of pruning, humble thought, involvement, wholeheartedness and belonging, to name a few. Highly recommended.
Leading a Life with God by ISBN: 0835810038Publication Date: 2006-08-01This book focuses on how leadership is often what is done to make the soul of the minister grounded in spiritual practices that facilitate closeness with God and an examined, prayer-filled life.
The Minister As Moral Theologian by ISBN: 0801097843Publication Date: 2017-05-16– Hardly a how-to, this nonetheless practical book confronts and brings up questions about how to address moral questions in the context of preaching and leading a community –a ministerial practice of importance if there ever was one! It covers preaching on difficult texts and situations; teaching on moral issues by understanding better sources and methods in Christian ethics and how to use guidelines for discernment wisely; strategies for giving moral counsel, both publically and privately; and how to lead by ethical personal example through emulating the values of love and self-care.
The Nearness of God by ISBN: 0819223182Publication Date: 2010-02-01A long-time parish priest who now teaches pastoral theology, care and administration at Sewanee, Julia Gatta has reflected on her own experience of vocation, prayer, celebrating the Eucharist, and defying and defining limits has been spiritual practice to her. Few authors write so clearly about how ministry itself is spiritual practice.
Recovering Spirituality by ISBN: 1616490896Publication Date: 2011-08-03Based on the concept of sobriety in Alcoholics Anonymous, this book written by an addictions psychologist, focuses on the mechanism of spiritual bypass, of using religion and spiritual practices to bypass emotional wounds or unwanted thoughts. It offers a method for acknowledging these tendencies and practices and working toward spiritual balance through integration.
Seven Thousand Ways to Listen by ISBN: 1451674686Publication Date: 2013-10-08An existential book, this volume covers the Work of Being, the Work of Being Human, and the Work of Love, complete with meditative reflections called “pauses” at the end of each entry.
A Spirituality of Listening by ISBN: 0830846093Publication Date: 2016-03-09A book on listening which gets at the topic via sounds for each of the chapters such as “accents,” “story,” “resonance,” “first words,” and, perhaps most importantly, “what we don’t want to hear.”
Spiritual Rhythms in Community by ISBN: 083083561XPublication Date: 2012-02-16This book offers a creative take on spiritual practices such as shutting off from the digital world, becoming comfortable with God the father, venturing in the wilderness, asking for forgiveness, going to be with the poor, and using weakness to cultivate a strength.
Spiritual Sobriety by ISBN: 0307731898Publication Date: 2016-04-19– Spiritual sobriety is defined by the author as a kind of personal temperance that helps keep one from burnout, and toward kind words and a Real God.
The Way of Forgiveness Participant's Book by ISBN: 0835809803Publication Date: 2002-07-01The leader’s guide focuses on how to run a small group series on the theme of unpacking and practicing forgiveness, perhaps one of the core Christian values and practices, in the companionship of a small group. It has an easy to follow format and provides all the content and activity suggestions for an 8-week series.
Racial and Social Justice
A list developed in conjunction with the Chancellor’s Initiative for Vocations in Racial Justice and the help of local activists, this eclectic collection of books focuses on anti-racism, anti-poverty, and anti-mass incarceration efforts, among many others. It highlights books about the challenges and potentials of creating multiracial spaces, the development and problem of whiteness, and includes books on religious activism, immigration and violence. It aims to contain no one perspective on these issues.
Like all of the Practical Ministry collection, the Racial and Social Justice collection is an ongoing and ever-expanding collection. As one of our largest collections for this project, many of the titles cannot be included for display and are in the stacks. The entire list for this collection can be found below.
1 + 1 = 1 by ISBN: 1620322382Publication Date: 2012-11-12This book addresses the often ignored basics of understanding race, ethnicity and segregation (on Sunday mornings and otherwise). It soundly discusses how hard it is to confront the status quo and facilitate change and conflict management.- Always with Us? by ISBN: 0802875025Publication Date: 2017-04-18Poverty is a scandal, Pope Francis said, in a world of so much wealth,” writes William J. Barber II in his forward to a book written by a woman who has been an antipoverty advocate all of her life. The book claims that Jesus was a teacher, a leader of a popular social movement, and a ruler who condemned the larger economic system throughout his life and called for a different way of considering the needs of people. Highly recommended.
