Explore Calling: Resources

Book Reviews

The General Board of Higher Education and Ministry has compiled a Book Review series to feature and review books related to vocational discernment. Topics include discerning calling, ordained ministry, and personal reflection or devotion. Two books will be featured in each edition of the ExploreCalling e-newsletter throughout fall 2009 and spring 2010. A complete bibliography of books reviewed is available below and current and past features will also be available here.

Books have been reviewed to provide an explanation and understanding of content so that you can decide if a particular resource is applicable for your setting. The ideas in the books featured here do not represent the views or opinions of the staff or directors of the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry.

Unless otherwise specified, book reviews were written by Carolyn J. Davis. Carolyn is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in theological studies at Vanderbilt University, where she is a fellow in the Program for Theology and Practice. She received her M.Div. from Candler School of Theology, has a background in youth ministry, and is a commissioned deacon in the Texas Annual Conference.

You may also download a PDF of an annotated bibliography featuring titles that will be reviewed in this space.

Reviews

A Passion for the Possible
Internationally-known pastor and peace activist William Sloan Coffin concludes his collection of essays for the U.S. church with a charge to re-imagine contemporary understandings of vocation. He begins with the question of idealism, namely the sense of compassionate enthusiasm for service so many college students tend to abandon as they encounter life in the “real world.”
A Ray of Darkness
A Sacred Voice is Calling: Personal Vocation and Social Conscience
Clinical psychologist and Loyola University lecturer John Neafsey’s insightful, carefully crafted reflection on vocation departs from standard “follow your bliss” models and leads to a discussion of the deeper sense of social responsibility. A Sacred Voice is Calling is highly recommended as a refreshing take on discernment that is mindful of how culture, race, gender, class, privilege, and faith intersect to give both rise and response to God’s calling. Part how-to manual, part ethics and theology of vocation, Neafsey’s book is an excellent resource for both those contemplating vocation and those who mentor and educate them.
Answering God's Call for Your Life
This book serves as a guide to help young people listen, discern, and understand God's call and its meaning for their life's work. Author Robert Roth, pastor, writer, and worker with youth, has written directly to young people in this new book from the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry.
Awakened to a Calling
Awakened to a Calling brings together a diverse group of some of the country’s most powerful and influential preachers for a series of sermons on call and vocation. Though geared towards those considering pastoral ministry, the engaging reflections provided in the book will prove fruitful for anyone contemplating God’s “calling” for their lives.
Becoming Adult, Becoming Christian: Adult Development and Christian Faith
Well-known faith development theorist James Fowler brings the ideas previously developed in Stages of Faith to bear on what he calls the contemporary crisis of vocational ideals. Understanding vocation to be the “human calling,” Fowler suggests that discernment centers on determining perceptions and visions of what constitutes a “worthy adulthood.” Several modes of developmental theory are explored, transitioning to an exploration of faith development, human vocation, Christian community, and a creative God.
Big Questions, Worthy Dreams
Big Questions, Worthy Dreams draws from developmental theory, the stories of young people, and understandings of faith formation to make the case for the importance of mentors and mentoring communities in helping young adults make meaning of their lives and vocations. The strength of this book lies in its attentiveness to the real lives of young adults.
Call Waiting: God’s Invitation to Youth
Geared towards youth beginning their vocational journey, Call Waiting draws from biblical examples and the stories of real young people to offer a helpful series of resources for discerning the life God is calling them to live. Authors Larry L. McSwain and Kay Wilson Shurden begin with the sense that the Christian life itself is a vocation, a way of life that enables people to “get to know God” by celebration, prayer, study, and action.
Calling & Character: Virtues of the Ordained Life
Though ostensibly written as a book on clergy ethics, UMC Bishop Will Willimon’s Calling & Character offers a realistic look at the implications of a commitment to ordained ministry. Those considering whether ordained ministry is an appropriate career choice for them would be well-served to read and reflect on Willimon’s text.
Captivating: Unveiling the Mystery of a Woman’s Soul
