A Sort of Homecoming: Essays Honoring the Academic and Community Work of Brian Walsh

by Marcia Boniferro (Editor), Amanda Jagt (Editor), Andrew Stephens-Rennie (Editor)

Overview

We live in a culture of collective fear over climate change and mass migration, and we experience increasing intense personal anxiety and despair. How might the Bible's themes of homecoming and homemaking address our physical, emotional, and spiritual displacement? This collection of essays honors the academic and community work of Brian J. Walsh upon his retirement as Campus Minister at the University of Toronto Christian Reformed Campus Ministry. The collection is a stunning mosaic at once academic and personal--representing the many elements of Brian's life as pastor, theologian, professor, farmer, mentor, and friend. In an age when "home" feels physically and spiritually elusive for so many, this volume reawakens our imaginations to the foundational biblical themes of homecoming and homemaking. Academic, pastoral, personal, and timely, this volume honors Brian's career and equips readers to engage the fear and anxiety of our age with the hope of the gospel.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781532683572
Publisher:	Wipf & Stock Publishers
Publication date:	08/04/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	288
File size:	7 MB

About the Author

Marcia Boniferro is a Chaplain with the Christian Reformed Campus Ministry at the University of Toronto, serving alongside Brian J. Walsh to lead the Wine Before Breakfast community. Marcia focuses on pastoral care and leads worship, discussions, silent retreats, and women’s gatherings.



Amanda Jagt is a writer and member of the Wine Before Breakfast community where she has served with Brian J. Walsh and Marcia Boniferro. Through writing, editing, and administration, Amanda contributes to the spiritual formation of Christian communities throughout the city of Toronto.



Andrew Stephens-Rennie serves as Director of Ministry Innovation at Christ Church Anglican Cathedral in Vancouver, British Columbia. With Brian J. Walsh, Andrew is cofounder and contributing editor at www.empireremixed.com/, a blog exploring the intersection of faith, culture, and justice.
Marcia Boniferro is a Chaplain with the Christian Reformed Campus Ministry at the University of Toronto, serving alongside Brian J. Walsh to lead the Wine Before Breakfast community. Marcia focuses on pastoral care and leads worship, discussions, silent retreats, and women's gatherings.

Amanda Jagt is a writer and member of the Wine Before Breakfast community where she has served with Brian J. Walsh and Marcia Boniferro. Through writing, editing, and administration, Amanda contributes to the spiritual formation of Christian communities throughout the city of Toronto.

Table of Contents

Preface Andrew Stephens-Rennie xi

Acknowledgments xvii

Abbreviations xix

List of Contributors xxiii

About the Editors xxv

1 Jesus as the Face of God Hendrik Hart 1

2 Places That Shape Us: The Long Way Home Deborah C. Bowen 14

3 Heaven as Home in Christian Hope Andrew T. Lincoln 23

4 Searching For Home, Discovering Peace Jamie Howison 38

5 Reflections on Interfaith Work and City-Building: Past, Present, and Future Joe Mihevc 46

6 Jewelry in the Apocalypse Grant LeMarquand 63

7 Welcome Homeless: One Village Idiot's Journey of Discovering the Meaning of Home Alan Graham 82

8 Voices from the Ragged Edge: The Gritty Spirituality of the Lament Psalms J. Richard Middleton 90

9 Iris and Nereus Here and Now Greg Paul 109

10 Hospitality as Hermeneutic and Way of Life Rachel Tulloch 115

11 Springtime in Cape Town: The Sacramental, Prophetic Imagination of Desmond Tutu Stephen Martin 127

12 The Wit(h)ness of Suffering Love James Olthuis 143

13 The Reconciling Power of Public Art In a Broken Home Adrienne Dengerink Chaplin Jonathan Chaplin 159

14 Of Tents and Temples: A Sermon for the Wine Before Breakfast Community-1 Corinthians Beth Carlson-Malena 179

15 Revillaging the City: How One Congregation Transformed Its Charitable Food Ministry to an Agent of Shalom Andrew Stephens-Rennie 185

16 Setting Another Place at the Table Matt Bonzo 193

17 Reconciling the World? Theology and Exegesis in 2 Corinthians 5 N. T. Wright 203

18 Holiness and Homemaking: The Christian Doctrine of Creation Performed Steven Bouma-Prediger 218

19 Animism Reconsidered: Coming Home in a More-Than-Human World Rodney Clapp 232

20 Home Is Where the Wild Rice Is Sylvia C. Keesmaat 244

Aflerword Martyn Joseph 260

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Be forewarned, this collection will leave you with a case of holy homesickness. This bouquet of contributions explores a range of themes in Brian's work—eschatology, empire, ecology, and exegesis—held together by a robust thread of home. Poetry, places, and stories make it more than a festschrift; it's an ode to the beauty of home and a prayer of longing to be at home—with God, one another, and all creation."
—Christopher B. James, author of Church Planting in Post-Christian Soil

"Whether in the dirt of the garden or in a seminary basement, Brian's work has always been underground. This collection of subversive essays pulls us into the upside-down kingdom of God: a journey both liberating and disorienting. For some, these words will be offensive. For others, they will be full of hope. It all depends which side of the surface you wish to make home."
—Kevin Makins, Pastor of Eucharist Church and author of Why Would Anyone Go to Church?

"This book will open your ears to the hope and homecoming embedded in the Scripture's story, with a chorus of voices serving as an encore to the vivid work of Brian Walsh. You should take in this show, and then read it again. It's that good. And that important."
—Byron Borger, Hearts and Minds Books

Editorial Reviews

"Be forewarned, this collection will leave you with a case of holy homesickness. This bouquet of contributions explores a range of themes in Brian's work—eschatology, empire, ecology, and exegesis—held together by a robust thread of home. Poetry, places, and stories make it more than a festschrift; it's an ode to the beauty of home and a prayer of longing to be at home—with God, one another, and all creation."
—Christopher B. James, author of Church Planting in Post-Christian Soil

"Whether in the dirt of the garden or in a seminary basement, Brian's work has always been underground. This collection of subversive essays pulls us into the upside-down kingdom of God: a journey both liberating and disorienting. For some, these words will be offensive. For others, they will be full of hope. It all depends which side of the surface you wish to make home."
—Kevin Makins, Pastor of Eucharist Church and author of Why Would Anyone Go to Church?

"This book will open your ears to the hope and homecoming embedded in the Scripture's story, with a chorus of voices serving as an encore to the vivid work of Brian Walsh. You should take in this show, and then read it again. It's that good. And that important."
—Byron Borger, Hearts and Minds Books

From the Publisher