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Pew

Author: Catherine Lacey

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Published: 2020-07-21

Total Pages: 224

ISBN-13: 0374720134

WINNER of the 2021 NYPL Young Lions Fiction Award. Finalist for the 2021 Dylan Thomas Prize. Longlisted for the 2021 PEN/Jean Stein Book Award, the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction and the Joyce Carol Oates Prize. One of Publishers Weekly's Best Fiction Books of 2020. One of Amazon's 100 Best Books of 2020. “The people of this community are stifling, and generous, cruel, earnest, needy, overconfident, fragile and repressive, which is to say that they are brilliantly rendered by their wise maker, Catherine Lacey.” --Rachel Kushner, author of The Flamethrowers A figure with no discernible identity appears in a small, religious town, throwing its inhabitants into a frenzy In a small, unnamed town in the American South, a church congregation arrives for a service and finds a figure asleep on a pew. The person is genderless and racially ambiguous and refuses to speak. One family takes in the strange visitor and nicknames them Pew. As the town spends the week preparing for a mysterious Forgiveness Festival, Pew is shuttled from one household to the next. The earnest and seemingly well-meaning townspeople see conflicting identities in Pew, and many confess their fears and secrets to them in one-sided conversations. Pew listens and observes while experiencing brief flashes of past lives or clues about their origin. As days pass, the void around Pew’s presence begins to unnerve the community, whose generosity erodes into menace and suspicion. Yet by the time Pew’s story reaches a shattering and unsettling climax at the Forgiveness Festival, the secret of who they really are—a devil or an angel or something else entirely—is dwarfed by even larger truths. Pew, Catherine Lacey’s third novel, is a foreboding, provocative, and amorphous fable about the world today: its contradictions, its flimsy morality, and the limits of judging others based on their appearance. With precision and restraint, one of our most beloved and boundary-pushing writers holds up a mirror to her characters’ true selves, revealing something about forgiveness, perception, and the faulty tools society uses to categorize human complexity.

A View from the Back Pew

Author: Tim O'Donnell

Publisher: SCB Distributors

Published: 2011-02-10

Total Pages: 200

ISBN-13: 0984534407

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Engages with the taboo questions of Christianity as investigative reportage, exploring the "mysteries of faith". Is America becoming preoccupied with religion? In a country with a tradition of keeping matters of creed private, we are now seeing religion in the headlines almost daily, while ironically, escalating numbers of Americans are abandoning organized religion altogether. A recent Pew survey of Americans show: 91% believe in God, 44% have switched religions, 71% of 18-30 year-olds are “spiritual but not religious” and the Catholic Church estimates at least one third of Catholics are lapsed. We are a nation under God, a country of believers it seems, but one undergoing a collective shift in our allegiance to organized religion. But, before the individual shifts they are aided by looking at what they were taught to believe in the first place. A View from the Back Pew: God, Religion & Our Personal Quest for Truth investigates the mysteries of faith in a no-holds-barred exposÃ© into the very core of the Christianity. Candid, humorous and controversial, Tim O’Donnell takes us on a powerful search for balance – between faith and personal experience, between the roots of Christianity and layers of doctrine and between ritual and the connection to the entity we call God. A View from the Back Pew is not written for theologians or the so-called spiritual illuminati, but for ordinary people who are asking deeper questions about their faith. Before one can venture from the safe harbor of organized religion to the open water of spirituality, it helps to be clear about what causes our quandary. This book helps deal with the imprint religion has made while leaving out the guilt commonly linked to asking such questions. “My hope” writes O’Donnell “is that if you are drawn to the Divine but labor over dogma and ritual, you will find a fresh perspective in my view from the back pew”.

The View from the Pew

Author: Alex A. Meñez

Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.

Published: 2021-03-11

Total Pages: 143

ISBN-13: 1098041763

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Love stories are always captivating. And when it is the love story of a catholic priest, it is intriguing. This book is about the love story of two priests. "Both stories reveal their pain and struggles to decide against a law imbedded for centuries in the solid structure of an institution and in the cultural psyche of both laity and clergy. In the end, love and grace triumph" (From a peer review).A highlight of this book is my reformist concern related to clerical behavior. And I speak from my experience and expertise of forty years in the ministry. Ecclesiastics should know that when I left the service of the altar, I bore no bitterness or regret. I am, therefore, their best ally to tell them the truth in love. An added weight for my credibility is because my observations are based mostly on the pronouncements of Pope Francis.The book will make some clerics uncomfortable. Many will find it comforting and uplifting. All will find it a good resource for reflection and a compelling guide for examination of conscience to hopefully bring about the clergy reform in attitude and lifestyle.I have a chapter on celibacy. Some will ask, what more is there to talk about this topic. And I say, because I present celibacy with a focus on chastity. Celibacy without chastity is a farce. Perhaps someday the church will change its law on celibacy, definitely not in my lifetime. But it will. This book will tell you why.This book can be used as a primer in the seminary formation program. As Cardinal Robert Sarah has warned, "The Christian priesthood is going through a major crisis," and at the root of this quagmire "is a deep flaw in their formation."The laity will benefit from this book, especially among the churchgoing, those engaged in religious formation, those in search of their faith's relevance or simply the spiritually hungry and the families and friends of priests all over the world. The book strongly emphasizes the equality in dignity of all Christian faithful (clergy and lay) based on the grace of baptism. This will help the laity value and uphold their proper role, viz. that together they build up the Church of Jesus Christ.

