New Titles Tuesday, February 1

Here is a selection of titles added to the collection in the past week

 Preaching hope in darkness: help for pastors in addressing suicide from the pulpit /Scott M. Gibson & Karen Mason. Two practitioners in fields that do not typically interact–homiletics (Gibson) and psychology (Mason)–work together to support the preacher in a difficult task. Gibson and Mason offer wise advice on a range of topics such as suicide prevention, post-crisis care, and funeral sermon preparation. With an appendix of sample sermons and a sample funeral liturgy, Preaching Hope in Darkness is an essential go-to guide for this difficult topic.

 Pride and prejudice /Jane Austen ; edited by Pat Rogers. ‘It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.’ With this famous declaration Jane Austen launches into the story of the five Bennet sisters. It is a story that on first reading is full of suspense, surprise and, ultimately, satisfaction, and which on re-reading commands, in addition, admiration for the author’s supreme skill in managing a deceptively complex plot to its triumphant conclusion. First published in 1813, and Austen’s most popular novel in her own lifetime, Pride and Prejudice has since been widely recognised as one of the finest novels in the English language. This volume, first published in 2006, provides comprehensive explanatory notes, an extensive critical introduction covering the context and publication history of the work, a chronology of Austen’s life and an authoritative textual apparatus.

 Reading Buechner: exploring the work of a master memoirist, novelist, theologian, and preacher /Jeffrey Munroe ; foreword by Makoto Fujimura. Buechner expert Jeff Munroe presents a collection of the true essentials from across Buechner’s diverse catalog, as well as an overview of Buechner’s life and a discussion of the state of his literary legacy today

Recapturing an enchanted world: ritual and sacrament in the free church tradition /John D. Rempel ; forward by Gordon T. Smith. Mennonite theologian and minister. Rempel considers the role of the sacraments and ritual within the Free Church tradition, helping us perceive the sacramental nature of our faith and worship

 Rediscovering worship: past, present, and future /edited by Wendy J. Porter. This collection of essays carries on a conversation between biblical scholars and church music practitioners. It begins with studies investigating what we can learn about worship in the Old Testament, followed by essays on the teaching about worship in the Gospels, Epistles, and the book of Revelation in the New Testament. The church music practitioners featured in the book respond to each of these essays. The final essay by Wendy Porter takes a historical journey of theological reflection on Christian worship from the days of the early church, tracing worship developments in the Western church through the centuries to today. This is an important book for anyone who wants to think theologically about how and why Christians worship God.

 Routledge international handbook of nurse education /edited by Sue Dyson and MArgaret McAllister. This comprehensive handbook provides a research-informed and international perspective on the critical issues in contemporary nurse education. This handbook provides a cutting-edge overview for all educators, researchers and policy-makers concerned with nurse education.

 Rural nursing: concepts, theory, and practice /Charlene A. Winters, editor. Focusing on rural nursing concepts, theory, research, education, public health, and healthcare delivery from a national and international perspective, the sixth edition is distinguished by its emphasis on practical applications. Written for undergraduate and graduate nursing students, the book highlights the challenges of frontier nursing and the relative opportunities for innovative practice in rural healthcare. The effect and spread of the coronavirus on nonmetropolitan areas is covered throughout the text.

 Seculosity: how career, parenting, technology, food, politics, and romance became our new religion and what to do about it /David Zahl. Seculosity takes a thoughtful yet entertaining tour of American performancism. Ultimately, Zahl brings us to a fresh appreciation for the grace of God in all its counter-cultural wonder

Sermons that sing: music and the practice of preaching /Noel A. Snyder ; foreword by Jeremy Begbie. Snyder considers how preaching that seeks to engage hearts and minds might be helpfully informed by musical theory-so that preachers might craft sermons that sing

 Setting the captives free: the Bible and human trafficking /Marion L.S. Carson. Aimed at Christian anti-trafficking activists and church groups, the book offers an overview of the biblical material on slavery and the sex trade. Acknowledging that there is a difference between the biblical worldview and most Christians today with regard to slavery, it suggests that we can learn much from the Abolitionists of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Each chapter provides study questions and is illustrated throughout.

 Smart church finances: a pastor’s guide to budgets, spreadsheets, and other stuff you didn’t learn in seminary /George M. Hillman, Jr. and John Reece. Smart Church Finances is built on a solid foundation of business principles but–unlike many business books–in a straightforward style that anyone can grasp. You’ll learn how to: Communicate vision and strategize with a team; Steward resources well (yes, including budgeting); Prioritize goals, wisely make decisions, and evaluate outcomes based on vision and data; Leverage the existing talents of men and women at your church.

