July and August 2007
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Summer Reading

Of course, the literary event of the summer comes later this month with the July 21 publication of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. But until then, or for those who aren't fans of the boy wizard, there are plenty of good books to while away summer hours. Here are a few that I have particularly enjoyed over the past year. Some are current best sellers, some were published decades ago. All both entertained me and made me think long after the last pages were finished. If you have any comments on these books, or have others to suggest, go to The Forum  and tell us what you are reading this summer. Happy reading!

Fiction

Acts of Faith by Philip Caputo. Set against the backdrop of war in Sudan , Caputo looks at the lives of missionaries, aid workers, government workers and Sudanese tribes people in an area that is so dangerous that the United Nations will not enter it. Caputo vividly shows a world where there is no black and white, and where decisions made with the best of intentions have consequences that can never be imagined. For a look at life in war-torn Afghanistan read the excellent A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini.

The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards. On a snowy night in 1964, Norah Henry goes into labor. Unable to make it to the hospital, Norah's husband David, an orthopedic surgeon, delivers the baby himself at his office, with the help of his nurse. David delivers a healthy baby boy, then realizes there is another baby on the way. This one, a girl, has Down syndrome. With his wife still drugged and unconscious, David gives the baby girl to his nurse and tells her to take her to an institution, then tells his wife that the second baby died. Instead, the nurse flees to another state and raises the girl as her own. Edwards looks at the impact of lies and secrets on all involved over the next decades.

Silence by Shusaku Endo. A novel about Portuguese missionaries in 17th century Japan , at a time when Christianity is outlawed and authorities are relentless in persecuting those who secretly follow Jesus. When a Portuguese priest is captured and imprisoned he must rethink what is heresy and what it means to be a faithful follower of Christ.

Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky. The story of how this book about the occupation of France in World War II was published is almost a novel in itself. Nemirovsky, a Ukrainian-born Jew, was living in France when she began working on what she planned to be a five-part novel. But in 1942 she was arrested, sent to Auschwitz and died a month later. Somehow her daughters preserved her manuscript, but did not read it for 60 years. The novel was published last year.

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult. Talk about timing. This novel about a shooting at a New England high school was published just weeks before the tragic events at Virginia Tech this spring. In the 19 minutes of the shooting, 10 people were killed and dozens wounded. Among the survivors was the shooter himself, who, we learn, was picked on, bullied and tortured from his first day of kindergarten. Picoult masterfully weaves together the story of the shooter's life, the effects of the shooting on those who survived, and the cruelty of the caste system of high school. This book should be required reading for all parents, teachers, and teen-agers.

Nonfiction

Take This Bread: A Radical Conversion by Sara Miles. Hands down the most powerful book, fiction or nonfiction, that  I have read in a long time. Sara Miles is a journalist, a cook, and a dedicated atheist when she literally stumbles into St. Gregory's Episcopal Church in San Francisco one Sunday morning, takes communion, and is radically transformed. Take This Bread is the story of the inner and outer changes in her life brought about by her faith, centered in the sacrament of communion and the radical notion that all are welcome at Jesus' table.

A Wing and a Prayer by Katharine Jefferts Schori. A collection of sermons and essays by our new presiding bishop offers insights into her life, faith, and hopes for the church and the world.

Congregation: The Journey Back to Church by Gary Dorsey. A journalistic look at a year in the life of a Congregational church in Connecticut . For a similar book about an Episcopal Church, read Nora Gallagher's Things Seen and Unseen, a look at life during a liturgical year at Trinity Episcopal Church in Santa Barbara , California .

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Announcements

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Transitions

CONGRATULATIONS to Jana and Andy Delfino on the birth of their daughter, Hannah Margaret Delfino, on June 16.

CONGRATULATIONS to Margaret and Kyriakos Michaelides on the birth of their first grandchild, Kyriakos Michael Michaelides, son of Autumn and Michael Michaelides, born June 26.

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From the Organist and Choirmaster

Outreach News

Thanks from Tanzania

Thanks to the generosity of so many in our congregation, we were able to send $3,700 to Tanzania to buy mosquito nets and malaria medicine. The money went to the Rev. Dr. Dickson Chilongani, the dean of Msalata Theological School . Dickson will use the money to buy mosquito nets for students, staff and their families, and also for neighboring villagers who need them. He also will set some of the money aside to establish a much-needed fund to buy malaria medicine for those who have already contracted the disease and cannot afford to treat it.

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