Many young idealists, after a few failures, burn out and return to status quo lives. Not so with the seven radicals in this book, who met in an interracial house church and intentional community on Chicago's West Side during the civil rights era. Here you will make the acquaintance of a Church of the Brethren pastoral couple who tried to bring communal life to the black ghetto; a fashionable socialite who trashed her curlers and joined the simple life; an elite Stanford graduate who cast his lot with a bus full of black teens on an epic ride to Washington, DC, to hear MLK's "I Have a Dream" speech; two ethnic-Mennonite women who became community leaders and elders during a male-dominated era; and a painfully shy "geek" awakened to the traumas of racism by five days in the Albany, Georgia, jail. Now, in their seventies, eighties, and nineties, these veterans of community witness to the possibility of radical life conversions, engagement with the hard, slow work of racial reconciliation that learns from mistakes and does not quit. This book concludes with the invitation to the joyful path of becoming who God made us to be--saints.
Many young idealists, after a few failures, burn out and return to status quo lives. Not so with the seven radicals in this book, who met in an interracial house church and intentional community on Chicago's West Side during the civil rights era. Here you will make the acquaintance of a Church of the Brethren pastoral couple who tried to bring communal life to the black ghetto; a fashionable socialite who trashed her curlers and joined the simple life; an elite Stanford graduate who cast his lot with a bus full of black teens on an epic ride to Washington, DC, to hear MLK's "I Have a Dream" speech; two ethnic-Mennonite women who became community leaders and elders during a male-dominated era; and a painfully shy "geek" awakened to the traumas of racism by five days in the Albany, Georgia, jail. Now, in their seventies, eighties, and nineties, these veterans of community witness to the possibility of radical life conversions, engagement with the hard, slow work of racial reconciliation that learns from mistakes and does not quit. This book concludes with the invitation to the joyful path of becoming who God made us to be--saints.
David Janzen is a member of Reba Place Fellowship in Evanston, Illinois. He has worked as a teacher, affordable housing developer, refugee asylum program manager, and nurturer of the latest generation of intentional Christian communities. He is the author of several publications on Christian community leadership, including The Intentional Christian Community Handbook: For Idealists, Hypocrites, and Wannabe Disciples of Jesus (2012).
"Wisdom is never abstract but always embodied in particular and
often peculiar human lives. In pursuit of God's kingdom of justice
and peace, these seven idealistic young people persevered through
disillusionment, personal failure, and fatigue to become exemplars
of spiritual wisdom. David Janzen, himself a radical elder and
beneficiary of their wisdom, artfully renders the contours of their
cruciform lives for a new generation. May the Spirit work through
these stories to empower and equip them!"
--Alden Bass, Assistant Professor of Theology, Oklahoma Christian
University
"A man discovers a hidden treasure and joyfully sells all he has to
get it--Jesus says that is what finding God's kingdom is like.
Where is that kind of joyful discovery actually happening? This
book profiles seven ordinary people whose discovery of that
treasure forges lives of extraordinary beauty and eternal impact.
Read this book. Here is unmistakable good news, hope, and wisdom
for all of us looking for the real treasure Jesus offers."
--Kent Smith, Chair, Eden Center for Regenerative Culture;
co-author of Joy-Fueled: Catalyzing a Revolution of Joyful
Communities
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