This novel deals with the imperfections of a family as told in the stories of five characters who represent three generations of women. Each character searches for her own identity while moving through the vicissitudes of life, clinging to the community of family for safety and protection, before finally coming to the realization that the only safe haven is within herself.

Pictures from the Past Imperfect

Phyllis Stump

Parsons Porch Books

Grief is a solitary road. Even if we are fortunate enough to have people alongside us during the journey, (as I have been), no one can really travel all the way with us. Our pain and our path are as individual as the relationship we share with the person we’ve lost. When my father died suddenly back in September of 2013, I began doing what I always do: I started writing. I did it to somehow make sense of my own grief, and to keep moving through the place I now call The Grief Valley. These seven short chapters, (the first one written just three days after his passing) are some of the most personal things I've ever shared. They're also some of the writings I'm most proud of. I've collected them here, in the hopes that they will be an encouragement and source of comfort for those experiencing loss of someone they love dearly, though I know each path will be a completely different one. This work represents a real-time processing of my first year without my Dad. It’s not a “how-to” book by any means, but maybe in my story, you’ll find something that you yourself can own; something to make your personal road through the Grief Valley a little more bearable. Be encouraged. Keep walking.

Year in the Grief Valley: 365 Days of Love and Loss

John Pavlovitz

Christian people deserve to hear good sermons when we gather for worship (or when we download something from the internet). We don’t need great sermons, except once in a long while. We hear too many poor or mediocre sermons, and this discourages many people. The church of Jesus Christ is in urgent need of better preaching—and I suspect that has always been the case! When people in the pew are given the opportunity to comment on their experience at worship, the quality of preaching always receives the most attention. This is true of both Catholic and Protestant preaching. Christians in both traditions testify that preaching is the one element of the worship service most likely to impact both their attendance at the service and their engagement with the worship. Time after time, Christian people report that better preaching is their number one desire when it comes to public worship. It is no surprise to anyone when I assert that the preaching of the good news about Jesus Christ and the teaching of the Bible are as needed today as ever. When done with competence, preparation, inspiration, and passion, sermons have power to motivate people to faith in God and love toward one another. Good preaching connects people with a power that transforms life. Good preaching shapes personal behavior and public values. Good preaching moves nations to endure hardship, resist evil, and establish justice. Good preaching converts the unbeliever, consoles the burdened, and instructs the eager. Good preaching triggers an exploration of vocation that is at the heart of the call to gospel preaching itself—good preaching begets good preaching!

Nine Marks of a Good Sermon : A Guide for Young Preachers

Dwight Lyman Moody

When we started swapping stories with each other, we realized our stories are poignant enough, interesting enough, and funny enough to share with others. That is how this book got started and ultimately came to fruition. Oddly, we are really very different in many aspects of our lives. Suellen grew up in East Tennessee where she grew to love the mountains. Joyce grew up in West Tennessee where she loved the flat land and the Mississippi River. And now here we are living in Middle Tennessee where we have discovered the one thing we have in common is a keen sense of humor, and the grace to know a good story when we find one.  With all the media that swirl around us, iPads, URL’s, iPhones, and who knows what other kinds of technology that has not yet been invented, the act of sharing a story orally with another human being, or in a room full of human beings is as old as language itself. Perhaps we are drawn to the human voice because it is one of the first things we hear in our mother’s womb. It seems that we are built for hearing that voice with pleasant tones that rise and fall with expression. It is our first introduction to another person sometimes telling us what it means to be human Storytellers use their voices and their bodies to create sounds and images in the minds of their listeners. Every storyteller has a personal way of telling a story so that it takes on the personal characteristics of that teller. Other people may tell the same story, but their tone of voice, their facial expressions, even the use of their hands will re-invent the story for the listener. Storytelling is more than entertainment. It is a way to transport listeners not only into a world of fantasy, but also into a world of sorrow, humor, beauty, or history. Storytelling is a way of bringing people together, to laugh, to cry, to become outraged, to learn personal history, and to think. And it can begin simply with the words, “I remember when.”

From the Mountains to the River : Mostly True Stories Worth the Tellin'

Suellen Alfred

Joyce Tatum

Think of this as a conversation on the matter of deacons in the Lord's churches. I'm a pastor. For 42 years I served six Southern Baptist churches and followed that with 5 years as the director of missions for our denomination's 130 churches and missions throughout greater New Orleans. I love deacons. My oldest son is one of the finest deacons I know. I'm eternally indebted to the Lord for surrounding me with godly and mature deacon friends who have enriched my life and enabled my ministry. My pastorates have been immeasurably strengthened by solid deacons who loved Jesus and wanted nothing more than to serve Him. But I did not emerge unscathed from serving alongside deacons. I bear scars from confrontations with a few deacons over the years. In one church, a small group saw themselves as the board of directors of a country-club type church and the pastor as their hired executive. That they were powerful men used to getting their way made this a train-wreck waiting to happen. In another church, a small group of deacons was chronically unhappy with the pastor because he insisted on being the leader of the church. Wasn't the pastor their servant? Wasn't he supposed to take orders from them? Didn't the Bible say so? One of the surprising aspects of my retirement ministry is how the Lord keeps sending me to lead training weekends and retreats for deacons. Now, don't misunderstand. I love it. It's just a surprise, that this country preacher who bears the scars from run-ins with deacons over the years suddenly finds himself speaking out about the proper biblical role of these servants.

