This is a list of books I’ve drafted in my head and will one day get on paper.  Post a comment about the book you would be most interested in reading.

#1.  Overcoming Religious B.S.: A Model for Pastoral Care

This is a non-fiction work that teaches Christians how to and how not to care for people in crisis.  Chapters will include: silence as care, using scripture in a healing way, space to speak the unspeakable, lament, allowing others to make their own meaning, and organic blessing and prayers in the moment.

#2.  Prayers from the Dust and Dirt

This book will be a compilation of prayers of the vulnerable in North American society – orphans, victims of human trafficking, single parents, the unemployed, felons, the abused, etc.  I will personally travel, meet and pray with the vulnerable.  The second portion of the book will be prayers written and prayed by the privileged on behalf of their vulnerable sisters and brothers.

#3.  Prayers for the Table

This is a compilation of prayers written for everyday meals, special occasions and holidays.  I hope to solicit written prayers from my many artist and pastor friends across many cultures.  It will include simple sung prayers.

#4.  Coyotes & Cacti: A Metaphorical Survival Guide for the Spiritual Desert

How many of us have read self-help books that break down our bad behaviors and then offer a long rationale and dubious list of “healthy” behaviors to implement?  In this book I contend that changes in behavior are far more successful when we first have a change in vision, when we look at the same situation and see it differently.  Notice the clues and tools that are already available to you.  I put this theory into practice and help those in the spiritual desert recognize the survival metaphors inherent to desert landscapes.

#5.  Freedom, Imagination & Risk: The Missing Pieces in Kingdom Growth

The more I observe what the church does and what the church doesn’t do, the more convinced I become that Christian discomfort with biblical freedom, a lack of vision or imagination for the gospel’s power to transform and a fear of risk-taking are the major stumbling blocks of today’s church.  This book will explore this premise, taking up the sometimes controversial topic of “women in ministry” as a case study of what could happen in our homes, churches, country and our world if we lived the Christian life with more freedom, imagination and risk.

#6.  Asylum

This is a memoir of my early years of faith and my experience of the church.  It will explore the church as a place of both refuge and insanity.  It will encompass my childhood through discerning my call to pastoral ministry.  Essentially, this work will cover the awkward years, the effects of bullying, body image issues, unconditional acceptance, discovering my gifts, etc.

#7.  I Am: Jesus’ Seven Proclamations in the Gospel of John

This will be a two book set, the first a collection of creative chapters that explore the history/context/images of the seven “I am” statements in John (bread of life, light of the world, gate for the sheep,  good shepherd, resurrection and the life, the way, truth and the life, the true vine).  The second book will be an accompanying bible study guide for personal or group study.  In my opinion, the world is greatly in need of some meaty bible study guides!

#8.  Benched

This will be an internal critique of evangelical churches that bench women from living out their gifts and calling to leadership, teaching and/or pastoral ministry.  It will feature testimonies of real women who are committed to the evangelical church but have grappled to live out God’s calling on their lives.  This book will be co-written and edited by my friend and fellow advocate Alyssa Brooks-Dowty.

#9.  The Gospel According to Eve

Before I am unjustly condemned like author Dan Brown, let me state before it’s published that this is a work of creative fiction.  There won’t be any radical departures from the biblical story like suggesting that Jesus had a child.  Instead, this book will give accounts of Jesus’ ministry and message from the perspective of his female followers.  I hope to write and edit this book with fellow writer and pastor Stacey Gleddiesmith.  We will solicit the work of female alumna of Regent College, Vancouver B.C..

#10. Get a Move On: Five Contemporary Injustices We Can Change 

I don’t want to give away all five, but here’s a sneak peek at two social issues that I truly believe we can and should change.  Since culture is constantly in flux, this work should probably be an article for a magazine or newspaper.  Perhaps I could submit a new list every decade!

• Orphans – There are currently over 400,000 children in America’s foster system and 100,000 of them are available for adoption NOW.
• Homeless homosexuals – It’s a fact that a growing sub-population of America’s homeless is teenagers whose parents kicked them out when they came out as gay.