 So much more than art: Indigenous miniatures of the Pacific Northwest /Jack Davy. Through case studies and conversations with artists themselves, So Much More Than Art convincingly dismisses the persistent understanding that miniatures are simply children’s toys or tourist trinkets. Davy’s highly original exploration of this intricate pursuit demonstrates the importance of miniaturization as a technique for communicating complex cultural ideas between generations and communities, as well as across the divide that separates Indigenous and settler societies.

 Spiritual practices in community: drawing groups into the heart of God /Diana Shiflett.  Shiflett has spent years leading groups of all descriptions in spiritual practices, and in this personal, hands-on guide, she walks us through a wide array—from communal silence and Scripture meditation to active prayer and corporate discernment. Offering step-by-step instructions, this resource will show you how spiritual practices can become life-giving resources in your ministry setting for years to come.

 The animator’s survival kit /Richard Williams.  In this book, based on his sold-out master classes in the United States and across Europe, Williams provides the underlying principles of animation that every animator–from beginner to expert, classic animator to computer animation whiz –needs. Urging his readers to “invent but be believable,” he illustrates his points with hundreds of drawings, distilling the secrets of the masters into a working system in order to create a book that will become the standard work on all forms of animation for professionals, students, and fans.

 The contemporary Middle East in an age of upheaval /edited by James L. Gelvin ; afterword by Moncef Marzouki. This interdisciplinary collection of essays by experts in academia and elsewhere explores the social, cultural, political, and economic, state of the Middle East since the American invasion and occupation of Iraq and the Arab uprisings of 2010-2011. The volume ends with an afterword by Moncef Marzouki, the first president of post-uprising Tunisia

 The creator’s game: lacrosse, identity, and indigenous nationhood /Allan Downey. The Creator’s Game serves as a potent illustration of how, for over a century, the Indigenous game of lacrosse has served as a central means for Indigenous communities to activate their self-determination and reformulate their identities.

  The culture of animals in antiquity: a sourcebook with commentaries /Sian Lewis and Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones. Provides students and researchers with well-chosen and clearly-presented ancient sources in translation, all central to a key area of study in ancient history -the part played by animals in the cultures of the ancient Mediterranean, practical and cultural. It brings new ideas to bear on the wealth of evidence, literary, historical and archaeological, which we possess for the experiences and roles of animals in the ancient world.

 The economics of neighborly love: investing in your community’s compassion and capacity /Tom Nelson. Marrying biblical study, economic theory, and practical advice, Nelson presents a vision for church ministry that works toward the flourishing of the local community, beginning with its poorest and most marginalized members and pushing us toward more nuanced understandings of wealth and poverty.

 The evolution of the West: how Christianity has shaped our values /Nick Spencer. Spencer looks at the big ideas that characterize the West, such as human dignity, the rule of law, human rights, science, and even, paradoxically, atheism and secularism, he traces the varied ways in which many of our present values grew up and flourished in distinctively Christian soil. Always alert to the tensions and mess of history, and careful not to overstate or misstate the Christian role in shaping our present values, Spencer shows us how a better awareness of what we owe to Christianity can help us as we face new cultural challenges.

 The feasts of repentance: from Luke-Acts to systematic and pastoral theology /Michael J. Ovey. Michael Ovey was convinced that a gospel without repentance quickly distorts our view of God, ourselves and each other by undermining grace and ultimately leading to idolatry. In this valuable study, Ovey focuses first on the relevant biblical material in Luke-Acts, examining who repents and who does not, and the characteristics of both groups. He surveys the ‘feasts of repentance’ of Jesus with Levi, the Pharisees and Zacchaeus, and in the parable of the Lost Son. He then moves to more systematic-theological aspects of repentance, in relation to idolatry and to salvation. Finally, he looks at pastoral theology in the corporate life of the people of God today, with regard to self-righteousness, hypocrisy, humility, forgiveness and justice.

 The last pagan emperor: Julian the Apostate and the war against Christianity /H.C. Teitler. The Roman emperor Julian (361-363) was raised as a Christian, but soon after apostatized, and, during his short reign, attempted to revive paganism. In The Last Pagan Emperor, these claims are carefully investigated.

The minority experience: navigating emotional and organizational realities /Adrian Pei. Pei describes key challenges ethnic minorities face in majority-culture organizations, unpacking the historical forces at play and what both minority and majority cultures need to know in order to work together fruitfully.

 The monkhood of all believers: the monastic foundation of Christian spirituality /Greg Peters. Peters, an expert in monastic studies, reintroduces historic monasticism to the Protestant church, articulating a monastic spirituality for all believers. This book presents a theology of monasticism for the whole church, offering a vision of Christian spirituality that brings together important elements of history and practice. The author connects monasticism to movements in contemporary spiritual formation, helping readers understand how monastic practices can be a resource for exploring a robust spiritual life.