The Arrogance of Race by ISBN: 0819562173Publication Date: 1989-02-01This collection of essays on historical aspects of race, such the role of slave masters in South Carolina, the perspectives of abolitionists, and the history of pre- and post-emancipation race relations in the Southern United States. It also includes in its final chapters comparisons of the Southern United States to racial and colonial situations in South Africa as of 1988. Still pertinent today.
Being White by ISBN: 0830832475Publication Date: 2004-09-06Slightly outdated, this book still might offer useful concepts depending on where your white congregation is in terms of racial consciousness and the privilege and blindness of whiteness. It covers what it means to encounter difference, experience displacement (supposedly from supremacy and ignorance of diversity), learn the truth of the history of white identity, and work toward a just, interethnic community.
Black Bodies, White Gazes by ISBN: 1442258365Publication Date: 2016-11-02Using the everyday as evidence, this book by Emory University philosophy of race scholar George Yancey argues that in the post-enslavement culture of the United States anti-black racism continues to subject black bodies to white controlling and racist gaze. The first section of the book reviews Yancey’s conceptual concepts before the second section takes the reader through a tour of case study examples employing the work of Frederick Douglass, Toni Morrison, and others.
Doing Justice: Congregations and Community Organizing by ISBN: 1506418813Written by knowledgeable organizers, this book discusses themes of power, self-interest, agitation, addressing the world as it should be and the world as it is now. 2nd ed, highly recommended.
Emergent Strategy by ISBN: 1849352607Publication Date: 2017-04-18Recommended by a VDS activist alumna, this book is a worthwhile companion for any activist looking to change self in terms of motivations and patterns of thinking and behavior as well as the world around them. In this sense, it is a valuable book in terms of analyzing what it means to be and live in a practice of justice and social change. Highly recommended.
The Erotic Life of Racism by ISBN: 0822352060Publication Date: 2012-04-13This Duke African American studies professor incisively lays out a grounding in critical race theory that argues everyday racism is rooted in a project of belonging that is deeply erotic in terms of its regulation of purity and the feelings it produces in us when we bodily experience racism. Highly recommended, but thoroughly high-level.
Faith-Rooted Organizing by ISBN: 0830836616Publication Date: 2014-01-06While there are many books on faith-based organizing, this one’s focus on “chaplaincy to the poor and the powerful,” as well as how it provides strategies for sustaining the struggle toward justice, makes it particularly useful.
Feeling White by ISBN: 9463004483Publication Date: 2016-02-12This book centers around the concept of “emo-social justice” and how white educators commonly engage emotions of disgust and movements of distancing from “ever having owned slaves” in order to avoid truly caring through humanizing love. The author suggests a feminist look into identity and emotions in order to develop a pedagogy of trauma that analyzes the various pain discourses from psychological perspectives. A rich book.
Freedom Is a Constant Struggle by ISBN: 1608465640Publication Date: 2016-02-09One of today’s leading racial justice activists, Angela Davis continues her critical analysis of what prevents and leads to social change in this recent book, particularly in regards to racial stratification and oppression, the prison industrial complex, and telling the truth about violence. Highly recommended.
The Good Life by ISBN: 1556350686Publication Date: 2006-12-01A frequent author on home and family life, David Matzko McCarthy outlines how a different view of people, places, things, as well as God creation can help those in the American middle class rework economic logic and Christian and human connection toward practicing a more genuine Christianity than they practice in their current materialist and isolated practices.
How to Become a Multicultural Church by ISBN: 0802873936Publication Date: 2017-07-07This book explores a lifetime of reflection on the subject of becoming a multicultural church from a minister who grew up in an intercultural fashion as the child of missionaries and continues to delve into the concept of international churches. The author suggests further congregational reflection on what makes for home, what is in a congregational name, and the practices of finding the holy in the unfamiliar. A good book on thinking through the subject, but given the lack of American focus, will need to be a complement to other books on the subject.
I Beg to Differ by ISBN: 0830844163Publication Date: 2014-03-28– After a section on how to understand the emotion and power of words, the second section asks the reader to think about the following questions regarding the person with whom they disagree: “what does this person believe?,” “Why does this person hold that belief?,” “where do we agree?,” and “how shall I proceed?”. In the third section, these questions are put into practice through illustrative case studies that focus on financial conflict, disagreeing over religion in the workplace, and excessive use of video games.
