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The following books and websites chronicle the lives and faith journeys of some well-known persons of faith. With permission from the CHARIS Ecumenical Center, we’ve borrowed from a recent bulletin and added additional resources from our own resource center. This is a work in progress and we welcome your additions!

Karen Armstrong. The Spiral Staircase: My Climb Out of Darkness. Knopf, 2004

Gregory Baum – Amazing Church: A Catholic Theologian Remembers a Half- Century of Change. Orbis, 2005

Gregory Baum, editor Journeys: The Impact of Personal Experience on Religious Thought. Paulist, 1975 (Autobiographical essays by Monika Hellwig, Andrew Greeley, Rosemary Radford Ruether, Charles Curran, Richard McBrien, and others)

Hildegard of Bingen. Journal of Hildegard of Bingen by Barbara Lachman. Crown, 1993
Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Letters and Papers from Prison, Touchstone, 1997 and a novel, I Am: A Credible Life by Paul Barz. Fortress, 2008

Marcus Borg. “Me and Jesus-the Journey Home: An Odyssey (external link)”

Frederick Buechner.The Longing for Home: Reflections at Midlife. HarperSanFrancisco, 1996

Richard John Neuhaus. As I Lay Dying: Meditations on Returning. Basic Books, 2002

Reinhold Niebuhr. Leaves from the Notebook of a Tamed Cynic. Westminster John Knox, 1991 and Remembering Reinhold Niebuhr: Letters of Reinhold and Ursula Niebuhr. Westminster John Knox, 1991

Kathleen Norris. Dakota: A Spiritual Geography. Ticknor and Fields, 1993

Henri Nouwen. Sabbatical Journey: The Diary of His Final Year. Crossroad, 1998 and the video, “Journey of the Heart”, Vision Video, 2003

Flannery O’Connor. The Habit of Being: The Letters of Flannery O’Connor by Sally Fitzgerald, 1979

Eugene Peterson. “Transparent Lives: the Contemplative Christian” in Christian Century, November, 2003

Gail Ramshaw. Under the Tree of Life: the Religion of a Feminist Christian. Continuum, 1999

Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI). Milestones: Memoirs 1927-1977. Ignatius, 1998

Edward Schillebeeckx, OP. “Dominican Spirituality (external link)”

Alexander Schmemann. Journals of Alexander Schmemann. St. Vladimir’s Press, 2000

Dorothy Soelle. Against the Wind. Augsburg Fortress, 2004

Barbara Brown Taylor. Leaving Church: A Memoir of Faith. HarperSanFrancisco, 2006

Mother Teresa. Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light by Brian Kolodiejchuk. Doubleday, 2007

Joan Chittister. In Search of Belief, Liguori, 1999 and Scarred by Struggle, Transformed by Hope, Benetvision, 2003

John Cobb. “A Critical View of Inherited Theology (external link)”

William Sloane Coffin. Credo. Westminster John Knox, 2004 and the video, “An American Prophet”, Westminster John Knox, 2004

John Dominic Crossan. “Almost the Whole Truth (external link)“. His book length autobiography is A Long Way from Tipperary: A Memoir. Harper Collins, 2000

Dorothy Day. The Long Loneliness: An Autobiography. HarperSanFrancisco, 1981

Diana Eck. Encountering God: A Spiritual Journey from Bozeman to Benares. Beacon, 2003

Mircea Eliade. Journal (4 volume autobiography). University of Chicago Press

Douglas John Hall. Bound and Free: A Theologian’s Journey. Fortress. 2005

Kosuke Koyama. “Christ’s Homelessness (external link)”

Hans Kung. My Struggle for Freedom: Memoirs. Eerdmans, 2003

C. S. Lewis. Surprised by Joy. Harcourt Brace, 1984, A Grief Observed, Bantam, 1961, and Mere Christianity, HarperSanFrancisco, 1953

Richard Lischer. Open Secrets: A Spiritual Journey Through a Country Church, Doubleday, 2001

Martin Marty. Cry of Absence. Harper and Row, 1983

Paul Tillich. “My Search for Absolutes (external link)”

Desmond Tutu. Crying in the Wilderness. Eerdman’s, 1992

Geza Vermes. Providential Accidents: An Autobiography. Rowman and Littlefield, 1998

James Wallis. Revive Us Again: A Sojourner’s Story. Abingdon, 1983

Robert Webber. Evangelicals on the Canterbury Trail: Why Evangelicals are Attracted to the Liturgical Church. Jarrell, 1985 Webber’s own story and the stories of others.

