Churches of Minnesota


Book Description

From the one-room chapel in a prairie town to the grandiose cathedral on a city street, churches stand at the heart of the Minnesota landscape. A photographer and an award-winning writer come together to honor these icons and share their stories.




Churches of Minnesota


Book Description

In Churches of Minnesota, Alan Lathrop profiles more than one hundred religious buildings in a valuable compendium made even richer by the photography of Bob Firth. More than 140 black-and-white and full-color images present a comprehensive view of the architectural styles that make up Minnesota's religious and cultural heritage. Lathrop embarked on a journey to explore the architectural histories of churches in every corner of Minnesota, and what he found was a panorama of designs steeped in the traditions of their communities. From the board and batten siding on the tiny St. Mark's Episcopal Chapel in Annandale to the grand elegance of St. Paul's cathedral, Lathrop discusses a variety of architectural styles in both urban and rural settings across the state. He reveals the intrinsic character of these buildings and uncovers the enchanting stories behind the lives of those connected to each church - the architects, the leaders, the parishioners - and the history that brought them to where they are today.




Wisdom Distilled from the Daily


Book Description

Wise and enduring spiritual guidelines for everyday living –– as relevant today as when The Rule was originally conceived by St. Benedict in fifth century Rome.




Legacies of Faith


Book Description

Stearns County, Minnesota, contains a generous sprinkling of small communities with handsome Catholic churces. Most of these towns were formed as, and still are, predominately Catholic settlements. No county in Minnesota, or even in the United States, compares in density of Catholic hamlets to Stearns County. With a population approximately two-thirds Catholic, this county contains fifty Catholic churches, the majority of which were built between 1871 and 1930. This is the story of those churches and the people and times that built them.




Gaining By Losing


Book Description

People are leaving the church J.D. Greear pastors. Big givers. Key volunteers. Some of his best leaders and friends. And that’s exactly how he wants it to be. When Jesus gave his disciples the Great Commission, he revealed that the key for reaching the world with the gospel is found in sending, not gathering. Though many churches focus time and energy on attracting people and counting numbers, the real mission of the church isn’t how many people you can gather. It’s about training up disciples and then sending them out. The true measure of success for a church should be its sending capacity, not its seating capacity. But there is a cost to this. To see ministry multiply, we must release the seeds God has placed in our hands. And to do that, we must ask ourselves whether we are concerned more with building our kingdom or God’s. In Gaining By Losing, J.D. Greear unpacks ten plumb lines that you can use to reorient your church’s priorities around God’s mission to reach a lost world. The good news is that you don’t need to choose between gathering or sending. Effective churches can, and must, do both.




Encyclopedia of Minnesota


Book Description




How to Pray When You're Pissed at God


Book Description

When things really go wrong, what do you do with the feeling that God is to blame? A popular Coast to Coast radio host (and Episcopal clergy) provides some answers. In a first of its kind book, Ian Punnett provides a spiritual path for expressing your rawest emotions through prayer and how to rebuild a relationship with one's higher power--or anybody else in your life. In this important and practical book, Ian Punnett provides insight on feeling anger and resentment toward God and offers advice on how to deal with the pain and blame that accompanies these emotions. In a book that is edgy, timely, funny and compassionate, Punnett presents real help in everyday language for transforming the negativity of anger into a positive and useful force that will ultimately help us pray more effectively, bring us closer to God, enhance our spiritual relationship, and change the way we live and love others. After a divorce, a broken friendship, the death of a loved one, the loss of a job or even the accumulation of all the tiny cracks in our spirit from life's disappointments, it’s easy to feel pissed at God. When anger is left unchecked, it is harmful to our minds, bodies and souls. “How to Pray When You’re Pissed at God is not “the last word” on angry prayer,” Punnett writes, “but it might be the first words you have ever heard on the topic. By the end of the book, it is my hope that you’ll understand the role of anger in our lives, the benefit of honest prayer, and the need for honest, angry prayer in the lives of the faithful and faithless.”




Love is the Way


Book Description

We were created by love, for love, to love and to be loved. And we are at our best when we live in God's love. And I believe deep down, it's what we all want. We don't want hatred. We don't want the abyss. We want Beloved Community. The way of love is how to live it. When Prince Harry married Meghan Markle in 2018, two billion people watched around the world. For one brief moment, love recreated the cosmos, the world came together. And the Bishop Michael Curry preached his revolutionary sermon on the power of love. In this book, Bishop Curry shares his deep faith that characterised that cultural moment: the way of love. It is the underappreciated, all-but-forgotten understanding of agape, the love that uplifts, liberates and changes the world. Though some might believe the world has to be the same, this way has the power to change things for the better. In his warm and accessible style Bishop Curry holds out the hope of love in troubling times.




Sacred Sites of Minnesota


Book Description

For the traveler seeking to find the spirit--however he or she chooses to define that term--Minnesota is blessed with a large number of sacred sites, many of which are unique. This book profiles approximately 350 sites, including retreat centers, churches, temples, cemeteries, and effigy mounds. Learn about each site's history, uniqueness, aesthetic beauty, and awe. Specific location and contact information is also included.




Barns of Minnesota


Book Description

Minnesota's barns are remarkable testaments to a midwestern way of life, one centered on the land, work, family, ingenuity, and perseverance. Many think of barns as breathtaking landmarks along the byways. Others have their favorite barns--the well-kept, red dairy barn near St. Cloud, the faded horse barn on the way to Faribault. Still others know these structures more intimately: barns are as integral to their lives as family and home. In Barns of Minnesota, photographer Doug Ohman showcases the vast array of these exceptional landmarks, built by hand in wood, stone, brick, or metal and dating back as far as 1880. Where Ohman's photographs capture the beauty of the barn from the outside in, Will Weaver's evocative story illuminates the life of the barn from the inside out. Readers witness the making and breaking of one barn as it plays into the life and sustenance of several generations of one family who settled the land in 1922 and who farmed into the age of agribusiness. Seventy-five stunning color photographs accompanied by Weaver's moving story uplift these beautiful buildings and a way of life on the land that is as strong and proud, as fragile and humble, as the barns among us.