Intimate Partner Violence in the Black Church by ISBN: 1498282350Publication Date: 2017-07-07Given the fact that “religion, spirituality, and community is immensely sacrosanct to the Black church,” it is particularly hard for the Black church at times to overcome some of its historical practices, such as male dominance, which must be changed in order to use the church and its theology as a resource for stopping intimate partner violence (IVP). The book provides an overview of IVP, briefly discusses the history, practices and theological underpinnings of the black church, and spends two chapters on why women and others remain apprehensive about reporting abuse before concluding with strategic and specific suggestions on how the church might change in order to better prevent IVP among its members.
The History of White People by ISBN: 0393339742Publication Date: 2011-04-18This substantial book focuses on the history and formative influences of the white races, from Greco-Roman times, through the development of the term Caucasian, to the role of Ralph Waldo Emerson in the education and history of white people, to racial science and much more. Highly recommended.
This Indian Country by ISBN: 0143124021Publication Date: 2013-11-26This attempt by a Midwest history teacher outlines the ongoing history of American Indians in American history to help counteract the common misconception that American Indians played little role in the forming of the United States of America except to get out of the way. It highlights efforts to protect tribal lands and refute national policies around the rights and contributions of indigenous peoples in way that works to get past the old tropes of conquest and victimization toward better understanding American Indian agency in the past and present.
Just Immigration by ISBN: 0802874843Publication Date: 2017-05-01Hot off the presses, this wide reaching book covers the moral argument for immigration reform, with chapters on current law, Christian ethics and scripture, perspectives in Evangelical, Catholic and Protestant traditions, and strengthening Christian witness on immigration. While not exactly a how-to, highly recommended for those working in immigration justice.
Let's Get Free by ISBN: 1595585001Publication Date: 2010-06-01This investigation into racial politics and the criminal justice system by a prosecuting attorney who becomes ensnared in the system himself for falsely making a threat is a unique argument for the power of jurors, witnesses of crimes, and other everyday people in helping to turn around the mass incarceration rate.
Making Neighborhoods Whole by ISBN: 0830837566Publication Date: 2013-09-26Written by those in the evangelical community who developed the concept of Christian Community Development, this book traces the history of CCDA. It also covers key aspects of the concept such as relocation, reconciliation and redistribution, as well as leadership development. Most applicable to evangelical communities.
The Myles Horton Reader by ISBN: 1572332719Publication Date: 2003-07-22This collection brings together the ideas, educational philosophy, institutional and conceptual history of the Highlander movement and its founder Myles Horton. It also spends chapters on Highlander’s relationship to labor and civil rights movements. In particular it discusses the roots of southern radicalism and the adventures and role of a radical hillbilly such as Horton in movement politics.
The Myth of Equality by ISBN: 0830844821Publication Date: 2017-05-14This heady title attempts to take on a huge subject, but addresses issues of the “aristocratic itch” and the “salvation industrial complex,” as well as a tale of the history of race, to target how church people can Best look at themselves and society in the hopes of developing, and pursuing, a more accurate tale of equality.
Playing God by ISBN: 0830837655Publication Date: 2013-10-06This unique book covers many worthwhile lenses on power, such as idolatry, injustice, force, coercion and privilege. In the second half, it focuses on how institutions and individuals can better use their power toward good, as well as release to the Sabbath. Biblical grounded and engaged. Highly recommended.
The Possessive Investment in Whiteness by ISBN: 1592134947Publication Date: 2006-03-10“This book argues that public policy and private prejudice work together to create a ‘possessive investment in whiteness’ that is responsible for the racialized hierarchies of our society.” This encouragement to invest in whiteness helps white people maintain an unequal amount of resources, power and opportunity bolstered by certain perspectives on immigrant labor, law and order, and war.
Pulled Over by ISBN: 022611399XPublication Date: 2014-04-04This book, researched and written by public policy professors at the University of Kansas, analyzes many aspects of the decision making and processes of police stops, with an eye toward exposing the racially specific harm of police stops. It concludes by suggesting ways in which changes to police stops can move toward greater racial justice.
