Thank You for Asking: Conversing with Young Adults about the Future Church. Sara Wenger Shenk. Herald Press, 2005. 281 pages.
This volume provides a wealth of easy-to-read information based on research and interviews conducted by the author over a two-year period. “This is a book of stories of young adults as told to their peers,” Shenk says. It gives voice to views held by “20somethings” on a variety of relevant sociological topics, from family to sex to faith. The frank, insightful comments shared by the 56 young adults will especially appeal to youth pastors and leaders.
Laughing Matters: Learning to Laugh When Life Stinks. Phil Callaway. Multnomah Publishers, 2005. 251 pages.
This book of humour, filled with tales of heartache and struggle yet sprinkled with everyday wit and hilarity, will touch a chord with anyone facing challenges in life. Callaway has a penchant for discovering laughter in the most unusual situations. He writes his chapters in bits and pieces, encouraging readers to laugh and look for moments of God’s grace even when life seems a mess.
Monday Marriage: Celebrating the Ordinary. Gerald W. and L. Marlene Kaufman. Herald Press, 2005. 102 pages.
This small volume urges couples to surrender impossible dreams of a perfect marriage and yield to “richly ordinary” marriages instead, comprised of commitment, realism, imperfection and “life’s frailties.” Family counsellors Gerald and Marlene Kaufman criticize the unrealistic pressures of today’s wedding industry, personality analysis tools, sex advice and communication techniques. “Expect less” in these areas, they say, and “give more” by honouring the marriage covenant, keeping work in its place, and taking control of free time.
Margaret’s Print Shop: a Novel of the Anabaptist Reformation. Elwood E. Yoder. Herald Press, 2005.
Elwood Yoder puts into novel form the story of the Anabaptist movement becoming established in Strasbourg, a German city at that time. Margaret takes over her husband’s print shop after his death from the plague. The shop prints pamphlets for the reformers as well as books of the Bible being translated into German. She is attracted to the Anabaptist movement and is eventually baptized. The novel provides insight into the period and the trials Anabaptists endured.
First Nations and First Settlers in the Fraser Valley (1890–1960). Edited by Harvey Neufeldt, Ruth Derksen Siemens and Robert Martens. Pandora Press, 2005.
This book is a compilation of papers presented at a conference of the same name held in Abbotsford in June 2003, sponsored by the Yarrow Research Committee and University College of the Fraser Valley. The papers reflect the diverse developmental phases of the area’s settlement. Topics include the history of the First Nations, Sikhs and Japanese in the Valley, the hop industry, and Mennonite Bible schools.
I am the Poem. Alvin G. Ens. Ensa Publishing (3947 Paradise Pl., Abbotsford), 2005. 94 pages.
This second collection of poems by Alvin Ens, semi-retired teacher and author of Musings on the Sermon (2002), is organized under the five words reread, hear, see, imagine and communicate. At the beginning of each section, Ens reflects on that word as an aspect of the poet’s craft. The poems are often playful or experiment with visual effects, and explore matters as diverse as the joys of golfing, weeds or the helplessness of watching a grown child suffer.
A Bridge Between Two Worlds: The Story of a Postmodern Missionary. Mark Humphries. Semaphore Ministries, 2004. 157 pages.
Mark Humphries led a ministry to Winnipeg youth in alternative subcultures called the Red Herring Cathedral for five years, 1995–2000. (It was supported financially by The Meeting Place, an MB church.) Humphries’ honest recounting of trying to bridge the worlds of the church and other cultures will resonate with those attempting culturally relevant Christian ministry. He often felt “caught between” while not belonging fully to either, he writes, but “God really did show up, sometimes at the strangest moments.” Humphries says ministry in a postmodern world “will have to account for tribal identity and will need to be incarnational.”
—MB Herald staff
| 
