Presbyterian Outlook's Page Turners - Liturgies from the frontlines

Faith, freedom, and fresh starts — your October reads are here Dear Outlook Readers,   I write from bucolic New Harmony, Indiana, a pristine and peaceful little town near the Illinois border. In the early 1800s, it was home to more than one attempt to create a utopian community; while those communities quickly dissolved or moved back east, I appreciate the audacity of their ambitions. Shout out to the Synod of Lincoln Trails for bringing me here!   I often wonder: if we could just get a fresh start, could we create a perfect version of God’s realm here on earth? While walking the (eerily quiet) streets of New Harmony – filled with sculpture gardens, monuments and labyrinths – I am reminded that I can harness the optimism of these communities and bring it back to Chicago with me. Maybe a do-over isn’t needed.   The featured books this month remind us to ground ourselves in faith and hope as we put boots on the ground in the service of the gospel. Even in the peaceful setting of New Harmony, my Chicago-based colleagues and I are planning. We exchange tips to keep our neighbors safe and compare upcoming events, determined to make our voices heard – in prayer and in protest – as we respond to the world we live in, rather than the one we pine for.   Happy Reading, Amy Pagliarella Book Review Editor P.S. Equip your church to welcome neurodiverse children and families. Join us next Wednesday for “Creating neuro-affirming worship,” a webinar with Big Faith Resources. BOOKS OF THE MONTH We Pray Freedom: Liturgies and Rituals From the Freedom Church of the Poor Liz Theoharis and Charon Hribar, editors Broadleaf, 243 pages Published September 9, 2025   In We Cry Justice (2021), PC(USA) pastor Liz Theoharis explored the circular way the Bible informed her activism — and how her advocacy responded with new insights into the Bible’s radical truths. In We Pray Freedom, she and co-editor Charon Hribar take this to the next logical step as they curate liturgies, prayers, and poems from the frontlines. The result is both stunning and practical: a gift to pastors, activists, and any person of faith looking for deeper insights into God’s realm on earth. The editors are well-positioned to offer this gift; they serve with the Poor People’s Campaign: National Call for Moral Revival. We Pray Freedom highlights work from homeless encampments, sometimes bi-lingual worship services, demonstrations, and even a foot-washing. Spanning categories from “healing and transformation” to “taking action together,” the liturgies provide glimpses into varied settings, speaking uniquely to each time and place. Theoharis and Hribar invite us to incorporate these in worship, however, they insist we share the context. If, for example, we use Tonny Algood’s communion ritual from a homeless encampment in Alabama, we need to tell the story of an Easter Sunday where those who felt they couldn’t “attend church because (they) had no suitable clothes” were centered and welcomed. Pastors in more traditional settings could use these stories to enliven sermons, offering context for liturgies shared throughout a service, while in other settings, these rich liturgies and inspiring stories can connect advocacy more deeply with the gospel. And these are no ordinary liturgies. For example, the “Reimagined Stations of the Cross” created by those living in tents alongside a waterfront in Aberdeen, Washington, is both tangible and imaginative. Chaplain Cedar Monroe, author of Trash, created a Good Friday service with their unhoused community that connects poverty, the opioid crisis, and Jesus’ suffering. I would eagerly bring this powerful experience to a youth group, social justice committee or worship experience. QUOTE OF THE MONTH “But for a lot of my life, ‘Should I even keep bothering with this Jesus stuff?’ has been a live question to me. And that momentary feeling, that sense that I was suddenly participating in a love that was sweeping and impossible to maintain but also always available, is one of the things that makes me keep saying, ‘Yes. Yes, I must keep bothering with this Jesus stuff.’” Why Christians Should be Leftists Phil Christman Eerdmans, 169 pages Published September 16, 2025 If the quote from Why Christians Should be Leftists piques your interest, check out the full review from my colleague Samuel McCann. Book Giveaway!    Congratulations to last month’s winner, Cassidy Kipple. Thanks to our friends at Broadleaf Books, she received a copy of Give Me a Word by Christine Valters Paintner, This month, one fortunate reader will receive a copy of Why Christians Should be Leftists, written by Phil Christman, generously donated by our friends at Eerdmans. If you're reading this note, then you're all set! Know someone else who should be reading Page Turners? Send them this link and they'll get entered for a chance to win, too. The contest closes on November 17. OTHER READS Trans Biblical: New Approaches to Interpretation and Embodiment in Scripture In "Trans Biblical," editors Joseph Marchal, Melissa Sellew and Katy Valentine invite readers to see familiar biblical figures – like Jael, Jacob and Mordecai – in new and life-giving ways. Jo Wiersema offers a review. Migrant God: A Christian Vision for Immigrant Justice Isaac Samuel Villegas’s “Migrant God” frames agape as solidarity and portrays God as a migrant, writes Amy Pagliarella. Christ in the Rubble: Faith, the Bible, and the Genocide in Gaza Munther Isaac draws upon Martin Luther’s theology of the cross to find Christ in the rubble, in solidarity with those who suffer. Robert A. Cathey offers a review. For Such a Time as This: An Emergency Devotional Hanna Reichel’s "For Such a Time as This" offers brief, rich reflections and concrete practices to sustain faith, courage, and community in crisis, writes Amy Pagliarella.

Draw Near by Presbyterian Outlook Editor/Publisher Teri McDowell Ott.  A digital Advent devotional with daily reflections, Scripture, prayers, and children’s artwork. Available now!