Religion and Progressive Activism by ISBN: 1479852902Publication Date: 2017-06-13Also hot off the presses, this large book tracks a number of aspects of movement politics in churches, as well as cultural challenges ahead to further progress, the way different religious traditions participate in progressive activism, and the distinct voices religious activists and practitioners offer in the public square. Highly recommended.
Reset the Heart by ISBN: 1501832468Publication Date: 2017-05-02This book’s chapters including addressing the problem of faith in a violent world, the violence that can lurk in religious education processes, and how to practice communicability, redeemability, and educability. Includes case studies and reflection questions throughout
Revolutionary Mothering by ISBN: 1629631108Publication Date: 2016-04-01This book, featuring VDS graduate Alba Onofrio, focuses on how mothers of color can combine motherhood and activism in a world where neither they nor their children fit, nor want to fit, into the mainstream ideal of motherhood and capitalist and racist socialization.
The Revolution Will Not Be Funded by ISBN: 0822369001Publication Date: 2017-02-03This well-organized and highly articulate book argues that non-profits largely act as social service providers rather than any organization trying to affect actual social change toward greater justice. This book helps explain how and why this is, and how reimagining non-profits can help us reimagine resistance. Highly recommended.
Stamped from the Beginning by ISBN: 1568585985Publication Date: 2017-08-15Far from a how-to, this recent National Book Award Winner nonetheless is essential reading for anyone concerned with racial justice in this country. Each part tours through a particular cornerstone thinker and influencer on race in American history to elucidate its points. Highly recommended.
Taking Sides by ISBN: 1849352321Publication Date: 2015-11-17This zine-like book advocates moving from a politics of solidarity toward a politics of decolonialization, critiquing the concept of allies and how they have created their own Industrial Complex that gets in the way of actual radical change. The book also reviews the benefits of accomplices, coconspirators, outside agitators, and what it can mean to be for abolishing the police force.
Teaching College Students Communication Strategies for Effective Social Justice Advocacy by ISBN: 1433114364Publication Date: 2012-03-28This book uniquely focuses on the pros and cons of five types of advocacy: Radvocacy, Madvocacy, Sadvocacy, Fadvocacy, and Gladvocacy.
Teach Freedom by ISBN: 0807748722Publication Date: 2008-08-01Multi-authored, Part One discusses Projecting Imagination Beyond Circumstance, Part Two discusses Building an Army of Democracy, before Part Three reviews the history of the 1960s, and highlights promising practices of contemporary educating toward liberation.
Teaching with Tenderness by ISBN: 0252082702Publication Date: 2017-08-03IWomen-of-colors pedagogies and theories are “riskier, more innovative, and more imaginative…rich with the potential to transform” writes women and gender studies scholar AnaLouise Keating in her forward. A pedagogy of tenderness recognizes the classroom as a location of power that can be multiracial and transdisciplinary and can expand ways we talk about the complexity of identity in way that is healing and supportive. The book includes contemplative practices and suggestions for creating rituals to encourage a form of embodied teaching that works through past trauma.
Transforming Historical Trauma Through Dialogue by ISBN: 1412996155Publication Date: 2013-04-17This book focuses on the cutting edge concept of sociohistorical trauma in the first section, before exploring various dialogue models and dialogue applications in the next two sections.
Understanding Mass Incarceration by ISBN: 1620970678Publication Date: 2015-09-01This book covers the basics of incarceration, the many faces of the concept of being “tough on crime,” the gendered threads of incarceration, the problem of prison profiteering, and some beginning steps on how to move toward ending mass incarceration. A comprehensive beginning.
The Warmth of Other Suns by ISBN: 0679763880Publication Date: 2011-10-04— This well-researched narrative history of African American migration from the southern to the northern United States from 1915 to 1970 after the white southern backlash to Reconstruction offers a valuable summary of an important, though often not well-publicized aspect of American history. It includes extensive notes and indexing for further engagement.
Welcoming the Stranger by ISBN: 0830833595Publication Date: 2009-02-28A highly thoughtful and well-resourced book, this title focuses the immigration debate in the vision of the kingdom of God before the considerations of nation states and ethnicities. It covers history, law, documentation, values, policies and practices before including numerous appendixes on ministries and organizations addressing both immigration and root causes for immigration. Highly recommended.
