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    Accidental Saints
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    Accidental Saints
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    Accidental Saints
    Ebook208 pages2 hours

    Accidental Saints

    By Nadia Bolz-Weber 

    4.5/5

    ()

    Unavailable in your country

    Unavailable in your country

    About this ebook

    What if the annoying person you try to avoid is actually an accidental saint in your life? What if, even in our failings, holy moments are waiting to happen? Nadia Bolz-Weber demonstrates what happens when ordinary people meet to explore the Christian faith. Their faltering steps towards wholeness will ring true for believer and sceptic alike.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherCanterbury Press
    Release dateOct 27, 2015
    ISBN9781848258259
    Unavailable
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    Reviews for Accidental Saints

    4.5/5

    96 ratings12 reviews

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    • 5/5
      I am a nice Jewish girl who works at an ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) college. As a non-Christian deeply invested in the ELCA my viewpoint is perhaps a unique one. I started reading this book over a year ago. I read the first few essays, and was interested, intended to return (I often read books of essays in pieces) but somehow never did. In the meantime I picked up my life, stopped working in a Jewish nonprofit in Atlanta and moved to Fargo and began working at a wonderful college that is part of a denomination for which I have come to have the greatest respect. In my position I have had the privilege to have long and complex conversations with scholars and theologians with both traditional and progressive views of the future of Christianity, Christian education, and of the ELCA. Next week our campus will be hosting Nadia Bolz-Weber, and I will have the pleasure of dining with her before her presentation, so the time was right to return to this book. I am so glad I did, and I am also glad that I did not finish the book the first time because I came at it this time with a deeper understanding of Jesus' teachings, the ELCA, where it has been, and where it might be going.I recommend this book to anyone and everyone, but I do think it is best suited to those who have some New Testament knowledge (not necessarily faith, just understanding.) I am not sure I fully understood "grace" before this, but I do now. And I see it is beautiful even when it is not at all pretty. I love that Bolz-Weber was dragged into faith kicking and screaming, and yet she is a person who sees the divine light within each person with stunning clarity. I do not have the compassion or self-awareness Bolz-Weber brings to life, but I too was brought to faith against my will, and I feel a sense of kinship. And speaking of clarity, this woman is a master of making difficult biblical parables clear, even when they are ugly. She doesn't pretend to know all, she doesn't run from ambiguity, she acknowledges it and wanders around in it, but she is smart and educated and she brings us along on her wanderings and from those journeys the reader is drawn to questions she might not otherwise have asked.We frequently see a very particular brand of Christianity around us now in the US, and this other brand and its liturgy, the one Bolz-Weber espouses, it sounds a whole lot like what Jesus actually had to say. At least to this nice Jewish girl who works in a Christian college.
    • 5/5
      I love this book. Nadia Bolz-Weber as ever tells life how it is. She is honest,open and challenging in the stories she tells about her relationships with some unlikely Saints. Her writing brings me up short on how I sometimes see and react to other people.A great book for all thinking about community - especially in the context of church
    • 4/5
      The honesty and hilarity of Nadia Bolz-Weber really shine through these pages. Her's is an experience in faith and spirituality that I can really relate to. She describes her difficulty in excepting people as exactly how they are, yet these same people help shape and change her own understanding of faith. I really enjoy her perspective, her "realness" and her ability to make me laugh. What she is able to learn from others I am know more aware when I go out into the world among my fellows. (Pastrix was her first novel, and that by all accounts is a must-read)
    • 5/5
      Accidental Saints: Finding God in All the Wrong People by Nadia Bolz-Weber Bolz-Weber is just genius. She finds things in parts of the word that I never would have interpreted that way but then make so much sense. My favorite was the Advent list. There are so many things I would love for Jesus to steal like a thief in the night. I feel like part of my daily work is trying my best discard them.
      There are many more examples of ways that she strives to live the word. That's the best way that I can describe that lifestyle and it's something I need to work on. I have to admit, too, that I feel like this message was made easier for me than some, courtesy of Brene Brown because it requires us to be vulnerable.
      Everything here, this is what I want at my church. It's not just her genius way of looking at scripture but the way scripture makes her look at people. The vulnerability. The healing. That perfect is neither required nor is a perfect image desired but that we will take all of each person, no matter how awful you feel you are or how much you don't think you deserve it. I've had it before but I had to move. I'm looking for it again. I hope her ideas and her look at what scripture means in our lives continue to flourish. I hope it finds everyone that needs it and I hope that we can revitalize Christianity with this vision of religion and what it means to follow Christ.

