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The Ordinary God: Notes from the Far West of Ireland
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By Hilary Wakeman |
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A bible discussion group, parishioners of various ages, was getting tied up in knots on a rather basic subject – God. In frustration, one woman said to another, ‘But, what sort of God are you talking about?’ The other woman looked puzzled. ‘Just the ordinary, God,’ she said. That is what this book is about. The ordinary, everyday God. The ‘God’ that comes instinctively to most of us. The essays in this book come largely from that point of view. Some of them appeared in The Irish Times. Most of them appeared in the
Southern Star newspaper between 2007 and 2009. These were addressed
to the ordinary people of West Cork, a people for whose down-to-earth-ness
the author has had a huge respect since 1996 when she became the rector
of the furthest south-west parish of the Church of Ireland. Now retired, she has written these articles for Catholics and Anglicans
and Protestants, and the people in-between and outside: for anyone who is
interested in the difference between religion and spirituality, or in what our
churches are doing … or not doing … or more importantly should be doing
in the future. Hilary Wakeman was among the first group of women ordained in the Church of England, in 1994, and was Vicar of a city-centre church in Norwich, chaplain to the local theatre and to the city's night shelter, and acting Diocesan Communications Officer. In 1973 she had founded the Julian Meetings, a now-international network of contemplative prayer groups and was its Convenor for over 25 years.
The Ordinary God: notes from the far west of Ireland
ISBN 978-1-905785-73-5
Editors: for a review copy please contact the Liffey Press Price: €14.95
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Saving Christianity: New Thinking for Old Beliefs
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FROM the Rt Revd Stephen Platten, Bishop of Wakefield. Hilary Wakeman's book performs a unique function: it takes the Christian tradition, reflects upon continuity and change and does so in a way that is accessible to a broad audience. Challenging without being destructive, accessible without being simplistic, the book asks how we might offer the gospel of Christ to our present age. Hilary wakeman does not offer a blueprint, for that is not her way. Instead she looks at the issues that surround some of the great doctrines of the Christian faith and asks how we might approach them again for our opwn generation. As Christians, in all ages, we are called to 'give account of the faith which is in us'. This book does precisely this and it does it in a way that leaves no question unasked. It is the beginning of a discussion and not the end, the Church has always been a forum for vigorous debate - Hilary Wakeman provokes us to enter that debate once again. From: Presbyerian Church Notes, Irish Times, 09.12.06 With even leaders in denominations of the church acknowledging perceptible declines in membership and attendances, except in some local areas and churches, on a principle of receiving light from all qaurters, the publication of Saving Christianity - thinking for old beliefs, Hilary wakeman, Liffey Press, should not go unnoticed. This is a courageous and timely book by an author who is theologically erudite. Where there may be two broad approaches to meet a perceived crisis one perhaps more traditionally vociferous than the other, Wakeman's book deserves lengthy consideration. Ms Wakeman sees a cause for decline in "the unwillingness of all the churches in all countries but perhaps especially now in Ireland, tpo look honestly and openly into what we say we believe. "Disillusioned with standard theology in all the denominations, more and more people are ceasing to attend church, while others are prevented by the same from entering. And yet among the self-exiled people there is a widespread sense of loss and sadness." |
