Like many of her fans, I fell in love with Sarah Bessey via her blog. Her writing is stunning; Her posts simultaneously heartfelt and provocative, oftentimes leaving me in both tears and deep thought.
Since I love her writing, I was thrilled to...
Nadia Bolz-Weber is as close to a celebrity pastor as the ELCA has. I've gotten to hear her speak on two different occasions, first at the Extravaganza (a training event for youth workers in the ELCA) and later at the 2012 ELCA Youth Gathering.
...
In February, I found out I was pregnant. Like so many other newly pregnant moms, I expected to be welcoming a baby into our house 9 months later - a few short weeks from now, actually.
Instead, I miscarried a few weeks later.
Since then, I've...
Most people in the youth ministry world are at least vaguely aware of recent research from both the National Study of Youth and Religion and the College Transition Project that suggests the faith we're cultivating in teens is not consequential and...
Everyone faces “giants” in their lives: Fears, issues, and struggles that must be overcome. In their book, Five Stones: Conquering Your Giants, authors Shane Stanford and Brad Martin attempt to use the story of David and Goliath to “arm” us to “...
I love to read. Among the books I love, there are a select few that have had a profound impact on my life and faith. Brennan Manning's The Ragamuffin Gospel is one of them.
More than anything else, The Ragamuffin Gospel is a treatise on grace...
Ever since it's release, Heather Kopp's Sober Mercies: How Love Caught Up with a Christian Drunk has been getting great reviews.
Nonetheless, despite the fact that I love spiritual memoirs, I found myself avoiding this book. Upon further...
Over the past several years, I've had the privilege of compiling many of Youth Worker Journal's Roundtables. In order to compile these Roundtables, I must first solicit interviews from Christian “celebrities” - authors, pastors, and academics.
...
Shortly after my miscarriage, I made my most depressing Amazon purchase ever: A collection of books about miscarriage, loss, and grief. Among them was Mike Stavlund's A Force of Will: The Reshaping of Faith in a Year of Grief.
Despite having...
As a lover of memoir and an advocate for refugee ministry, Sarah Thebarge's The Invisible Girls quickly stole my heart.
In this book, Sarah weaves together her battle with breast cancer (which she was diagnosed with at the age of 27) with a...