Rachel Held Evans 2015 book Searching for Sunday: Loving, Leaving and Finding the Church is well worth the read. As the sub title suggests, it is a book about loving, leaving and finding the church – and tells of a journey well worth pondering. Each chapter starts with a quote from a noteworthy figure, or a verse from the Bible. Here are a few of these quotes…
- I prefer a church which is bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out in the streets, rather than a church which is unhealthy from being confined and from clinging to its own security… More than by fear of going astray, my hope is that we will be moved by the fear of remaining shut up within structures which give us a false sense of security, within rules which make us harsh judges, within habits which make us feel safe, while at our doors people are starving and Jesus does not tire of saying to us, “Give them something to eat.” Pope Francis (vi)
- How bold one gets when one is sure of being loved. Sigmund Freud (17)
- Most of us come to the church by a means the church does not allow. Flannery O’Connor (32)
- Churches should be the most honest place in town, not the happiest place in town. Walter Brueggermann (66)
- Scratch any cynic and you will find a disappointed idealist. George Carlin (80)
- Grace is not so poor a thing that it cannot present itself in any number of ways. Marilynne Robinson (99)
- All ministry begins at the ragged edges of our own pain. Ian Morgan Cron (110)
As always, nice chatting…
Hello Brian
Can you elaborate a little more on the context of the extracted quotation below in the relevant chapter of the book please? I might have to read th book – except that my dear janice is likely to say, “What, more books … ?” 🙂
“Most of us come to the church by a means the church does not allow.” Flannery O’Connor (32)
Blessings Brian
Wayne
Sure Wayne. You can of course get the book from the Vose library :-). The context of the O’Connor quote is the valid insight that often crisis leads us to be open to God – and ironically, the very crises that lead us to God are often because of things the church most disapproves of – e.g. a marital breakdown; dismissal from work because of theft etc. Underneath is the insight that God works in the midst of brokenness, while we often expect togetherness…