Sundays in America: A Yearlong Road Trip in Search of Christian...

Features

• Cover Type: Hard Cover with 324 pages
• Published by: Beacon Press
• Edition: 1st Edition April 15, 2008
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0807072249
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0807072240
• Book Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.5 x 1.3 inches
• Weighs: 1.2 pounds

From Publishers Weekly
It's a fascinating project: attend 52 different churches in one year and report your first impressions. Shea, a New England novelist and former Catholic, engagingly writes of her initial visits to all kinds of churches: Shaker and Baptist, evangelical and mainline, African-American and Caucasian. Sometimes, these well-written first impressions yield intriguing analysis, as when she notes the total absence of children at the Mother Church of Christ, Scientist. But more often, the book's quick verdicts reinforce the idea that public Sunday worship is just one part of what makes a religion tick, and that it may be unfair to judge churches solely on this basis. Shea seems comfortable enough criticizing other people's intolerance—including that of former president and erstwhile Sunday School teacher Jimmy Carter—but myopically fails to see her own judgmentalism, as when bemoaning the Mennonite presence on a Hopi reservation or taking easy shots at televangelist Joel Osteen. Also, the book has some small factual errors; for instance, Mormons do not believe in the Holy Trinity, as Shea attests. Although the portraits are appealingly personal and often funny, readers may wish for a more rigorous examination of these churches than Shea's impressionistic approach is able to provide. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Product Review


"Do you believe in miracles? You will after you read Sundays in America. This book will lift you up. If you've stopped going to church on Sundays, it will lasso your lost faith. If you've never left, it will remind you of why you gather, why you pray, why you're part of the flock. Suzanne Strempek Shea writes with soul, straight from her heart; this book was just what I needed to read."
-Luanne Rice, author of What Matters Most



"Sundays in America is unlike any other book you'll ever read. While born and raised Roman Catholic, Suzanne Shea invites us to accompany her on a yearlong pilgrimage of weekly services in non-Catholic Christian churches. As I did so, I found myself taken on an extraordinarily delightful and insightful spiritual journey that helped me see the face of religion in America more clearly; love the diverse faces of believers and non-believers more dearly; and follow the Holy Spirit she found everywhere more nearly. Like all pilgrimages, this will one will enlighten you and change your life too; and, I might add, you will not find a pilgrim guide more fun to be with than Suzanne Shea."
-Karol Jackowski, author of Forever and Ever, Amen: Becoming a Nun in the 1960s



"Sundays in America does for us what most of us cannot do for ourselves: it puts us in the pews of dozens of churches all across America as an 'inside outsider' to contemporary Christianity. Like found sea glass, Shea holds each church up to the light to test its veracity, color, and dimension. This book is for anyone looking to understand, evaluate, or reignite their Christian faith through the prism of curiosity and the spirit of exploration."
-Kristin Hahn, author of In Search of Grace: A Journey Across America's Landscape of Faith



"I can think of no better companion on a spiritual journey than Suzanne Strempek Shea. In Sundays in America, with her trademark humor and grace, she takes the reader's hand and shows us churches across the United States, pointing out the subtleties and details that we would otherwise have missed. Her devotion is memorable, her insights illuminating, her writing-as always-a gift."
-Ann Hood, author of The Knitting Circle: A Novel



"Imagine visiting a different Christian church each Sunday morning for a year-anywhere in the United States! Suzanne Strempek Shea made just such a pilgrimage, and she shares her travels in Sundays in America: A Yearlong Road Trip in Search of Christian Faith (Beacon). Her book is remarkable! Readers accompany Shea on each leg of her journey: from a rousing Baptist service in Harlem to a chapel at Denver International Airport. Stops in between include a silent Quaker service in Philadelphia, and a visit to Joel Osteen's megachurch in Houston. Suzanne Shea is the perfect guide. Her impressions of each church are both honest and respectful. She offers brief bits of church history, and occasional background to particular denominations. She generously shares her own struggles too. Shea is always insightful, and often quite humorous. I enjoyed the book immensely. I thank her for sharing her journeys-literal and spiritual, and for showing so clearly that there are unlimited paths to a single destination."
-Chris Rose, Andover Bookstore, Book Sense nomination



"Cradle Catholic Shea was told that Protestants were going to hell, and so were she and her friends should they ever step inside a Protestant church. She felt no urge to visit such churches until after a personal health scare and the death of John Paul II, when the passion of the mourners on her streets and TV impressed her. She had drifted away from the church but, fascinated by and a little jealous of the mourners' intensity, began wondering about what lay beyond other churches' doors. Her curiosity eventuated in this book. For one year she attended different non-Catholic services across the country-Methodist, Shaker, Quaker, Seventh-Day Adventist, interfaith, Mormon-in buildings ranging from unadorned chapels to huge megachurches. She wanted to learn what makes the denominations differ, and different from the Catholicism she was raised in. She visited Baptist churches in New York and South Carolina, a "cowboy" church in Colorado, a Quaker meetinghouse in Philadelphia, a Greek Orthodox church in Rhode Island, an evangelical church in New Hampshire, an Episcopal church in Hawaii. She stopped in at Barack Obama's place of worship, Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, as well as 320-year-old King's Chapel in Boston. It was for her and is for readers a captivating trip into the heart of non-Catholic Christian America that reveals the amazing diversity of one complex faith."
-June Sawyers, Booklist, starred review


Reader Reviews
This was a book I had to keep reminding myself to slow down and savor - it's so engaging and so delicious - yet I kept wanting to read on and discover more. After all, this could not be a more timely topic. At a point in history when we are surrounded by spiritual starvation - people leaving churches in droves - and faced again and again with religious fundamentalism at home and abroad, Suzanne Strempek Shea's response is a personal one - she goes out and actively samples church services around the country, experiencing what they have to offer and asking herself if this is what it is all about, truly. By the end of this book I felt I had not only traveled roads to outlandish and inspiring places, but I also felt I had reached a personal revelation of what spirituality could be, whether or not it was tied to a religion, a creed, or a parcel of dogma. As I read I was amused, astonished, and sometimes shocked by the types of worship she observed, and ultimately I had to admit I was profoundly moved by what she showed me about faith and belief. For when we witness others' faith, we allow our own to grow. I cannot think of a book that is more relevant to spirituality today in the USA. I shall be giving copies to those friends I know who are sampling churches and chapels, looking for something that feels genuine. We should be profoundly thankful for this book. Allan Hunter Author of "Stories We Need To Know: Reading Your Life Path in Literature' www.allanhunter.net