Lore Ferguson Wilbert

Singleness isn't a problem to be solved. It's just another route to togetherness. · fresh perspective on singleness · focuses on the need we all share for connection· offers practical ideas about how to foster friendship, build community, and put Christ at the center of every relationshipRegardless of relationship status, we all have the same desire for nearness, understanding, and love. We all need friendships and dinner parties, celebrations and commiseration, lament and commitment. We all need community--and we all need Jesus. Through her relatable storytelling, deep theological insight, and practical wisdom, Melissa Zaldivar offers a refreshing take on being single in the church. She shows single people how to intentionally build authentic, life-giving relationships that put our mutual faith in Christ at the center rather than the cultural trappings of dating, marriage, parenthood, and other false distinctions. Your community is waiting. Let's come to one another with open arms and proclaim, "Get over here!" with joy and hope." This wise and measured guidebook will help every reader who is single feel seen, known, and understood right where they are."--Lisa Whittle, Bible teacher and bestselling author of Jesus Over Everything

"Walk in the woods with me." That's the invitation award-winning author Lore Ferguson Wilbert extends to readers in The Understory. On this journey, Wilbert shares her story of alienation and disorientation after years of religious and political unrest in the evangelical church. In doing so, she looks to an unlikely place--the forest--to learn how to live and even thrive when everything seems to be falling apart. What can we learn from eroding soil, the decomposition process, the time it takes to grow lichen, the beauty of fiddlehead ferns, the regeneration of self-sowing seeds, and walking through the mud? Here, among the understory of the forest, Wilbert discovers rich metaphors for living a rooted and flourishing life within the complex ecosystems of our world. Her tenderness and honesty will help readers grieve, remember, hope, and press on with resilience.

The welcome of God changes everything. No one is a stranger to loneliness. Despite how social we are via text, chat, and notifications, we are far from being truly connected. We all want someone else to really see us and choose us for who we are. We want a place to finally fit in. But what if finding the right people or the right place is not the answer? From her community-building background, Sarah E. Westfall takes our longing to belong as an invitation to embrace and extend the deep love of God. After years contemplating how she fit in and trying to earn acceptance, she realized "belonging is not something to attain, but someone to become." Through narrative, research, Scripture, and spiritual practice, she teaches how belonging is a way of being-a posture of welcome in the spirit of the Father who extends his arms to those returning and those who don't yet know they've resisted his love. Whether you understand the perspective of the outsider in need of acceptance well or you're eager to include, the barriers to belonging can come down as Sarah gently guides us toward deep connection--a connection where our humanity draws us closer to people and envelops us in the heart of God. Embark with Sarah on this challenge that will awaken your empathy and affirm you with the truth of these words: "You are welcome." Includes a two-session group guide.

What is our place in nature? Since the Industrial Revolution, humans have has exercised unprecedented dominance over nature, with consequences that are now catching up with us. Many have pointed to Christianity as a culprit. Yet Christianity actually teaches that our relationship to nature should not be one of contempt or disassociation. Rather, according to ancient church tradition, nature is a book to be read, revealing truths about its creator and ours. At a time when many moderns are unsure of what difference, if any, marks us out from other living beings on our planet, and of what our place in the natural world ought to be, what might nature itself tell us about how to live within it? On this theme:Peter Mommsen asks if humans should live by nature’s laws. Colin Boller interviews farmers successfully shifting to regenerative agriculture. Caroline Moore introduces some of Britain’s amazing moths. Daniel Stulac wonders what the Promised Land means in Saskatchewan. Clare Coffey defends dandelions in lawns. Rhys Laverty reports on man’s battle with the sea at the Alderney breakwater. William Thomas Okie explores the old idea that plants reveal their uses. Greta Gaffin looks at our relationship to wolves, and Saint Francis’s. Norann Voll remembers lambing with her father. Tim Maendel finds peace by hunting. Erik Varden asks if the Christian teaching on chastity is unnatural. David McBride translates “The Leper of Abercuawg,” an old Welsh poem. Maureen Swinger watches meteor showers. Plough Quarterly features stories, ideas, and culture for people eager to apply their faith to the challenges we face. Each issue includes in-depth articles, interviews, poetry, book reviews, and art.

God created us to be curious. We innately wonder about the world, one another, ourselves, and our Creator. But fear of the unknown, cultural taboos, technology, or even church leaders can smother our curiosity. Popular writer Lore Ferguson Wilbert has belonged to Christian communities that discouraged curiosity. The point of the Christian life was to have the right answers, and asking questions reflected a wavering faith. But Wilbert came to discover that the Bible is a permission slip to anyone who wants to ask questions. Reflecting her own theological trajectory toward a more contemplative, expansive faith, Wilbert invites readers to foster curiosity as a spiritual habit. This book explores questions God asks us, questions we ask God, and questions we ask each other. Christianity is not about knowing good answers, says Wilbert, but about asking good questions--ones that foster deeper intimacy with God and others. A Curious Faith invites readers to go beyond pat answers and embrace curiosity, rather than certainty, as a hallmark of authentic faith. Foreword by Seth Haines.