Memoirs of Walker L. Knight, who has served God in religious journalism with Baptists for five decades. As a Baptist journalist, he calmly articulated a message of missions ministry that focused on grace, compassion, inclusion, and reconciliation. When he saw racism and other troubling issues at play in Baptist life, he addressed them. Walker set a new standard for denominational journalism by repeatedly devoting entire editions of Home Missions magazine to specific issues that impacted the context for missions. Walker advanced civil rights without belligerence.

The church is losing. People on the outside consider it either irrelevant or dangerous. People on the inside are leaving. The hard times the church faces today are largely the church’s own making. The church has forfeited the message of Jesus—a message of incredible good news—for the trappings of religion that fail to win minds and meet the deep needs of the human heart. Too often, the church presents a religion that is superficial, inconsistent, and incompatible. Putting it bluntly, many find it repugnant. For those who have left the church, I agree with you wholeheartedly that some churches need to be left. For those disgusted with the church, I urge you to hang in there and help make the church more Christ-like. To those rejected by the church, I apologize that we were not more like Christ. To all my fellow “ragamuffins” needing “a handout of amazing grace,” The Deep Reach of Amazing Grace explores the profound richness of God’s outlandish grace.

Endorsements

Steve Johnson is a compelling and moving voice for rescuing Christianity from the ravages of the contemporary church. The reader is not left to read between the lines. Indeed, he writes with candor and stunning clarity. His description of God’s grace will be startling to many because of his refusal to allow human boundaries and an array of performance requirements and expectations, which the institutional church tries to impose, to undermine or  to veil the sheer wonder and simplicity of the grace embodied by Jesus and which carries no conditions or limitations.  —R. Kirby Godsey, Chancellor, Mercer University

Steve Johnson belongs to the Baptist tribe. We talk grace and walk works. Johnson, on the other hand, talks and walks a grace so revolutionary that it offends us religious. Read this book, and I promise that you will at some point murmur: “Come on, Steve, you don’t really believe . . .”, “Yeah, but . . .”, “Are you actually saying that . . .?”. And, yes, he actually has his heart wrapped around a sweeping, drastic, radical grace. It is a radical grace that issues into radical works.  —Walter B. Shurden, Minister at Large, Mercer University
The Deep Reach of Amazing Grace is a powerful and inviting exploration of the “God of outlandish grace.” Johnson combines meticulous analysis of scripture, with a willingness to look at his own beliefs and behavior with humility. He tells powerful stories from his experiences and calls on a vast range of sources—literary, philosophical, and Biblical—to carefully examine contemporary issues of religion and faith.  The result is a compelling book. While I am neither a Christian nor a religious person, Steve Johnson writes in a way to make Jesus most appealing and the Christian faith both intellectually understandable and personally winsome. — Jane Bolgatz, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Fordham University, Graduate School of Education, Author of Talking Race in the Classroom (Teachers College Press, 2005)

About the Author

Bruce Morgan is a veteran pastor who lives in Gainesville, Georgia, with his wife, Emma, and teaches courses in literature and theology in the Learning and Leisure program at Brenau University.

Review

Endorsements

“These fascinating eye-witness accounts make one see and feel what life is like for women who are locked into an existence of subservience in the male-dominated societies of many developing countries. We can thank this intrepid and sensitive author, who made many dangerous and difficult trips to remote areas of these countries and shares here the engaging stories of what she found.” -Mary Glazener, author, The Cup of Wrath

“These profiles of unforgettable women provide a stirring reminder of the power of the human spirit to rise above significant cultural and economic barriers. It is clear that these women, and many other unforgettable women just like them, possess an inner strength that shapes and changes our world. A remarkable look at the truly powerful spirit of these women.” -David J. Spittal, President, Southern Wesleyan University

“Women I Can’t Forget is a book I can’t forget. The stories and the truth revealed here cannot be forgotten or ignored. Winnie Williams has given us powerful and haunting glimpses into the lives of women in other parts of the world. They are women who have been painfully disenfranchised because of religion, history, tradition, power, and male domination. We need to hear their stories because they, too, are our sisters.” -Raye Nell Dyer, President, Baptist Women in Ministry, Chaplain, Vanderbilt University Medical Center

“Women I Can’t Forget is a book that will quickly capture your interest. It literally takes you on a journey to other countries, allows you to view different cultural lifestyles and at the same time tells a moving story of the degradation of women and their struggles. This is a must-read book for every woman.” -Jo Ella White, author, Jim’s Court House

“Winnie Williams ventured where those of us who consider ourselves sensible thought she shouldn’t go…. This book creates mental images vivid enough to ensure that you, too, can’t forget these women.” -Sandra A. Reeves, Ed.D.