Help! I'm a Deacon

Joe McKeever

Daring to Speak for God

Janeth Day

As a young man growing up in Ligonier, Pennsylvania, having no conscious knowledge of a Southern Blues Band, “The Allman Brothers Band”, a Capricorn Records act managed by the president of the company, Phil Walden, from Macon, Georgia, I was about to embark on a journey through time and people I otherwise never would have met leaving me with many fond memories and thanks for having lived a life in that era place and time. This is my story!      My first recollection of Duane Allman came too late to appreciate his musical career while he was still alive, it took his untimely death (October 29th, 1971). Twiggs Lyndon was Duane Allman’s most devoted advocate, also the first Road Manager of the Allman Brothers Band.

Remembering Twiggs Lyndon

Ron Cosentino

When Pastor Jack Myers and his wife Myralee decide to give half their savings to prevent two of their church's staff members from being laid off, they start a chain reaction that reverberates not only throughout their church but through their entire community and eventually the nation and the world. This is a heartwarming story about the Christian ethic in action. Readers should be warned that they won't be the same after reading it, and may feel led to give away their money or possessions to help others during this time of financial desperation. That's the exciting thing about this book―it will change your life! Several people have already suggested that The Zacchaeus Solution could be the In His Steps of our generation. Like Charles Sheldon's novel that led millions in the Great Depression to ask, "What would Jesus do?", this book has the power to alter how we believe and live. Don't just read this book. Pass it on. In fact, share it with your whole church!

Zacchaeus Solution : How Christians Can Reverse the World's Economic Turndown

John Killinger

Building Sermons to Meet People's Needs

Simple process for the preacher's task of building sermons.

James C. Taylor

Harold T. Bryson

Life is a holy adventure in which our lives emerge from our relationships and the institutions that have shaped us. In this second edition, I want to give thanks to the institutions that have most shaped me spiritually and professionally: Claremont School of Theology, Claremont Graduate School, and the Disciples Seminary Foundation in Claremont; the United Church of Christ; and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). This book is an embodiment of the United Church of Christ’s affirmation: “God is still speaking.” I give thanks daily for my wife and partner in life, ministry, parenting, and grand parenting, Kate Epperly. Life is always an adventure with Kate: her Myers-Briggs “P” (perceiving) spirit keeps my “J” (judging) on my toes and challenges me to modify my plans at a moment’s notice. Her “E” (extroversion) has energized my “I” (introversion) personally and professionally. I am grateful for the impact of being a father on my personal and professional life. My son Matt has awakened me to the meaning of unconditional love and has expanded the circle of love to include his wife Ingrid and two very adventurous young boys. This book is an affirmation of God’s holy adventure in every season of life from childhood to eldership, and my two grandsons have deepened my commitment to be God’s companion in healing the world for their generation and their children’s children. I am thankful for the “cloud of witness” and “creative companions” who have inspired my adventures. In that cloud of adventurers, journeying in God’s realm of adventurous shalom, I give thanks for my mom and dad, Loretta and Everett Epperly, my brother Bill, and for mentors – Bernie Loomer, Shorty Collins, Marie Fox, and Howard Thurman. I give thanks for living adventurers whose mentoring and teaching still shapes my life – John Cobb, David Ray Griffin, and John Akers. This text reflects the encouragement of dear friends, many of whom regularly repeat back to me my own words – “it’s a holy adventure” – when I am tempted to shrink from making great plans or embarking on journeys to new places – Anna Rollins, Patricia Adams Farmer, Suzanne Schmidt, Monica Coleman, Kathy Harvey Nelson, Jay McDaniel, and Edwin David Aponte. Two churches have shaped the writing of this text – Disciples United Community Church in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, whose open-spirit and partnership encouraged theological, spiritual, and worship adventures, and South Congregational United Church of Christ, Centerville, Massachusetts, whose faithful ministry on Cape Cod lures me forward to new and creative adventures. Finally, this second edition emerged through an invitation from David Tullock, Publisher of Parson’s Porch Books, who joins publication with social concern and healing. Publishing, for David, is more about prophets than profits, in his quest to bring sustenance and joy to vulnerable persons so that they might have the freedom to see their lives as adventurous and holy. Pentecost 2013

Holy Adventure : 41 Days of Audacious Living

Bruce G. Epperly

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