 The problem of wealth: a Christian response to a culture of affluence /by Elizabeth Hinson-Hasty. Hinson-Hasty reframes the current discussion of wealth inequalities, poverty, and the exploitation of our natural environment from a progressive Christian perspective. She underscores the need for social change advocates to emerge out of every context, including the middle class, and presents alternate visions for what it means to live by “an ethic of enough.”

 The selfless way of Christ: downward mobility and the spiritual life /Henri Nouwen ; with illustrations by Vincent van Gogh ; [foreword by Robert Ellsberg]. Nouwen offers a penetrating reflection on the challenge of the spiritual life, especially the call to imitate Christ’s example of “downward mobility.”  To prepare us for this path, Nouwen describes the “disciplines of spiritual formation,” represented by the Church, the Word of God, and the promptings of our heart .Illustrated with drawings by Vincent van Gogh, The Selfless Way of Christ is an inspiring guide for ministers and everyone walking the path of discipleship.

 The storyteller and the Garden of Eden /Ellen A. Robbins. Robbins explores why the man was created first, and the woman for and from him. She elucidates the reason for the particular punishments, and why the storyteller gave a woman the starring role. She does all of this by highlighting the importance of wordplay in the Garden of Eden story. This book introduces not only a wordsmith but, above all, a supreme storyteller who is bound to become a personal favorite.

 The winding path of transformation: finding yourself between glory and humility /Jeff Tacklind ; foreword by Cathleen Faison.  Drawing from the natural world and following guides such as C. S. Lewis, Henri Nouwen, and Søren Kierkegaard, Tacklind’s honest and meditative account will inspire those on the winding path of following God

 Theology is for preaching: biblical foundations, method, and practice /Chase R. Kuhn, Paul Grimmond, editors. Theology Is for Preaching helps preachers with theology and theologians with preaching. Though diverse in contexts and disciplines, the contributors share a commitment to equipping the saints to rightly handle the word of truth. Through essays on foundations, methods, employing theology for preaching, and preaching for theology, this volume will equip preachers and theologians to engage deeply with the text of the Bible and communicate its meaning with clarity..

 To share, not surrender: Indigenous and settler visions of treaty making in the colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia /edited by Peter Cook, Neil Vallance, John Sutton Lutz, et al. To Share, Not Surrender opens scholarship to the public and augmenting it with First Nations community expertise. The collection appraises the historical and present-day relevance of treaty-making in the colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia.. Informed by cel’an’en – our culture, the way of our people – this multivocal work explicitly addresses the tensions between academic research, Indigenous knowledge, and local experience. The chapters demonstrate that the continuing inability to arrive at equitable land-sharing arrangements stem from a fundamental absence of will with respect to accommodating First Nations world views. To Share, Not Surrender is an attempt to understand why, and thus to advance the urgent task of reconciliation in Canada.

 Untamed hospitality: welcoming God and other strangers /Elizabeth Newman. Christian hospitality, according to Newman, is an extension of how we interact with God. In Untamed Hospitality, she dispels the modern myths of hospitality as a superficial commodity and restores it to its proper place within God’s story, as displayed most fully in Jesus Christ. This in-depth study of true hospitality will be of interest to professors, students, and scholars looking for a fresh take on a timeless subject.

 When changing nothing changes everything: the power of reframing your life /Laurie Polich Short. Short offers a simple but revolutionary idea: your perspective has the power to transform your life. With the help of four different lenses, she shows how you can reframe whatever comes your way and embrace both the good and the bad, recognizing that every detail of your life is fully in God’s sovereign hands.

 White fragility: why it’s so hard for white people to talk about racism /Robin DiAngelo. DiAngelo deftly illuminates the phenomenon of white fragility and “allows us to understand racism as a practice not restricted to ‘bad people’. Referring to the defensive moves that white people make when challenged racially, white fragility is characterized by emotions such as anger, fear, and guilt, and by behaviors including argumentation and silence. These behaviors, in turn, function to reinstate white racial equilibrium and prevent any meaningful cross-racial dialogue. In this in-depth exploration, DiAngelo examines how white fragility develops, how it protects racial inequality, and what we can do to engage more constructively.

 Worship and the world to come: exploring Christian hope in contemporary worship /Glenn Packiam. In this Dynamics of Christian Worship volume, pastor, theologian, and songwriter Glenn Packiam explores what Christians sing about when they sing about hope and what kind of hope they experience when they worship together

Zwingli: God’s armed prophet /F. Bruce Gordon. A major new biography of Huldrych Zwingli—the warrior preacher who shaped the early Reformation. Gordon presents a fresh interpretation of the early Reformation and the key role played by Zwingli. Gordon shows that he was seen as an agitator and heretic by many and his bellicose, unyielding efforts to realize his vision would prove his undoing.