Synopses & Reviews
Praise for the Second Edition of Practicing Our Faith
"Practicing Our Faith is more than a book; it outlines a movementGod's movementthat is both as old as Abraham and as new as today's emerging Christianity. Here is a way to live the abundant life that is good news for our neighbors, sweet rest for our souls, and hope for a church too long fragmented by division. Like the preachers of the last great awakening, I want to shout, 'Get on board!'"
Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, new monastic, author, speaker (www.jonathanwilsonhartgrove.com)
Praise for the First Edition of Practicing Our Faith
"Deceptively simple and down-to-earth, these authors provide potent surprises. Dorothy Bass's observation that 'slaves cannot take a day off but free people can' startled me into a new comprehension of the workaholism that permeates American culture. Practicing Our Faith strikes me as a book as wise as grandparents, a good guide to living within our families and communities with integrity and generosity."
Kathleen Norris, author of The Cloister Walk and Acedia and Me: A Marriage, Monks, and a Writer's Life
"Practicing Our Faith is a book written by a remarkable community of peopleremarkable not only because it includes some of the most insightful Christian voices of our time, but because its members prayed and talked and worked together to create this volume, modeling the way the church is meant to do its work. . . . Practicing Our Faith is a book that should be widely read, and more: it should be put into action."
Parker Palmer, author of A Hidden Wholeness, Let Your Life Speak, and The Courage to Teach
Visit www.practicingourfaith.org for more information and resources on the Practices of Faith.
Synopsis
Dorothy Bass' Practicing Our Faith book grew out of the Lilly Endowment funded Valparaiso Project on the Education and Formation of People of Faith's work in exploring what it means not just to believe but to act upon one's faith. Over the past 11 years, it basically established an entirely new way of thinking about everyday practices such as hospitality, forgiveness, and keeping Sabbath that has been highly influential across a wide range of Christian laypeople, leaders, denominations, and study groups.
In this second edition, Dorothy incorporates a reader/study guide into the back of the book, revises the concluding chapter, and adds an afterword on her meditations on the practices discussed in the book and how they relate to and intersect with other basic Christian practices (prayer, worship, and Bible study).
Synopsis
An updated edition of the down-to-earth resource that offers twelve practices to make Christian faith a way of life
Many Christians are looking for ways to deepen their relationship with God by practicing their faith in everyday life. This best-selling guide helps take belief out of the realm of theory and shows how to live it out in a series of twelve central practices such as hospitality, forgiveness, healing, testimony, and keeping Sabbath. Designed to work across a wide range of Christian laypeople, leaders, denominations, and study groups, this is the second edition of the book that Theology called "... a stimulating contribution to the work of making explicit the connection between what Christians do and what they believe."
- Contains information on the practices discussed in the book and shows how they relate to and intersect with prayer, worship, and Bible study
- Offers a guide for conversation, learning, and growth at the back of the book
- This updated and expanded new edition includes a new introduction and two additional chapters that describes new insights into and experiences with the "practicing our faith" approach
The book includes a variety of prominent contributors, who draw on their rich shared experience as believers, theologians, ethicists, and educators.
Synopsis
This updated edition of the down-to-earth resource offers 12 practices to make Christian faith a way of life. Includes a new Introduction and two additional chapters that describe new insights into and experiences with the "practicing our faith" approach.
About the Author
Dorothy C. Bass is a writer, noted church historian, and director of the Valparaiso Project on the Education and Formation of People in Faith.
Table of Contents
Preface to the 1997 edition.
Chapter 1 Times of Yearning, Practices of Faith (Craig Dykstra and Dorothy C. Bass).
Chapter 2 Honoring the Body (Stephanie Paulsell).
Chapter 3 Hospitality (Ana Maria Pineda).
Chapter 4 Household Economics (Sharon Daloz Parks).
Chapter 5 Saying Yes and Saying No (M. Shawn Copeland).
Chapter 6 Keeping Sabbath (Dorothy C. Bass).
Chapter 7 Testimony (Thomas Hoyt Jr.).
Chapter 8 Discernment (Frank Rogers Jr.).
Chapter 9 Shaping Communities (Larry Rasmussen).
Chapter 10 Forgiveness (L. Gregory Jones).
Chapter 11 Healing (John Koenig).
Chapter 12 Dying Well (Amy Plantinga Pauw).
Chapter 13 Singing Our Lives (Don E. Saliers).
Chapter 14 Practicing a Way of Life (Dorothy C. Bass and Craig Dykstra).
Chapter 15 A Way of Thinking about a Way of Life (Craig Dykstra and Dorothy C. Bass).
References.
Index of Scripture References.
The Contributors.
Conversation Guide.
Index.