The Parish is the Issue: What I Learned and How I Learned It
By Loren Mead (Morehouse Publishing)
Across more than 40 years, Loren Mead has written a long list of books that made a significant impact in church ministry. They include The Once and Future Church, Financial Meltdown in the Mainline and A Change of Pastors.
His latest offering provides the same satisfaction and highly readable content, but it has a different approach. The Parish is the Issue feels like relaxing over a cup of coffee during a front-porch visit with nonagenarian Loren. Fans of Mead will enjoy hearing his pilgrimage from small-church pastor during the Civil Rights movement in South Carolina, to denominational official during times of church growth, to founder of the Alban Institute and beyond.
As he weaves this eyebrow-raising and transparent autobiography, he also names the various obstacles he confronted and explains how he faced them. While some of the situations are decades old, the solutions sound fresh and much-needed in the church and denominational struggles of today.
Both clergy and lay members will find gems in this simple attempt to help local churches face their challenges. It leaves one wishing another Loren Mead would rise up soon.
Karl Fickling, coordinator of interim church services
Baptist General Convention of Texas
Dallas
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