Author of Wild at Heart John Eldredge joins wife Stasi for Captivating, which suggests that all women have been designed by God for the vocation of bringing the world beauty, delight, nurture, and reassurance. The “secret to the feminine heart” lies in what the Eldredges assert is a woman’s divinely ordained deep need for assurance that she is lovable and desirable. This assurance must be found first in God and then in men, and particularly in fathers. Places where women have been failed in this regard must be healed so that women can continue to grow in their vocation as alluring beauties who inspire men to “come alive” for their own roles as warriors and adventurers.
Compass Points: Navigating Vocation
Compass Points: Navigating Vocation is the 2002 collection of the Lectures on Youth Church and Culture series published by the Princeton Theological Seminary Institute for Youth Ministry. With contributions by four leading scholars in fields of practical and systematic theology, the book presents thoughtful reflections on facets of youth and vocation. These include life practices, the unique gifts of young people for the church and the world, how we remember, and an exploration of radical discipleship that dramatically challenges the dominant youth identity of “consumer.”
Do I Belong in Seminary?
Ronald Parker’s Do I Belong In Seminary is a clearly-written, extremely helpful guide to the practical issues surrounding the decision to enter seminary in preparation for a career in the ministry or other type of religious leadership. These might include both those intending to prepare for a career in the ministry and those exploring other types of Christian leadership. Written in an informal but concise tone, the book offers a detailed and well-organized glimpse at the issues necessary for considering whether the path of seminary is the right one for you.
Doing More With Life: Connecting Christian Higher Education to a Call to Service
The two recommended essays in Doing More With Life (Nehaus and Mattison/Parisi) offer unique ways to think about the relationship between young people and vocation. They take advantage of both real and fictional stories of young people to suggest that teens and young adults must be met with thoughtful, broadly-understood concepts of vocation that bring their gifts into relationship with service to the neighbor, community, and world at large.
Forgetting Ourselves on Purpose
In Forgetting Ourselves on Purpose, Christian ethics scholar Brian Mahan challenges readers to ask “What am I living for?” Though success, ambition, and purpose are the popular buzzwords of contemporary life, they are often achieved as true calls that are triggered by compassion and idealism are abandoned. Mahan offers both stories and practices for “uncovering and gently resisting what we think is keeping us from living fully for the thing we want to live for.”
Hineini in Our Lives
Hineini in Our Lives combines accessible interpretations of fourteen Biblical call stories with the call narratives of eleven prominent Jewish rabbis, scholars, and leaders to offer an excellent resource for reflection and inspiration. The book makes use of the Jewish tradition of midrash, offering contemporary and diverse interpretations of the Biblical texts that can be quite meaningful for younger readers.
Is It I, Lord? Discerning God’s Call to be a Pastor
James Chatham’s Is It I, Lord offers a conversational, personal reflection on the process of discerning a call to ministry. Written by a veteran pastor and filled with moving and often funny anecdotes about ministerial life, the book provides an opportunity for reflection on whether the ministry might be one’s proper vocation.
Let Your Life Speak: Listening For The Voice Of Vocation
Written in a style that is part reflection, part memoir, Palmer’s Let Your Life Speak offers an understanding of vocation that is intimately linked to understanding one’s own true self. The book explores the process of “going down” into the self to emerge with a clearer sense of purpose and familiarity with one’s own gifts and limitations.
Lies Young Women Believe and the Truth That Sets Them Free
DeMoss and Gresh combat what they call a “generational crisis” perpetrated by the lies of Satan. Among Satan’s lies is the false belief that a woman’s primary God-given calling is to anything but a vocation to submissive wife and motherhood. DeMoss and Gresh attempt to make a case for this vocational paradigm through literalist scripture interpretation.
Lives to Offer: Accompanying Youth on Their Vocational Quests
Baker and Mercer's Lives to Offer incorporates the narratives of teens, popular films and literature, and leading research in adolescent development and culture. Baker and Mercer define vocation as "the practice through which people offer their lives in response to God's call, amid a world in need." This sensitively-written exploration of the meaning of vocation offers an understanding of vocation as the central theme for youth ministry. The book provides a series of concrete suggestions for activities and practices that can be integrated into youth groups and other learning communities for young people.