We Should All Be Feminists by ISBN: 110191176XPublication Date: 2015-02-03This textual version of a TedX talk given by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie focuses on the simple idea that it is time for stereotypes about what it means to be a feminist to be changed. Instead of the focus on anger and turning the tables, Adichie encourages a not-so-new yet not well-embraced idea that feminism means a focus on inclusion and awareness about how men and women are treated differently in negative ways.
White Awake by ISBN: 0830843930Publication Date: 2017-09-19This book takes white people on a journey through the process of awakening to the meaning and impact of cultural identity upon social justice, or often, a lack thereof. It covers the many stages of becoming “woke” to race and racial issues, such as encounter, denial, disorientation, shame, self-righteousness, and many more.
White Religion and Black Humanity by ISBN: 0761857370Publication Date: 2011-12-22Described by the author as a “signature statement on the interrelationship between white Christian values and the dehumanization of black people.” The book systematically makes an argument for how white Christianity has advanced black oppression through an ontological assumption of white racial superiority that leaves God’s justice for black people until the eschaton. The author lays out the Christian institutionalization of black dehumanization regarding church services, views on prayer in the intersection of race and gender. Highly recommended.
Women, Race, and Class by ISBN: 0394713516Publication Date: 1983-02-12This classic analysis of the intersections of these three topics in the context of various social justice movements such as women’s rights and suffrage, anti-slavery, and communism deserves fresh attention as we continue to ponder the legacy of American slavery for the current day.
Spiritual Direction
This extensive collection includes a wide variety of themes on the theme of spiritual companionship, a.k.a. Spiritual Direction. They range from topics including group direction, supervision, direction across faith traditions, and self-introspection.
The Call to the Soul by ISBN: 0806690356Publication Date: 2004-06-03Following the concept of soulcycle, this book moves through the stats of resistance, reclaiming, revelation, risk, relating, and releasing. Highly useful for intense adult ed programing, spiritual direction, or retreat guidance.
Christian Spirituality by ISBN: 1570756449Publication Date: 2006-03-01This fantastic resource acts as part contemplative guide and history course, leading the reader through major themes and epochs of Christian spirituality, such as that of Jesus and his followers, the first Christians, the Dark Ages, the Age of Augustine, and many, many more. Highly recommended for the advanced and historical reader as well as the beginner.
Discernment by ISBN: 0809145545Publication Date: 2009-05-01If you want a book on discernment you can read in less than an hour and get the basics, this is the book for you. Rose Mary Dougherty’s shortest book of many on spiritual direction.
A Handbook for Spiritual Directors by ISBN: 0824521714Publication Date: 2017-04-01This book covers beginning discernment, laying the foundation through texts, removing obstacles, forming a disposition, and then includes a chapter on each Mode of the examination with extensive appendixes on how to make spiritual choices.
Finding God Again by ISBN: 0742542157Publication Date: 2005-05-20Extremely psychoanalytically informed, this book takes the reader through the adolescent God of the superego, a God who calls one to a higher form of being through learning to interact well with the world but never allows one to fully dig into themselves as persons (because they are busy focused meeting the demands of other people), to the living God of the ideal, fully adult self. After defining the differences between the Superego God and the Living God in the first two sections, the third section of the book focuses on how one makes the transition from the less than mature relationship to God and self to an integrated spirituality.
Group Spiritual Direction by ISBN: 0809135981Publication Date: 1995-01-01A slim volume based on the experiences of the leaders of the renowned Shalem Institute, this handy guidebook covers all of the basics of setting up, proceeding through, and gaining from the specific benefits of group spiritual direction.
Holy Invitations by ISBN: 0801063272Publication Date: 2000-10-01After covering the basics of spiritual direction in the first chapter, this book explores common subjects such as experiencing God, scripture, prayer, discernment, and Christian discernment, as well as benefits and common difficulties in the process of spiritual direction.
One River, Many Wells by ISBN: 1585423262Publication Date: 2004-06-17A thick classic, this book highlights relating to creation, relating to divinity, relating to ourselves, and relating to the future. This book leans on ecumenism and faith in common rather than acting as a survey of world religions. Highly recommended.
Reading Your Life's Story by ISBN: 0830846212Publication Date: 2016-11-03This book focuses on how to read one’s life as a text written by God in the companionship of imperfect, co-reading mentors. It covers how to start well in a spiritual mentorship, how to keep pace, sustain momentum, and end well. Likely a new classic.
