Recommended Reading for the Entire Annual Conference:
Thompson, Marjorie J. Soul Feast, Newly Revised Edition: An Invitation to the Christian Spiritual Life. Westminster John Knox Press, 2014.
Wheatley, Margaret. Who Do We Choose to Be? Facing Reality, Claiming Leadership, Restoring Sanity. Barrett-Koehler Publishers, 2017.
Leading Congregational Change :
Rusaw, Rick and Swanson, Eric. The Externally Focused Church. Group Publishing, 2004.
Rainer, Thom S. Autopsy of a Deceased Church: 12 Ways to Keep Yours Alive. B&H Books, 2014.
McDonald, Gordon. Who Stole My Church? What to Do When the Church You Love Tries to Enter the 21st Century. Thomas Nelson, Inc., 2008.
Navigating these Times:
Cole Arthur Riley. Black Liturgies: Prayers, Poems, and Meditations for Staying Human. Convergent Books, 2024.
Zeke Hernandez. The Truth About Immigration: Why Successful Societies Welcome Newcomers. St. Martin’s Press, 2024.
Goode, Jeff. The Heat Will Kill You First: Life and Death on a Scorched Planet. Little, Brown, & Co., 2023.
Ben-Ghiat, Ruth. Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present. W.W. Norton & Co., 2020.
Essential Books for Ministry and Life:
Chittister, Joan. The Gift of Years: Growing Old Gracefully. BlueBridge, 2014.
Kalanithi, Paul. When Breath Becomes Air. Random House, 2016.
McDonald, Gordon. Ordering Your Private World. Thomas Nelson, 2017.
Great Books:
Dillard, Annie. Pilgrim at Tinker Creek. Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2007.
Hillenbrand, Laura. Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption. Random House, 2010.
Lawson, Jenny. Let’s Pretend this Never Happened. Berkley, 2013.
Krueger, William Kent. This Tender Land. Atria, 2020.
Krueger, William Kent. Ordinary Grace. Atria, 2014.
Robinson, Marilynne. Gilead. Picador Paper 2020.
Leading Congregational Change:
Bolsinger, Tod. Canoeing the Mountains: Christian Leadership in Uncharted Territory. IVP, 2018.
Harnish, James A. You Only Have to Die: Leading Your Congregation to New Life. Abingdon Press, 2010.
Navigating These Times:
The Arbinger Institute. Anatomy of Peace: Resolving the Heart of Conflict. Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2022.
Carter, Kenneth H. Unrelenting Grace: A United Methodist Way of Life. Abingdon Press, 2023.
Ripley, Amanda. High Conflict: Why We Get Trapped and How We Get Out. Simon & Schuster, 2022.
Wheatley, Margaret. Who Do We Choose to Be?: Facing Reality, Claiming Leadership, Restoring Sanity. Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2017.
Living Into God’s Call:
Colwell, Jessie Squires. Blessed Wrestling: Reflections on Discerning God’s Call. New Room Books: 2021.
Peterson, Eugene H. Under the Unpredictable Plant: An Exploration in Vocational Holiness. Eerdmans, 1994.
Two Essential Books for Ministry and Life:
Cloud, Henry. Necessary Endings: The Employees, Businesses, and Relationships that All of Us Have to Give Up in Order to Move Forward. Harper Business, 2011.
Grenny, J., Patterson, K., et al. Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When the Stakes are High. McGraw Hill, 2021. (Crucial Accountability and Crucial Confrontations: Tools for Talking About Broken Promises, Violated Expectations, and Bad Behavior are also good.)
Biblical Study:
Jennings, Willie James. Acts: A Theological Commentary on the Bible. Westminster John Knox Press, 2017.
Preaching:
Wagner, Kimberly R. Fractured Ground: Preaching in the Wake of Mass Trauma. Westminster John Knox Press, 2023.
Great Novels I Read Recently:
Kingsolver, Barbara. Demon Copperhead. Harper, First Edition, 2022.
Doerr, Anthony. All the Light We Cannot See. Scribner, 2017.
Great Books to Listen to:
Honeyman, Gail. Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine.
Noah, Trevor. Born a Crime.
Patchett, Ann. The Dutch House. (read by Tom Hanks)