Reflections
THE BEST MARKETPLACE MINISTRY BOOKS IN THE 20TH CENTURY
By Pete Hammond
Our InterVarsity Ministry-in-Daily-Life/Marketplace-faith team has now reviewed over 800 books in the field of faith in daily life, marketplace ministry or the church in the world Monday-Sunday. Over 700 of these critical evaluations can to be found in the Marketplace Annotated Bibliography, by Hammond, Stevens and Svanoe, published in 2002 by InterVarsity Press. Now we have begun doing reviews and evaluations of the newest books, as the next phase of this ongoing project.
Our InterVarsity Marketplace faith-and-work book collection now numbers over 1500 English language titles. The volume of resources is encouraging, while also being a bit overwhelming. Some of the works are not good additions to this church renewal and mobilization movement. Some are even embarrassing, in that they are shallow, less than biblically accurate, poorly written, ego-centric, or just confusing. But even these are a symptom of the church recovering the calling, privilege and responsibility of every believer to be an agent of the kingdom of God in their work on the job. To help sort out the best works, we have identified what we think are the “top ten best marketplace-faith books” in each of the last five decades of the 20th century.
Let us know what you think. Tell us your personal or organizational favorites. We will factor your input into our next edition of the Marketplace Annotated Bibliography. My personal all-time-favorites in each decade are bolded.
The 1950s Top Ten
- Day, Dorothy, Long Loneliness, The
- Kidner, Derek, Christian and the Arts, The
- Nelson, John Oliver (editor) Work and Vocation: A Christian Discussion
- Niebuhr, H, Richard, Christ and Culture
- Oldham, J.H., Work in Modern Society
- Pieper, Josef, Leisure: The Basis of Culture
- Richardson, Alan, Biblical Doctrines of Work, The
- Simon, Charlie May, Seed Shall Serve, A: The Story of the Spiritual Leader of Modern Japan
- Trueblood, Elton, Signs of Hope in a Century of Despair
- Trueblood, Elton, Your Other Vocation
- Catherwood, H.F.R., Christian Citizen, The
- Gibbs, Mark, God’s Frozen People
- Grimes, Howard, Rebirth of the Laity, The
- Harkness, Georgia, Church and its Laity, The
- Neill, Stephen and Hans-Rudi Weber, Layman in Christian History, The
- Newbigin, Lesslie, Honest Religion for Secular Man
- Phipps, Simon, God On Monday
- Stringfellow, William, Dissenter in a Great Society
- Trueblood, Elton, Presence of the Kingdom, The
- Wyszynski, Stefan, Deeds of the Faith, The
- Diehl, William E., Christianity and Real Life
- Feucht, Oscar E., Everyone is a Minister
- Foster, Richard J., Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth
- Foster, Richard J., Money, Sex, and Power, (re-published as The Challenge of the Disciplined Life)
- Gibbs, Mark, God’s Lively People
- Greenleaf, Robert K., Servant Leadership: A Journey into the Nature of Legitimate Power and Generation
- Peabody, Larry, Secular Work is Full Time Service
- Sayers, Dorothy L., Creed or Chaos?
- Sider, Ronald J., Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger
- White, John, Golden Cow, The: Materialism in the Twentieth Century Church
- De Pree, Max, Leadership is an Art
- Diehl, William E., Thank God It’s Monday
- Droel, William L., Confident and Competent: A Challenge for the Lay Church
- Haughy, John C., Converting 9 to 5: A Spirituality of Daily Work
- Rowthorn, Anne, Liberation of the Laity, The
- Sherman, Doug and William Hendricks, Your Work Matters to God
- Stevens, R. Paul., Liberating the Laity: Equipping All the Saints fo Ministry
- Stott, John, One People
- Tucker, Graham, Faith-Work Connection, The: A Practical Application of Christian Values in the Marketplace
- Walsh, Brian J., and J. Richard Middleton, Transforming Vision, The: Shaping a Christian World View
- Banks, Robert J., God the Worker: Journeys Into The Mind, Heart, and Imagination of God
- Banks, Robert J., Redeeming The Routines: Bringing Theology to Life
- Faivre, Alexander, Emergence of the Laity in the Early Church, The
- Greene, Mark, Thank God It’s Monday
- Hardy, Lee, Fabric of This World, The: Inquires into the Calling, Career, and the Design of Human Work
- McKenna, David, Love Your Work!
- Nash, Laura, Believers in Business
- Sider, Ronald J., Cup of Water, Bread of Life
- Stott, John, Contemporary Christian, The
- Volf, Miroslav, Work in the Spirit: Toward a Theology of Work
- Bakke, Ray, Theology as Big as a City
- Banks, Robert J., and R. Paul Stevens, Complete Book of Everyday Christianity, The
- Carter, Jimmy, Living Faith
- Gruder, Darrell L., Missional Church
- Guinness, Os, The Call
- Hill, Alexander, Just Business: Christian Ethics for the Marketplace
- Mead, Loren B., Once and Future Church, The
- Peterson, Eugene, Leap Over a Wall: Earthly Spirituality for Everyday Christians
- Willard, Dallas, Divine Conspiracy, The: Rediscovering Our Hidden Life in God
- Young, Andrew, An Easy Burden
- Banks, Robert J., Faith in Leadership: How Leaders Live Out Their Faith in Their Work and Why it Matters
- Briner, Bob, Final Roar
- Editors of the Life@Work Journal, Life@Work Book, The
- Meilaender, Gilbert C., Working: Its Meaning and Its Limits
- Palmer, Parker J., Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation
- Rodin, R. Scott, Stewards in the Kingdom
- Sire, James W., Habits of the Mind: Intellectual Life as a Christian Calling
- Staub, Dick, Too Christian; Too Pagan: How to Love the World Without Falling for It.
- Stevens, R. Paul, Other Six Days, The: Vocation, Work, and Ministry in Biblical Perspective
We are beginning the work of reviewing over 500 books not currently included in our 2002 Annotated Bibliography. If you would like to submit a review of a book you have read, we are accepting 75-150 word critical reviews for our consideration. Please include the author(s); author’s vocation; title of publication; publisher and year published; type of cover (hard, paper, leather); and the number of pages. If the author’s religious affiliation is mentioned on the jacket or in his/her bio, please reference that as well (Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Protestant, Evangelical, Charismatic, etc.) We prefer the reviews to be candid, noting strengths, weaknesses or other concerns you have. We want to help our audiences make informed choices.
Send your submission to:
InterVarsity Marketplace
6400 Schroeder Road
Madison, WI 53711
or email: phammond@intervarsity.org
We look forward to hearing from you!
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