Thanks to George A. Mason’s The Word Made Fresh
THIS WEEK’S COVER STORY comes to us from the heart of Texas by journalist, educator and health-care advocate Ann Worley who writes about how a new book—George A. Mason’s The Word Made Fresh—has inspired her congregation in an ongoing way. While a very “local” story, this is an important reminder to all of us about the influence of the millions of small groups spread across America’s more than 350,000 congregations. In this year of especially deep, public divisions among Christians, the idea of warm and inspiring conversations about the Bible seems like pretty good news to many of us!
Thanks, Ann—and thanks to Ann’s friends in her congregation—for sharing this story with all of us! We now invite our readers to enjoy this Cover Story—and then to share this story with friends across social media. In that process, we all are contributing in small but important ways to the health of our communities nationwide.
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And More from Our Community of Writers—
Sanctuary—
The story of Sanctuary church is Coming Out this week
OUR TRIO OF FRIENDS IN IOWA who tell their true story in the memoir, Sanctuary, have reached their own official Coming Out day. This “official book launch date” was chosen to coincide with the annual observance of National Coming Out Day this week. Please enjoy this multimedia story—complete with a short video, a book review and an overview of this congregation’s powerful story—and then share a link to this story with your friends, perhaps to mark National Coming Out Day on Friday October 11.
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Suzy Farbman—
Jane Fonda shares wisdom on aging
GodSigns COLUMNIST SUZY FARBMAN writes about a recent talk that actress Jane Fonda gave about, among other things, the journey of aging.
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Joe Grimm—
Reviewing John Gallagher’s memoir, ‘Rust Belt Reporter’
SINCE OUR FOUNDING IN 2007, our publishing house has been based in Southeast Michigan, so we asked one of our long-time book editors—MSU Journalism’s Joe Grimm—to provide our readers a review of Detroit Free Press veteran John Gallagher’s wise new memoir of life in an American metropolis where everything seems to have gone wrong. However, through those decades, Gallagher kept looking for signs of a comeback and his book celebrates the real evidence Gallagher sees of Detroit’s revitalization. If you care about southeast Michigan, this is a memoir you simply should not miss.
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Holidays & Festivals
Yom Kippur
HOLIDAYS & FESTIVALS COLUMNIST Stephane Fenton writes about the timeless spiritual power of Yom Kippur, traditionally called the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.
Daesara, Dussehra or Vijayadashami
HOWEVER YOU MAY SEE THIS FESTIVAL’s name spelled, you will recognize it as a major Hindu festival enjoyed by families in India and in many other parts of the world—if you read Stephanie Fenton’s column.
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WANT TO SEE ALL OF THE UPCOMING HOLIDAYS & FESTIVALS? It’s easy to find our annual calendar of global observances. Just remember the web address: InterfaithHolidays.com
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Faith & Film
Click on this illustration to read an illustrated tribute to the life of Faith & Film critic Edward McNulty (1936-2024).
ED McNULTY, for decades, published reviews, magazine articles and books exploring connections between faith and film. Here are some of Ed’s final reviews:
- THE BEAR—Ed writes about why The Bear has become such a beloved TV series.
- CHESLEY BONESTELL—If you’re a nostalgic fan of science fiction, you’ll definitely want to see this documentary about the remarkable artist who envisioned the far-flung scenes that showed up in many sci-fi classics. Today, Bonestell is known as the “Father of Modern Space Art.”
- GOOD ONE—Ed highly recommends this indie coming-of-age film that unfolds over a hike in upstate New York.
- HAROLD and the PURPLE CRAYON—”Director Carlos Saldanha’s adaptation of the beloved 1955 children’s classic by Crockett Johnson gives us the adult version of the original series about a four-year old and his magical purple crayon who lives inside a book.”
- MY PENGUIN FRIEND—“I love interspecies films such as Fly Away, and Brazilian director David Schurmann’s film is a delightful addition to the genre.”
- SING SING—This inspiring film is based on a true story of prisoners producing an annual theatrical production at Sing Sing prison..
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