Glenn Hinson’s newest book argues that Baptists should recover the contemplative tradition with which they began in the early seventeenth century and to teach others how to live contemplatively in an age and culture far removed from contemplation. Through our four centuries, especially in America, cultural experience has reshaped and is reshaping our spirituality and worship in ways whereby God ends up as the one we expect to serve our programs and whims rather than the one we serve.

The membership of River Road Church, Baptist, includes a wide spectrum of persons of varying educational attainments, wide economic levels, and all ages from children to seniors. They represent a variety of careers including merchants, trades, professions, community leaders, and educational faculty in the local schools, colleges, graduate schools, and seminaries. No matter the educational level of the membership, the church sought a highly educated clergy. The pastors called to serve River Road Church came with advanced graduate studies and earned doctor’s degrees. The five preachers in this volume span almost seven decades. Each stayed a length of time to accomplish the challenges he faced in the building up of the congregation and the enhancement of the spiritual life of the membership. Each preacher brought different gifts of preaching, management styles, craftsmanship, and vision.

Endorsements

Are some churches more blessed of God than others, or are they simply lucky in the pastors they get? It says volumes of good things about River Road Church, Baptist, that they have called these five excellent preachers. You are wasting your time in telling me that preachers and preaching do not matter. And William P. Tuck, creative as always, devised in this book a new way to whet the appetite for local church history.

— Walter B. Shurden, Minister at Large, Mercer University
Author, The Baptist Identity: Four Fragile Freedoms

To speak of the elevated pulpit of River Road Church, Baptist, is much more than an architectural statement. This marvelous selection of sermons, drawn from each of the church’s five pastors, demonstrates the elevated style of scholarly, thoughtful, and faithful preaching that has characterized this church from its inception. Rooted in a deep piety that welcomes doubt and questioning, each of these ministers presents a gospel message that responds to the issues of their day with a courageous faith confronting a variety of social, political, and religious topics. You can read this book as an insightful church history, as a fine collection of sophisticated sermons with unforgettable illustrations, as a fascinating sociological study of a changing church community, or as simply biographical glimpses of five outstanding religious leaders of our day. However you read it, you will benefit from this description of how these masters of the craft of preaching presented the gospel message with honesty, relevance, and challenge.

— Tom Graves, President Emeritus, Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond

About the Author

William Powell Tuck and his wife, Emily, are active members of River Road Church, Baptist. Bill has served as a pastor, seminary professor, and intentional interim pastor. He is the author of 23 books including Modern Shapers of Baptist Thought in America, Our Baptist Tradition, and A Pastor Preaching: Toward a Theology of the Proclaimed Word. He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from the University of Richmond, and in 1997 received the “Parish Pastor of the Year” award from the Academy of Parish Clergy. He and Emily are the parents of two children and four grandchildren.

The intent of this book is to look seriously at what constitutes the content and background of authentic preaching. This book is offered as one pastor and preaching professor’s suggestions on how I have tried to share the gospel through my ministry both in the classroom and in the pulpit. I have been pastor of small and large congregations, rural and downtown urban churches, college and seminary congregations, healthy and troubled parishes. During my busy pastoral ministry with my congregations I have tried to share with them not only my verbal sermons from the pulpit, but also a written copy by the next Sunday. This has often been an exacting but rewarding discipline. It has pushed me for originality, careful craftsmanship, sound biblical exegesis, and the desire for clarity and to offer my best gifts. Being pastor in a college and seminary community has certainly heightened my awareness to offer my best all the time.

Endorsements

Clearly, William Tuck’s antenna has been aimed toward God for years. In A Pastor Preaching he writes with the wisdom of a sage and the passion of a new believer. With words and stories that rise off the page, Tuck makes a fresh case for preaching that requires all of the biblical, pastoral, theological, and creative commitments in a pastor’s mind and heart. This excellent book will appeal to veteran preachers and newbies alike.

— Julie Pennington-Russell, Pastor, First Baptist Church, Decatur, Georgia

From a preacher’s preacher comes this deeply theological reflection on proclaiming, indeed, embodying the Word. WIlliam Tuck exemplifies what it means to be a scholar-practitioner, and this latest book helps those called to the perilous task of preaching to become more grounded in their encounter with the Holy One who beckons such vocation. Congruence between one’s life, one’s words, and the Living Word are essential for homiletical integrity, which Tuck richly illumines by his inclusion of thoughtful sermons. The author’s capacity for critical interrogation of his own practice is a model for all of us who bear witness to God’s self-disclosure in texts and the larger world.

