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Reviews by Helen L. Lapp unless otherwise noted
Add Life to Your Years: Aging with Passion & Purpose. Ted W. Engstrom. (Tyndale House, 2002)
Profiles of 43 men and women who are renewing their passion daily by giving to those around them. From the back cover: The call to serve the Lord echoes throughout life, including the later years. As an older adult, you can still actively pursue personal growth, challenge yourself to achieve new goals, and continue to live in the light of God's amazing grace.
Border Crossing: A Spiritual Journey. Katie Funk Wiebe. (DreamSeeker Books, 2003, 212 pp.)
This revised edition of Katie's book written out of her experience of facing retirement from teaching ten years ago. "When I wrote Border Crossing, " says Katie now, "it was from the perspective of someone wading into a backyard pool trying to get to the other side about ten feet away. Ten years later I recognize that the pool is actually a vast oceon. The crossings are numerous ... continuous ... have to be repeated ... they vary in intensity. They occur in different areas of life. Some never end. But it is also possible to stay near the shore and never venture beyond ankle depth." Katie is known to frequently repeat "People do not grow old; they become old when they quit growing." Delight in this book's spirit of discovery. Wally Kroeker, editor of Marketplace magazine, declares, "Baby Boomers, don't kid yourself. You're not too old for this book. I'm one of you, and I wasn't." Not too young either! Go ahead — buy a new copy even if you have one, read it again taking in the added chapter — you may decide to share it later with a friend.
Choosing Against War: A Christian View. John D. Roth. (Good Books, 2002, 206 pp.)
In the author's words from the Introduction: "A life lived in dependence on God offers no predictable outcomes or guarantees of physical safety" so this book will not argue that pacifism always 'works.' more
The Church on the Other Side. Brian D. McLaren. (Zondervan, 2000)
This very readable book offers you the opportunity "to think differently, see church, life, and these revolutionary times in a new way, and act with courage, hope, and an adventurous spirit" reads the book's cover. Richard J. Mouw of Fuller Theological Seminary sees McLaren proposing "bold new strategies in a winsome manner — and with a deep commitment to bringing the unchanging Gospel to our rapidly changing world." McLaren is a well-known speaker and a pastor with Cedar Ridge Community Church in the Washington, D.C./Baltimore area.
Fixing Tradition: Joseph W. Yoder, Amish American. Julia Kasdorf. (Pandora Press co-published with Herald Press, 2002, 280 pp.)
As I read this accounting of the life of Joseph W. Yoder, I recalled the year I taught sixth grade in Belleville, Pennsylvania, and first heard his name and learned of his fame. It was obvious even then that regular Mennonites and Amish did not quite knew what to make of him, but I sensed then (four years after his death) that he counted as a notable son of that little "Big Valley" community. ... more
Grapevine: The Spirituality of Gossip. Jerry A. Camery-Hoggatt. (Herald Press, 2002, 205 pp.)
Gossip has been given a bad rap, declares this author. He reminds us that we can only "do church" through talk. In between the worship service which certainly also includes much speech, there is talk. Susan Biesecker-Mast, Professor of Communications at Bluffton College, tells us in the book's Foreword that by talking and storytelling we "make new meaning out of the complexities of our world. Without "talk" we cannot find our way — although we can also sometimes lose it. ... more
Growing Old in Christ. Edited by Hauerwas, Stoneking, Meador, Cloutier. (Eerdmans, 2003, 310 pp.)
In noting the preponderance of books already written about aging, one may rightly ask if more is necessary. This collection of essays is "weighty enough to instruct theologians, ethicists, and professional caregivers, yet accessible enough for pastors and general readers (to) benefit anyone seeking faith-based insight into growing old." Its scholarship moves beyond secular thinking on growing old, which narrowly views human aging as "an upward and then downward curve centered on work and economic productivity, characterized by a 'mid-life crisis'...and finding its final denouement in retirement." ... more
Illuminations: A Book of Poetry. Joseph S. Hertzler. 1stBooks Library, 2003, 232 pp. Reviewed by Mary Swartley.
Many people have known Joseph Hertzler as a pastor in Virginia or Iowa, or as Vice President of Development at Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary for 26 years. Few of us knew Joseph as an artist or poet. In recent years, Joseph has suffered the loss of ability to speak through a progressive aphasia, but his family has shared his legacy through the publication of this collection of his poetry. ... more
Jesus in Back Alleys: The Story & Reflections of a Contemporary Prophet. Hubert Schwartzentruber. (DreamSeeker Books - copublishers, Pandora and Herald Press, 2002, 152 pp.)
Follow Hubert's honest accounting of his life "from rural Ontario to St. Louis in the unrest of the 1960s, to working with contentious issues in and for the institutional church. Hubert's story is as provocative in the reading as it has been in the living" (says Muriel Bechtel on the back cover). Hubert is a personal friend and guide and I found his story honest, simply told — and engrossing. In this book he shares the fulfilling joys included in a life of following Jesus' path of service, sacrifice and humility. Although Hubert currently lives with wife Mary Rittenhouse in Eastern Pennsylvania and serves as a chaplain at Souderton Mennonite Homes, he frequently lays solid claim to his Canadian roots.
Possum Hollow. Books One, Two, and Three. Levi B. Weber. Herald Press, 2001, 2002, 144 pp., 167 pp., 173 pp. $7.99, $8.99.
Levi Weber, a retired contractor and real estate developer, has served on many church boards, MEDA, and produced a local radio broadcast. He is an avid storyteller and was encouraged to write these stories. POSSUM HOLLOW is the story of his early life on several farms where his family lived during his growing-up years, his age of innocence as he recounts his childhood recollections. ... more
Senior Adult Ministry in the 21st Century. Dr. David P. Gallagher. (Group, Loveland, CO. 2002, 150 pp.)
Gallagher writes as pastor of Palm West Community Church in Sun City West, Arizona — a congregation made up totally of senior adults. This book was offered for review recently and I found it chock full of gracious and creative suggestions for those suddenly alert to the fact that "older adults' are a sizable chunk of the total membership these days. That's right, folks, nearly 67 million Americans are over the age of 50! A recent count showed that at least a third of those actively a part of my home congregation are between the ages of 50 - 70. Gallagher chooses not to accept this as a problem. ... more
Tobias of the Amish: A true story of tangled strands in faith, family & community. Ervin R. Stutzman. (Herald Press, 2001, 352 pp.)
This book tells the life story pieced together by Tobias' own son as he searches for personal understanding about his unknown father described as "an Amish entrepreneur." In the foreword to the book Katie Funk Wiebe (who wrote of her own father in The Storekeeper's Daughter) describes Tobe as competing "in a non-Amish commercial world. This meant a shop not hooked up to a public power systerm no telephone, no car to solicit business, no trucks to transport products. Lacking an understanding of cost accounting, Tobe undercharged his customers .... In pursuit of his dream, he stretched the patience and good will of Amish church leaders by skirting the boundaries of Amish regulations." ... more
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