Böcker i Church Dismantled-serien

In this second book in the series-"A Church Dismantled"-the author looks objectively at our society and church communities, both as a sociologist of religion as well as a Mennonite pastor. The book is organized according to various ministry related themes. The subtitle of the book-"To Tear Down or Build Up?"-reflects the dilemma that pastors find themselves in during the current context of the American church. Unsettling at times, this book is filled with hope as we face these new church realities together.

This fourth book is the most autobiographical and "memoir-like" of the series, pulling together in one volume the author's experience of life-long inner religious and emotional turmoil, growing up in an Amish/Mennonite community, memories of formative childhood experiences that shaped his spiritual life, stories of ancestors who he describes as prophets and priests and dividers and dismantlers and with whom he identifies, experiences of illness and the grace to go on, and reflections on the eternal Home that has come more clearly into view for him. Kanagy reminds us that acknowledging our pain and brokenness is the only pathway to healing.

This book is of a different tone and nature than the first two, as we experience the author leaning more toward his pastoral voice than the prophetic-though both remain in the mix. While these are not typical "devotional essays" written for each day of Advent or Lent, many of these essays were written during Kanagy's morning times with God in these two sacred seasons. In this book, we sense the author's passion for a deep life with God, and the recognition that it is only such a life-nurtured so often in the dark-that will finally see us Home.