—Molly Marshall, President, Central Baptist Theological Seminary, Shawnee, Kansas

Drawing from his wide reading and deep experience as both a professor and pastor-preacher, Bill Tuck shares with us the essential and enduring tools for the craft of preaching. His passion for theologically reflective and pastorally faithful sermons runs throughout the book.

—Guy Sayles, Pastor, First Baptist Church, Asheville, North Carolina

This book is quite simply the best preaching book I have ever read. Bill Tuck has distilled into its pages a lifetime of wide reading, deep thinking, sensitive pastoring, and superb sermonizing, so that it is a complete homiletical education in and of itself. It belongs on a shelf of its own, above all other books on the subject!

— John Killinger, Author of Fundamentals of Preaching, Former Professor of Preaching, Vanderbilt Divinity School

I am grateful for the contribution this book can make to ministers as they are working through their challenges and their problems of connecting with members of their congregation and their preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ in its entirety and in its specialty as well. Tuck has concentrated on what is important for pastors to do in striving to share the Gospel effectively with their congregations.

— James W. Cox, Editor of Handbook of Themes for Preaching, Senior Professor of Preaching, Southern Baptist Theological Seminar

I dearly wish A Pastor Preaching had been available to me when I was stumbling out of the pastoral starting blocks. In a clear and readable way Dr. Tuck outlines why, what, and how we preach. The author, a veteran pastor and teacher of preaching, thinks through issues novice pastors ponder in their efforts to be effective preachers and church leaders. Veteran pastors will rediscover in these pages ample resources that send us back to our pulpits with fresh insight and energy to do better what we were called to do.

—Michael J. Clingenpeel, Pastor, River Road Church, Baptist, Richmond, Virginia

About the Author

William Powell Tuck has served congregations as pastor and interim pastor in Virginia, Louisiana, Kentucky, and North Carolina; as adjunct professor at Virginia Intermont College, the University of North Carolina at Pembroke, and the Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond; and as professor of preaching at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He received the Parish Pastor of the Year award by the Academy of Parish Clergy in 1997. A graduate of New Orleans and Southeastern Baptist seminaries, the University of Richmond, and Bluefield College, he is the author or editor of twenty-two books and the author of more than 200 published sermons and articles. He is married to Emily Campbell, and they have two children and four grandchildren.

For more than 150 years, in season and out of season, the hand on the steeple of the First Baptist Church of Griffin, Georgia, has “silently spoken to the world about us of the glory of the other world.”1 The origin of the icon remains unknown.

Lightning struck the church steeple in 1884, and the church minutes record for June 8 that year: “On motion the deacons were requested to look after and have the lightning rod repaired.”

During the repairs workmen discovered that the lightning rod was a large hand with the index finger pointing heavenward. The hand on the steeple had become so corroded, it was unrecognizable by the church members on the ground. Therefore, one bolt of lightning had restored the elevation of the hand and rekindled the aspiration of Johnson Oatman’s hymn, “Higher Ground”:
I want to scale the utmost height And catch a gleam of glory bright;
But still I’ll pray till heav’n I’ve found,
“Lord, lead me on to higher ground.”
Lord, lift me up and let me stand,
By faith on heaven’s table land,
A higher plane than I have found;
Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.

This book is an answer to the prayer and an anthem of gratitude to the ministers, deacons, and company, both present and departed, of that august household of faith in which I was privileged to serve for more than three decades.

Endorsements

I well remember the day, fourteen years ago and new to Georgia, that I received an invitation from Bruce Morgan to come to Griffin and preach for him. He could not have known what an honor that was for me. Bruce is the dean of Georgia pulpiteers and the best example I know of what it means to be an effective pastor. One can only imagine how thrilled I was a few years later when he moved to Gainesville and into our congregation after his retirement. Since then he has been my partner in prayer, a steady source of inspiration, a wealth of wisdom, and the best friend a pastor can look upon in the pews week after week—that is, when he’s not off preaching somewhere. I have learned and grown every time I’ve heard or read his sermons. He creates only one problem for me: envy! I envy his biblical insight and rhetorical style. Anyone reading his sermons will see what I mean. Bruce Morgan is a homiletical master. I’m using his sermons as daily readings and am better for it.

