Gilead

Books

Telling the Truth: The Gospel as Tragedy, Comedy, and Fairy Tale

Frederick Buechner

The Witness of Preaching (second edition)

Thomas G. Long

Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life

Anne Lamott

A Chorus of Witnesses: Model Sermons for Today's Preacher

Thomas G. Long and Cornelius Plantinga Jr., eds.

Beloved

Toni Morrison

Gilead

Marilynne Robinson

Moby-Dick

Herman Melville

7 essential books for preaching

Oct 20, 2009 reviewed by Anna Carter Florence
My favorite book on the theology of preaching—which helps me remember what I’m doing and why—is the first one I ever read, the one that convinced me that going to seminary wasn’t a completely insane idea. Buechner’s gift for wringing beauty out of pain is one I appreciate more and more.
Faith Matters

Back home in Gilead

The complexities and beauty of family
Nov 04, 2008 by L. Gregory Jones
What is Jack Boughton really like? How will he respond to Reverend Ames’s blessing as he gets on the bus to leave Gilead again? Will he embrace the grace and forgiveness of the blessing? Or will he return to his old ways?
Features

A pastoral voice

An interview with Marilynne Robinson
Apr 04, 2006 by Debra Bendis
In 1980, Marilynne Robinson published her first novel, Housekeeping, which won a PEN/Hemingway Award and was made into a movie. She published nonfiction works during the next 24 years, including The Death of Adam and Mother Country, but kept her fans waiting until 2004 for a second novel.
Features

Portrait of a pastor

Mysteries and blessings
May 17, 2005 by Martin B. Copenhaver
It seems as if all the pastors I know either have read Marilynne Robinson’s novel Gilead or claim that it is on the top of the pile of books they intend to read. Pastors—myself among them—love the book. Some of the reasons are obvious.
Books

Gilead: A Novel

Marilynne Robinson

Strife in Gilead

Feb 08, 2005 reviewed by Lawrence Wood
Here is a novel without glamour and without any obvious appeal for beach or airplane reading. John Ames, 76 years old, has long served the same church in Gilead, Iowa, as did his father before him.