Living Your Heart’s Desire: God’s Call and Your Vocation
Gregory S. Clapper, professor of religion and philosophy at the University of Indianapolis, offers a perspective on vocation grounded in “a life of Christian faithfulness in all realms of existence.” Living Your Heart’s Desire explores vocation and work’s relationship to culture, the gospel, Christian tradition, personal habits, and call. The text, geared toward adult audiences, provides reflection questions for use alone or in a group.
Restless Hearts: Where Do I Go Now God?
Restless Hearts is a curriculum geared toward mature high school students, college students and young adults. It is designed for a multi-week, small group exploration of the concepts of call and vocation that are rooted in the cultivation of a vital relationship with Christ and an ongoing pursuit of the question “What am I going to do next?”
Rise Up
Former songwriter, teacher, and school administrator Sylvia Rose makes a direct appeal to African American women in Rise Up, urging them to recognize their crucial call to vocations which revitalize and improve the lives of their communities.
The Alchemist
Coehlo’s beloved fable The Alchemist follows a boy on a journey to discover his “Personal Legend.” The tale is simply written and offers a refreshing confidence in the gifts of its young protagonist. Coehlo develops an understanding of vocation that is intimately connected to the larger “Soul of the World,” so that discernment becomes a constant process of attention to the wisdom of people and places that help one find their heart’s desire.
The Call of Service
Pulitzer prize-winning psychologist Robert Coles traces the influences and passions that shape individuals willing to commit their lives to vocations of service. The many compelling anecdotes and stories from a variety of vocational experiences, along with fascinating analysis that seeks to identify why people come to commit their lives to the well-being of others, describe what keeps them committed even in times of struggle or hardship.
The Call: Finding and Fulfilling the Central Purposes in Your Life
“Calling,” Os Guinness writes, “is the truth that God calls us to himself so decisively that everything we are, everything we do, and everything we have is invested with a special devotion and dynamism lived out as a response to his summons and service.” The Call explores this thesis using theology and philosophy, presenting discipleship as the central vocation of a Christian.
The Crisis of Younger Clergy
Chapters 4-6 from The Crisis of Younger Clergy offer a significant number of statistics that illustrate the striking lack of young clergy presence in The United Methodist Church. The authors advocate for local and denominational focus on the recruitment, training and support of young clergy. This nurturing process is suggested to begin, intentionally, with youth ministry. The early stages of work with young people are described as crucial, highlighting the importance of mentors and other supportive adults. This book would prove extremely helpful for clergy and other church leaders interested in building a congregational focus on the affirmation and nurture of those young people in their congregations discerning a call to ministry.
The Way of the Wild Heart
John Eldredge’s follow-up to the wildly popular Wild at Heart details the “chief mission of a man’s life.” This “masculine journey” is a vocation of learning to utilize innate aggression and power to become an adventuring, fighting man with no trace of “emasculation” or tolerance for a “feminized” Christianity.
TwentySomeone: Finding Your Way in a Decade of Transition
TwentySomeone guides young adults through their generational tasks of marriage, white-collar employment, affluence, and regular “quiet time” with Jesus. Its uncritical perspective on “normal” life and little regard for the experiences of those who do not fit into this narrow trajectory will leave many readers frustrated.
Young Clergy: A Biographical-Developmental Study
Donald Capps constructs his book Young Clergy around the biographies of five well-known clergymen who lived in the 18th and 19th centuries. Capps pulls out specific incidents in the lives of these men to illustrate five different developmental models of professional formation, with particular attention as to how those models can be applied to clergy careers. His study focuses primarily on the early and middle adult years.
Youth and the Future of the Church
Though not explicitly written to be a book on “vocational discernment,” Michael’s Warren’s Youth and the Future of the Church presents an understanding of ministry with youth and young adults that is inherently mindful of how these individuals grow to understand their place in the world. Warren seeks to develop an approach to ministry that enables youth and young adults to give reflective, meaningful answers to the question: “In what direction should I as this human person tend?”