— Bill Coates, Pastor, First Baptist Church, Gainesville, Georgia

This book presents a series of thoughtful and uplifting life lessons beautifully crafted by this long-time pastor and extraordinary communicator. His thoughts and ideas are supported by quotes and illustrations from scripture and a variety of poets and writers. If one is searching for words of inspiration and encouragement during these challenging days, this book is a must read.

— James Rogers, President Emeritus, Brenau University, Gainesville, Georgia

I have found this book to be the best source of my morning devotions. Each chapter contains scripture, a brief explanation, a life application, and a prayer. Thank you, Bruce Morgan, for making this available.

— Don Brewer, Chair of Deacons, First Baptist Church, Gainesville, Georgia

About the Author

Bruce Morgan is a veteran pastor who lives in Gainesville, Georgia, with his wife, Emma, and teaches courses in literature and theology in the Learning and Leisure program at Brenau University.

For many women, the call to ministry is particularly challenging. Those of us raised in the Baptist tradition were often taught that God simply doesn’t call women-but only men-to the ministry. And yet, the Spirit continues blowing where she will, dancing around both women and men, inviting all to join in service. What is a woman to do when she hears that call? How is she to remain faithful to what she was taught, while remaining faithful to the voice of God?

The Modern Magnificat is an attempt to chronicle the journey of calling. In its pages, you will find the stories of twenty-three Baptist women who heard God’s call. These women are from a variety of backgrounds, spanning Baptist life. You will find Southern Baptists, Cooperative Baptists, American Baptists, Missionary Baptists, Alliance of Baptists, and others. There are women who are committed to being life-long Baptists. There are women who find their identity in the Baptist church, but have found places of service among the Disciples of Christ, United Methodists, and Mennonites. There are women who are not sure if they will be able to remain Baptist.

Endorsements

The mark of a disciple of Jesus is a willingness to go wherever you are called. These stories of women answering God’s call to ministry powerfully personalize theology debates that detail what women can and cannot do. The one thing a disciple, regardless of gender, dare not do is ignore the call of God.

—Ed Cyzewski, author of Hazardous: Committing to the Cost of Following Jesus and Coffeehouse Theology

Rev. Jennifer Harris Dault has offered us a gift in sharing the sacred stories of women called to ministry. From dramatic clarion calls to insistent and incessant yearnings of the soul, these poignant stories give witness to the diverse and distinct ways in which God calls and the amazing array of gifts God pours out on women from all walks of life. After reading these stories no argument is needed or defense required for women called to ministry. It is abundantly clear that God calls women to ministry and God gifts women for ministerial leadership.

—Patricia Hernandez, Director of American Baptist Women in Ministry and Transition Ministries for ABCUSA, Baptist Women in Ministry (American Baptist Churches USA).

The Modern Magnificat has accomplished an important task: putting human faces on an important theological issue. I remember when I was first confronted with the question of whether or not women could serve in all facets of leadership within the church. After studying the relevant biblical texts in their historical context and seeking God in prayer, I became completely convinced that women should be liberated for all forms of ministry! As a youth pastor (at the time), I wanted to create an environment where teen girls and boys could discern the Spirit’s call into any role within the church. To do the opposite actually works against the potential impact of the Kingdom. So, I implore you; listen to Ali, Jamie, Heather, Katrina, Peggy, and all of the other remarkable stories about a God who declares that both our “sons and daughters shall prophesy!”

—Kurt Willems – Anabaptist writer, speaker, & church planter (KurtWillems.com)

In the 21st century, when we take for granted the integration of women in all areas of our common life, it is vital to hear the stories of women called into ministry. Harris Dault has given us a window into the particular challenges that Baptist women face.  These stories reveal the power of call, the passion to follow Jesus, and the willingness to continually break new ground in often hard and rocky soil. These stories are a must read for women and men who want to transform the church into a more welcoming and affirming place for those called into its service.

—Robin Lunn – Executive Director, The Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists & ordained minister

Jennifer Harris Dault has assembled a collection of eye-opening, life-changing, thought-provoking stories of women called to ministry. These are convincing testimonies that answering God affirmatively, following Jesus faithfully, and yielding to the Spirit completely do not guarantee easy paths. Their journeys include steep hills, deep valleys, sharp curves, and rough terrain, but the collective witness of these pages should persuade readers that ministry is a noble call that is worth the effort. Priesthood of ALL Believers is a gift of honest and transparent narratives that stir emotions and invite respect for the wisdom, grace, and grit they portray.

