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New books in the library

Surprising Gift: The Story of Holden Village

by Charles P. Lutz

Many St. Paul members have spent time at Holden Village, a Lutheran center for renewal in the Cascade Mountains of north central Washington state. The author has taught at Holden and watched its development since 1960. Holden Village is, he says, supremely, a gift: given by a mining company to the Lutheran church, operating largely because of volunteer labor, and proclaiming God’s gift of unconditional love.

How did this unique place of creative renewal come to be? And why (in the words of its first director, Carroll Hinderlie) did God see that it was given to “God’s least imaginative people – the Lutherans?”

Surprising Gift is the fascinataing story of this former mining village, now in its third decade as a retreat center. Meet the people who have made Holden Village a place of “holy hilarity” for thousands of all ages.

The List

By C.D. Baker

When the British arrive in Philadelphia on the heels of the departing American army, Dr. Archibald Browne is beaten and dragged off to jail for his patriot sympathies. Upon his release, he and his son, Thaddeus gain access to the home of Joseph Galloway, who is compiling a list of influential men loyal to the Crown – a list that could endanger the lives of those on it and threaten the future of the young American nation.

A fast-paced, meticulously researched tale, The List brings vividly to life the city and inhabitants of the Philadelphia of 1776.

C. D. Baker has written six historical novels and two books of Christian reflections. He has a master’s degree in divinity from the University of St. Andrews, Scotland. Baker’s meticulously researched work is described as authentic and vulnerable, with memorable characterization and thoughtful spirituality. His specialty is the discovery of the untold story.

A Singular Family

by Reynolds Price

A Singular Family is the entire Mustian cycle in one volume, with a preface by the author.

Rosacoke Mustian initially “stood up, live from her first paragraph” in one of Reynolds Price’s earliest short stories, “A Chain of Love,” and Price made the beginning of her life with Wesley Beavers the subject of his dazzling first novel, A Long and Happy Life. Eventually, Price spent two more novels, A Generous Man and Good Hearts, with this single family, telling a story of devotion and endurance that is now the hallmark of one of the most illustrious careers in American letters.

The James B. Duke Professor of English at Duke University, Price has had a lifelong interest in ancient languages and Biblical scholarship.

Yearning

by M. Craig Barnes

Popluar psychology says we should be fulfilled. Advertisement tease us with dozens of ways we can be fulfilled. Many preachers and books promise Christian fulfillment. Craig Barnes suggests we weren’t created to be whole or complete.

With a fresh reading of the early chapters of Genesis, he says that much of our pain and disillusionment arises from wrong expectations of the gospel and of life. Barnes writes for anyone who knows that faith must be tough enough to “hold up in the emergency rooms of life.” But he doesn’t merely help us face reality. He helps us see how our needs and limitations are gifts, the best opportunities we have to receive God’s grace.

M. Craig Barnes was the speaker for the 2005 Guest Speaker Series at St. Paul.

The Future of Chrisitan Faith in America

by David Yount

Examining the state of Christianity in America today and assessing its prognosis for the future, Yount looks at the symptoms of our country’s “mile-wide, inch-deep” style of faith. Reflecting on its causes and results, he offers insights for churches and individual believers to deepen their walk with God.

David Yount is a former seminary chairman and college dean who now writes a newspaper column on religion, “Amazing Grace,” syndicated by Scripps Howard.

Speaking of Faith

by Krista Tippett

Drawing on her own life experiences as well as the intimate and intellectual conversations she’s had on her popular public radio program, Krista Tippett explores complex subjects like science, love, virtue, and violence within the context of spirituality and everyday human life.

Profoundly inclusive and deeply original in her commentary, Tippett illustrates a way to speak about faith that diffuses the many conflicts surrounding religion.

Her way of speaking about the mysteries of life – and listening with care to those who endeavor to understand those mysteries – is nothing short of revolutionary.

Bread for the World

by Art Simon

On August 8, St. Paul will be observing Bread for the World Sunday. Bread for the World got its start 35 years ago in a meeting of 14 Catholic and Protestant leaders, in a church basement in Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Rev. Art Simon was then serving as pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church.

Simon recalls that the group “felt strongly that a void needed to be filled. Next to nothing was being done to challenge Christians to use their voices to end hunger.”

Like their father, Art Simon and his brother, the late Sen. Paul Simon, were committed to public service and social justice. Martin Simon spoke publicly against the World War II internment of Japanese Americans.

The poverty Rev. Simon saw as a pastor on New York’s Lower East Side also fed his determination to launch a citizens’ movement against hunger. The goal was straightforward: use the power of many voices to press elected leaders for solutions on hunger and poverty issues.

As Bread for the World celebrates 35 years, Simon recalls some of his favorite moments.

"What lies behind us and what lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us." ~Author unknown, from St. Paul Moms' Morning devotional booklet