Saints alive!
The Lure of the Saints: A Protestant Experience of Catholic Tradition

By Jon M. Sweeney (Paraclete Press, 2005, 240 pages; $21.95, hardcover)

Let's face it: Most Protestants are either fascinated by the Catholic tradition of revering saints or a little fearful of it. Either way, it's an area worth exploring. And Sweeney, a Protestant who started out fearful and became fascinated, does that in The Lure of the Saints. Sweeney (The Road to Assisi: The Essential Biography of St. Francis) introduces a number of saints, comments on devotions relating to saints, and offers reflections on how Protestants might benefit from capturing some of the Catholic imagination. What is it about Mary that Catholics find so compelling? "Devotion to Mary is intended to bring greater love for her son, as she is always pointing to him," Sweeney explains. Most Protestants can certainly live with that. Photos, a glossary of terms and a listing of the major saints (and a few still "in process") are helpful. Written in the spirit of a church "reformed and always being reformed," this book will help bring Catholic and Reformed Christians together.

—Teresa Blythe

By Glenn McDonald (Faith Walk Publishing, 2004; 258 pages; $14.99, paper)

The church is in trouble—as sere and lifeless as Ezekiel's valley of dry bones. That's the thesis of The Disciple Making Church. But the author doesn't do a lot of hand-wringing; most of the book is about solutions. The church's problem, McDonald says, is that it majors in minors; It's more interested in programs than in the spiritual enrichment of members. The major task of the church, he says, is disciple-making—guiding members into a vital, living and growing relationship with Jesus Christ as Lord so that their lives are transformed. This transformation takes place as these disciples-in-the-making discover that they also have new and vital relationships with each other. And as that awareness takes hold, the church as a whole is also transformed. McDonald's thesis is Biblical, and he has validating experience: The church he organized in 1983, Zionsville Presbyterian in suburban Indianapolis, was named one of "300 Excellent Protestant Congregations in America" in 2001. Partly because of his success with this church, McDonald is a church-growth consultant for the PCUSA.

—Walter Mueller, a retired Presbyterian minister and New Testament
studies professor, who lives in Manheim, Pa.

Resurrecting churches
Shaped by God's Heart: The Passion and Practices of Missional Churches

By Milfred Minatrea (Jossey-Bass, A Wiley Imprint, 2004, 202 pages; $23.95, hardcover)

Antoine de Saint-Exupery once wrote: "If you want to build a ship, don't drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work, and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea." In that spirit, Milfred Minatrea calls upon churches to depend, not on marketing, but on the vastness and endlessness of a relationship with God. He challenges churches with a "maintenance mentality" to become "missional"—to make every member a missionary, with a goal of making new disciples. The author lists nine practices he considers essential to missional churches: Have a high threshold for membership. Be real, not real religious. Teach to obey rather than to know. Rewrite worship every week. Live apostolically. Expect to change the world. Order actions according to purpose. Measure growth by capacity to release, not retain. Place Kingdom concerns first. Minatrea, a Baptist minister, writes ecumenically, basing his conclusions on case studies of a variety of churches. Writing primarily for church leaders, he challenges "conventional churches," "survival churches" and "terminal churches" to become truly missional churches.

—Richard A. Hasler a retired Presbyterian pastor
living in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio

Home in the arms of Jesus
Finding Our Way Home: Turning Back to What Matters Most

By Mark McMinn (Jossey-Bass, 2005; 195 pages; $19.95, hardcover)

By Katharine Doob Sakenfeld (Westminster John Knox Press, 2003; 136 pages; $14.95, paper)