APC 2011 Book of the Year and Top 10 List

The Academy of Parish Clergy, Inc. announces the 2011 Book of the Year Award to be Building Cultures of Trust by Martin E. Marty (William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company). The Book of the Year Award is given to the best book published for parish ministry in the previous year. In addition, the Reference Book of the Year Award is given to Mark (Belief: A Theological Commentary on the Bible series) by William C. Placher (Westminster/John Knox Press). These awards were made at the Annual Conference of the Academy, February 15-17, 2011, at the Canterbury Retreat and Conference Center, Orlando, FL.  Dr. Raymond Williams received the award on behalf of Bill Placher, who died prior to the publication of this commentary.

In addition to the Book of the Year, the Academy has selected the following books as the Top Ten Books for Parish Ministry published in 2010. The following list, after the listing for Martin Marty is listed alphabetically according to title.

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2011 Book of the Year List (all books published in 2010) 

Building Cultures of Trust by Martin E. Marty (William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company)

A New Kind of Christianity: Ten Questions That Are Transforming The Faith by Brian D. McLaren (HarperOne)

Death and Afterlife: A Theological Introduction by Terence Nichols (Brazos Press)

Hannah's Child: A Theological Memoir by Stanley Hauerwas (William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company)

Listening to Children of the Spiritual Journey: Guidance for Those Who Teach and Nurture by Catherine Stonehouse and Scottie May (Baker)

Made For Goodness: And Why this Makes All the Difference by Desmond Tutu and Mpho Tutu (HarperOne)

Practice Resurrection: A Conversation on Growing Up In Christ by Eugene H. Peterson (William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company)

Preaching the Gospel of Matthew: Proclaiming God's Presence by Stanley P. Saunders (Westminster/John Knox)

Reframing Hope: Vital Ministry in a New Generation by Carol Howard Merritt (The Alban Institute)

Through Their Eyes: A Peoples View of the Global Church by F. Dean Leuking (Trya Books)

Reference Book of the Year

Mark (Belief: A Theological Commentary on the Bible series) by William C. Placher (Westminster/John Knox)

Teaching and Learning -- Thoughts by Anthony Robinson

Anthony B. Robinson's book What's Theology Got to Do with It? (Alban, 2006) was named as one of the Academy of Parish Clergy's Ten Best Books published in 2006. In this week's Alban Weekly newsletter, a selection from that book is found.

Entitled "Pastor as Teacher, Congregation as Learning Community," this article lays out the importance of the teaching role of the pastor and the importance of the congregation being a learning community. This is especially true today, living as we do in a pluralistic culture, where we can no longer depend on the culture to inculcate the values and teachings of the faith.

Here is a snippet, but read the whole piece:

While pastors and congregations must make choices among the array of possible priorities before them, my argument is not so much that the pastoral role of teacher and theologian and the congregational one of a teaching and learning community are to be preferred to others. Rather, my argument is that such an understanding gives order and coherence to the many functions and activities of clergy and congregations. We are in the business, or so it seems to me, of teaching and embodying a way of life, a particular way of being human in relationship to God. In all that we do, both as religious leaders and as congregations, we teach. Sometimes the lessons we teach are not consistent with the faith and values we profess, but right or wrong, faithful or derelict, we teach, we model, we form, and we inform.

Academy of Parish Clergy Book of the Year and Top Ten Books of 2006

Book of the Year
and Top Ten Books of 2006

Chosen by the Academy of Parish Clergy

Presented April 25, 2007 at APC’s Annual Conference, Princeton, NJ

The Book of the Year of 2006:

Christianity for the Rest of Us: How the Neighborhood Church is Transforming the Faith, by Diana Butler Bass (HarperCollins Publishers, 2006).

The remaining Top Ten Books (in alphabetical order by author’s name):

Conspiracy and Imprisonment 1940-1945 (Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works, Volume 16), by Dietrich Bonhoeffer (Fortress Press, 2006)

Jesus: Uncovering the Life, Teachings and Relevance of a Religious Revolutionary, by Marcus J. Borg, (HarperSanFrancisco, 2006).

Gentle Shepherding: Pastoral Ethics and Leadership, by Joseph E. Bush Jr. (Chalice Press, 2006)

The Sense of Call: A Sabbath Way of Life for Those Who Serve God, The Church, and the World, by Marva J. Dawn (William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2006)

What’s Theology Got To Do With It? Conviction, Vitality, and the Church, by Anthony B.Robinson, (Alban, 2006).

Cities of God: The Real Story of How Christianity Became an Urban Movement and Conquered Rome, by Rodney Stark (HarperSanFrancisco, 2006)

Congregational Leadership in Anxious Times: Being Calm and Courageous No Matter What, by Peter L. Steinke (Alban Institute, 2006)

God in Public: Four Ways American Christianity and Public Life Relate, by Mark G. Toulouse (Westminster/John Knox, 2006)Press)

Simply Christian: Why Christianity Makes Sense, by N. T. Wright (Harper SanFrancisco, 2006)

This year the Academy of Parish Clergy also honors Pentateuch (handwritten and illuminated by Donald Jackson), published by the Liturgical Press, as the first of seven volumes of the Saint John’s Bible produced by the Order of Saint Benedict, St. John’s Abbey, Collegeville, Minnesota.