Preaching from the Pew

Author: Patricia G. Brown

Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press

Published: 1998-01-01

Total Pages: 168

ISBN-13: 9780664500191

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In this deeply spiritual and prophetic collection of sermons, meditations, and prayers, Pat Brown takes the reader on a personal journey into and out of some of the most critical challenges facing the church in these turbulent and confusing times. She unveils her story of God's handiwork in shaping her life as a child of the Reformed tradition and as the mother of a special needs son. In a time when the call for justice withers on the vine as the church struggles with itself, this book is required reading for every perplexed servant of Jesus Christ.

A View from the Pew

Author: Forrest Davis

Publisher: AuthorHouse

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 394

ISBN-13: 1434321142

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Just who was Abraham Lincoln? How did he become one of the most admired persons who ever lived? What daily experiences lead him on the path to the Presidency of the United States of America at the most difficult time of its existence? Why is he the man visitors come streaming to discover in the heartland of central Illinois This work of Historical Fiction answers the question of what Lincoln's daily life was like. By selecting 3 very different years and researching them on a day-to-day, month-by-month basis, the picture of our 16 President becomes clearer. What Did Lincoln Do in 1832? is told through the eyes of Peggy Rutledge, one of Anne's younger sisters, and details the daily life in the remote log cabin New Salem Illinois Lincoln Do in 1842? is told through the eyes of Jed, a twelve-year-old boy whom Lincoln befriends in the booming town of Springfield Illinois What Did Lincoln Do in 1862? is told in a stream-of-consciousness style by Tad Lincoln, Abraham's youngest son. It details the year in the White House in which Willie dies and writes the Emancipation Proclamation. This work of Historical Fiction is grounded in research and footnoted for those whose spark is lit to do further study on this unique American who strode from obscurity to center stage not so long

The Black Pentecostal Church: My View from the Pew

Author: Sharon D. Smith

Publisher: WestBow Press

Published: 2016-06-14

Total Pages: 136

ISBN-13: 1512745081

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The black Pentecostal church, once the pillar of the community and the standard bearer of the Christian faith was seen as that sanctified, set-aside church, where people came to receive Salvation. The Pentecostal churches comes in every race, creed and color; however, the black Pentecostal church had its own way of worship. By writing this book, highlighting issues and situations occurring in the church today, is not to reprimand, insult, or make fun of the church. The purpose of writing this book is to examine the changing standards and the way we go about conducting services, to see if it is expedient for us to maintain these changes in reaching our ultimate goal winning souls for Christ. Today, it appears that instead of the church being set-apart, it rather be assimilated with the world. Years ago, one could spot a Saint from a mile away. Today you would be hard pressed to pick one out. Even the very thing that distinguished the Pentecostal church from all other churches, its music, has become indistinguishable. Lets look at these issues and discuss if we are going down the right path. Let us pray and seek guidance so that we may preserve the church as Jesus wants it to be, a House of Prayer. Sharon D. Smith, Author Cover art: courtesy of Compass Print Inc., Ray Ellis Gallery of Savannah, GA. Reproduction of Morning Prayer by Ray Ellis. Cover design by Westbow Press.

Parenting in the Pew

Author: Robbie F. Castleman

Publisher: InterVarsity Press

Published: 2012-11-14

Total Pages: 161

ISBN-13: 0830866477

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"Daddy, I'd like you to meet my children." That's Robbie Castleman's attitude about taking her children to church. She believes that Sunday morning isn't a success if she has only managed to keep the kids quiet. And she knows there's more to church for kids than trying out their new coloring books. Children are at church for the same reason as their parents: for the privilege of worshiping God. Worship, Castleman writes, is "the most important thing you can ever train your child to do." So with infectious passion, nitty-gritty advice and a touch of humor, she shows you how to help your children (from toddlers to teenagers) enter into worship. In this significantly revised and updated edition Castleman includes a new preface and two new appendices that provide new perspectives on children's sermon and intergenerational community. She also provides a study guide for personal reflection or group discussion. More than ever, Parenting in the Pew is essential reading for parents and worship leaders who want to help children make joyful noises unto the Lord.

Sittin' in the Front Pew

Author: Parry Ann Brown

Publisher: Villard

Published: 2002

Total Pages: 258

ISBN-13: 0375757058

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Returning to Baltimore from Los Angeles to bury her late father, Glynda Naylor and her three sisters celebrate their father's life and search for answers about who the real Edward Naylor, who had raised them after their mother's death, was. Original. 35,000 first printing.

A View From the Pew

Author: Joyce Proctor Beaman

Publisher: Morgan James Publishing

Published: 2014-05-01

Total Pages: 169

ISBN-13: 1630472212

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""There are many others who are called into many dimensions of Christian service: missionaries, evangelists, Bible teachers, Sunday school teachers, and others; but no one touches two young hands, with God, to join them in a lifetime relationship in the way that a pastor does: No one touches the head of a tiny babe at the moment of christening to ask God to bless and sustain until that later day of accountability: No one touches the feverish hand or forehead of the hospital patient with words of hope and comfort: No one reaches forth his hand to touch the hardwood or metal beneath a floral arrangement to speak those final, earthly words - no one, in the same way as a pastor."" - Joyce Proctor Beaman

A View from the Pew

Author: Widner Charles

Publisher: Page Publishing Inc

Published: 2016-06-20

Total Pages:

ISBN-13: 168289701X

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Summary This book is a journey. We will make several stops; pausing, trying to understand as we go along. We will look at the faithless, the people whose faith is different from ours because it is rooted in their history and in their culture. We will also try to understand why some of our religious leaders allow their personal feelings as well as their personal allegiances influence their teachings. At the end of our journey we will be reminded that both hate and love are very powerful engines. Alice and I picked love, personified in Jesus Christ.