Sacred Companions by ISBN: 083083270XPublication Date: 2004-08-23While this book addresses many of the themes of friendship and companionship that other books on spiritual direction cover, this book focuses on themes of soul attunement, hospitality, and, unique to this book, spiritual companionship in marriage.
Seeking God Together by ISBN: 0830835245Publication Date: 2009-01-18While this book focuses on group spiritual direction, it does so as a way to focus on how to ask life-giving questions, pay attention to thoughts and feelings, engage scripture and notions of sin and redemption. Well-rounded resource.
Show Me Your Way by ISBN: 1893361411Publication Date: 2001-11-01This book outlines how to go beyond one’s own faith to provide spiritual direction for others, reviews current spiritual trends, and how to guide through what it calls “the modern spiritual paradox.”
Spiritual Director, Spiritual Companion by ISBN: 080914011XPublication Date: 2001-03-01This book focuses on spiritual direction as companionship, helping the reader to identify such companionship, how to be in the presence of it, what the soul is and how to nurture it in a communal atmosphere. Highly recommended.
Spiritual Friendship by ISBN: 0830835105Publication Date: 2007-06-28A succinct little book, this guide is meant to be read contemplatively over the course of a month, covering an “experience” of spiritual power, barriers to soul friendship, forging a soul friendship, and going deeper with a soul friendship in each section/week. Each entry contains passages to read as well as questions to answer. Its focus on what makes something a spiritual safe space is particularly valuable. Highly recommended.
Spiritual Guidance Across Religions by ISBN: 1683363116Publication Date: 2014-04-15This reference book organizes its material by indigenous religions, religions originating in China, India, and the Middle East, Christian denominations, and interfaith, humanist and eclectic traditions. Different authors cover each tradition within a category, covering basic teachings, practices, concepts of time, soul and the purpose of life, to name a few aspects of each religion. Highly recommended for chaplains and spiritual directors, as well as those doing interfaith and multi-faith work of any kind.
Still Listening by ISBN: 0819218146Publication Date: 2000-10-01This volume explores topics previously underexplored such as generational differences, using visual images, working with the marginalized, working with the dying, sexuality’s various implications, etc. Highly recommended to those looking to take their knowledge of spiritual direction further.
Tending the Holy by ISBN: 0819219185Publication Date: 2003-10-01An important source for anyone approaching Spiritual Direction from a particular tradition, be it Buddhist, Sufi, Carmelite, feminist or evangelical, each of the chapters in this book draws on the specifics of the tradition rather than universalizing or generalizing. Highly recommended.
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- One River, Many Wells by ISBN: 1585423262Publication Date: 2004-06-17Maverick theologian Matthew Fox brings readers into the common heart of the world's great religions, illuminating a "deep ecumenism" for seekers everywhere. We get to the core of religion by going to the heart experience, Matthew Fox says, not by dwelling on doctrines that so easily divide even within religious traditions. In One River, Many Wells, Fox exhorts readers to embrace the common faith of deep ecumenism. Fox masterfully distills the common principles of the world's religions, and shows exactly how the different fingers of world faiths connect to a single hand. Drawing on seminal quotes, lessons, and ideas from the great faiths, he demonstrates how each expresses a common goal and approach to life, and concludes the book with "18 New Myths and Visions" that will inspire readers to embrace deep ecumenism. One River, Many Wells is an indispensable resource, envisioning a new and exciting way of faith that erases the lines of false distinction between religions and calls upon each of us to worship from our common heart.
Sweat Your Prayers by ISBN: 0874779596Publication Date: 1998-12-28In Sweat Your Prayers, internationally acclaimed movement and theater artist Gabrielle Roth translates to the printed page the insights of her nearly forty years of teaching personal and spiritual development. Her workshops, attended by thousands around the world, teach us to realize our potential for ecstasy as we experience movement and ritual-theater techniques. The book is a journey through five universal rhythms--flowing, staccato, chaos, lyrical, and stillness. These rhythms can free the body and spirit from ordinary consciousness and catalyze motion deep in the psyche. Complete with personal stories and interactive exercises, Sweat Your Prayers reveals an ancient and contemporary method for unleashing a natural sense of movement, resulting in both personal power and presence of the soul.