N.T. Wright. “My Pilgrimage in Theology (external link)”

Philip Yancey. What’s So Amazing About Grace. Harper Collins, 1997

The preceding resources are highlighted and recommended for your consideration. If you have questions or would like to reserve a resource, contact Julie Aageson at 701-232-3381 or julie.aageson@ecunet.org

Visit the EaND Resource Center | Search the Catalog

Eastern North Dakota Synod - ELCA: In Their (Almost) Own Words

• How to Tell the Difference Between the Theology of Glory and Theology of the Cross–how does God work? (Timothy Wengert)
• How to Tell if Your Will is in Bondage and What to Do About It–why do we do things we know we shouldn’t do? (April Ulring Larson)
• How to Receive God’s Grace Daily–how are we saved? (Lawrence J. Clark)
• How to Tell the Difference Between A Saint and a Sinner–if we’re saved, why do we still sin? (Martha Stortz, Jane Strohl)
• How to Identify a Neighbor and What This Means for Lutherans–if we’re saved, can we do whatever we want? (Peter Nash)
• How to Tell the Difference Between the Kingdom on the Left and the Kingdom on the Right–should Christians be involved in the world? (Stephen Bouman)
• How to Tell the Difference Between a “Vocation” and a “Vacation”–can we make a difference in this world? (Mary Jane Haemig)

The preceding resources are highlighted and recommended for your consideration. If you have questions or would like to reserve a resource, contact Julie Aageson at 701-232-3381 or julie.aageson@ecunet.org

Visit the EaND Resource Center | Search the Catalog

Eastern North Dakota Synod - ELCA: The Lutheran Course II

Among our most frequent requests are questions about small group study and conversation. Sometimes this means bible study or a study on biblical themes; others ask for resources that will help them with specific topics. They all reflect our common need for meaning and purpose, our search for God and God’s presence in the chaos of life, and a desire for thoughtful study and meaningful community.

We’ve chosen a sampling here of “our best recommendations.” Clearly, these reflect a wide range of topics, interests, approaches, and styles. And clearly, they are a sampling. We invite your recommendations as well. Always we are looking for resources that bear Christ to the world and challenge us as followers of Christ to see ourselves and the world through the lens of God’s overwhelming grace.

Featured Resources:

• Grounded in Prayer by Brent Dahlseng
• That You May Have Life: A Study of the Gospel of John by Susan Briehl
• Lutheran Voices Series
• Sing the Faith Series
• Practicing Our Faith: A Way of Life for a Searching People by Dorothy Bass
• The Cup of Our Life by Joyce Rupp
• A Spiritual Formation Workbook: Small Group Resources for Nurturing Christian Growth by James Bryan Smith
• Receiving the Day: Christian Practices for Opening the Gift of Time by Dorothy Bass
• Food and Faith: Justice, Joy and Daily Bread edited and compiled by Michael Schut
• The Story of Ruth:Twelve Moments in Every Woman’s Life by Joan Chittister
• Scarred by Struggle, Transformed by Hope by Joan Chittister
• Sunday Dinner by William Willimon
• To Dance with God: Family Ritual and Community Celebration by Gertrud Mueller Nelson
• Where Your Treasure Is: Psalms That Summon You from Self to Community by Eugene Peterson
• God Has a Dream: A Vision of Hope for Our Time by Desmond Tutu
• Praying Our Goodbyes by Joyce Rupp
• Listening for God: Contemporary Literature and the Life of Faith
• Amazing Grace: A Vocabulary of Faith by Kathleen Norris
• Talking about God (video series)
• What’s So Amazing about Grace? (video series) – Philip Yancey
• What’s God Up To?
• The Jesus I Never Knew
• Revelation: God’s Dream, Our Challenge
• Exploring the Sacred in Death and Dying
• Wrestling with Angels
• The System Belongs to God
• When It’s Hard to Choose
• Searching for Spirituality
• Faith and Reason

The preceding resources are highlighted and recommended for your consideration. If you have questions or would like to reserve a resource, contact Julie Aageson at 701-232-3381 or julie.aageson@ecunet.org

Visit the EaND Resource Center | Search the Catalog

Eastern North Dakota Synod - ELCA: Studies for Small Groups