—David Goatley, Executive Secretary-Treasurer, Lott Carey Baptist Foreign Mission Society

Life is lived and remembered in stories. Stories have formed our personalities, influenced our decisions, and shaped our faith. For ministers, calling cannot be understood apart from the greater story and the individual stories. As a lover of stories, I am grateful to Jennifer Harris Dault for collecting call stories from twenty-two Baptist women ministers, who write beautifully of their formation as Christians, their experience of calling, and their adventures in living out that calling. They are stories of struggle, disbelief, pain, and seemingly insurmountable obstacles, but they are also stories of joy and delight in the hearing and following of God’s call. Each story was a reminder for me that God does indeed call, gift, and grace Baptist women for the work of ministry.

—Pam Durso, Executive Director, Baptist Women in Ministry, Atlanta, Georgia

About the Editor

Jennifer Harris Dault is a church administrator, freelance writer, and supply preacher living in St. Louis, Missouri. She lives with her husband, Allyn, and their two cats, Sassy and Cleo. She currently enjoys expressing her faith as a Baptist working in a Methodist church while worshipping with a Mennonite congregation. Read more from Jennifer at her blog.

by Brett Younger

The Lighter Side is a collection of humorous, yet meaningful observations about life and faith, including “Windshield Wiper Wisdom,” “The Young and the Waistless, the Old and the Beautiful,” and “The Joy of Sox.”

“With his trademark self-deprecating humor and insights that are at once pastoral and prophetic, Brett Younger’s columns are Grady Nutt Meets Dave Barry Meets Zephaniah.”
—Julie Pennington-Russell, Senior Pastor First Baptist Church, Decatur, GA.

“Throughout my life, I have found that the ability to see a bit of humor in even the most difficult of circumstances has been a ‘grace gift’ that has stood me in good stead. Anne Lamott calls laughter ‘carbonated holiness.’ I am delighted to have Brett’s ‘humorously holy’ ramblings gathered into one spirit-lifting volume.”
—Clarissa Stirckland, Networking Specialist, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship

“Brett Younger is one the funniest people I know. And, he’s a Baptist preacher. Now that’s funny.”
—Bert Montgomery, Author, Teacher, Minister

“Brett Younger reminds me of the late, great Grady Nutt. He’s a witty humorist who deploys laughter in service of divine insight. Just when you think you’re guffawing at his insanely imaginative observations, you realize you’re staring straight into God’s own truth.”
—Marv Knox, Editor, Baptist Standard

by Michael Ruffin

At the end of 2009, I adopted a discipline of writing a prayer every day. This book is a collection of a year’s worth of those prayers.

Prayer is, on the one hand, a personal matter. There is no one “correct” way to pray, so this offering of prayers is not meant to offer a model of how to pray. These prayers come out of my experience, out of my life, and out of my pilgrimage. I share them with the hope that they will somehow connect with your life as many friends have affirmed they have connected with theirs. Hopefully there is enough commonality in human experience that my prayers will prove helpful in leading you to pray as you need to pray and in the way you pray best.

Prayer is, on the other hand, a communal matter. Jesus did, after all, teach us to pray to “Our Father” and not to “My Father.” One reason I love praying the Lord’s Prayer or the Psalms or other ancient prayers in a worship service is that not only are all of us who are gathered in that place praying together, but we are also praying with many others who are praying those prayers. Indeed we are praying with all those who have gone before us and who will come after us. Such praying connects us with the communion of saints. Perhaps, in a small way, those who choose to pray the prayers in this book will find in the knowledge that others are praying them, too, a meaning- fully enlarged sense of Christian community. I hope so.

A word is in order regarding the organization of the prayers in this volume. The prayers are divided into sections by days of the week. The book begins with 52 prayers for Sunday, then moves to 52 prayers for Monday, and so on through the final section that contains 52 prayers for Saturday. So, you can begin using the prayers at any time during the year. If you begin at some other time than the beginning of the calendar year, though, you should be aware that certain prayers are somewhat seasonal in nature. Therefore, it would be best to begin reading at the place in the year corresponding to the point in the year when you begin reading. In other words, if you begin using the prayers in the book on the Sunday of the 26th week of the year, begin with Sunday 26, then go to Monday 26, then Tuesday 26, and so on. When you arrive at Saturday 25, you will have gone all the way through the prayers.

While the book is not arranged according to the Christian year, some note is made of it. The prayers for Friday 51 and Saturday 51 are Holy Week prayers, respectively. If you choose to read these prayers on the holy days in a year in which these holy days do not correspond to the days as numbered in this volume, some simple swapping will allow you still to have a prayer to read for each day.