      This is one of those books that I wish I could just recommend to everyone but fear that not everyone is ready for it at the same time. Also, not everyone is Christian. But if you are or even if you were raised that way and rejected it or if you aren't sure what Christianity is all about, than read this one. Not everyone will agree with me, but I firmly believe that this is what Christianity is supposed to be about and not necessarily things like tithing and guilt.
    • 5/5
      Series of thoughtful vignettes by the heavily tattooed pastor and founder of Denver's HOUSE OF ALL SAINTS AND SINNERS Lutheran congregation. The chapters tell of her interactions with her quirky parishioners and illustrate the many ways in which she and they stumble over God's inexplicable grace.
    • 5/5
      Nadia has a way of bringing life to the mundane and ugly, reminding us that God works in so many places we never expect Him to. I so much appreciate her reminders that we are all so human that we should not be surprised we have flaws and be thankful that God uses us flawed beings to bring love and mercy to each other. Christianity is more about life than it is about spiritual practice, and when we fail in our spiritual practices or they simply leave us dry, God has a way of getting through to us anyway. This book makes me want to visit her church!
    • 5/5
      In the spirit on honesty, I'd like to state that I typically avoid books by Christian authors. I have an uncontrollable phobia of platitudes and easy answers. This book was different and Bolt-Weber doesn't claim to have all the answers, which immediately got my attention and respect.Nadia Boltz-Weber's writing is raw and honest. She asks a lot of questions, and sometimes those questions don't have answers. There's no formula on how to live a perfect life or list of rules to follow in order to gain sainthood in this book. However, what the author does show us how to do is recognize the beauty in other people, even when it take unconventional forms. The book contains stories about real people, and the author confesses her own mistakes and shortcomings that helped her to see God more clearly through other people. Highly recommended reading.Note: I was given a free ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
    • 5/5
      I needed the raw honesty of this book. We've needed her voice.
    • 5/5
      Gave me quite a bit to think about regarding my place in my own church and what it means to be a Christian. A bit more raw than Rachel Held Evans or Anne Lamott, but equally inspiring. Will return to this book often, I think.
    • 4/5
      If Pastrix is a personal memoir of becoming a pastor, then Accidental Saints is about becoming and being a Christian. It challenges me to rethink my relationship to other people and to love them and be loved as God loves us. It's not quite as wildly irreverent as Pastrix, but it is deeply moving and beautiful. 4.5 stars.
    • 5/5
      A tattoed Lutheran pastor who drops the f-word in speech and in writing, who goes where others might fear to be seen, and who sees her own flaws with startlingly honest clarity, Nadia Bolz-Weber has written an absolute must-read book on Christian life and living. It’s a surprisingly liturgical book, following the lessons and prescripted prayers of a liturgical year. But it’s also an account of churching the unchurched, being Christ to the unloved, and offering hope to sinners, whatever their faith. It’s a book about action, not statements of faith. It's filled with real life, real grit, and real conviction. And it's a really good read!The author claims near the end of the book that she’s religious, not spiritual. This surprises me as I’ve often made the opposite claim. But Nadia’s “religious” isn’t the following of form without content. It’s a religiousness that lets liturgy nourish the soul. “'Spiritual' feels individual and escapist,” she writes. “But to be religious... is to be human in the midst of other humans who are as equally messed up and obnoxious and forgiven as ourselves.” If that’s the case, I’ll call myself religious too.In Accidental Saints, you’ll meet neighbors, obnoxious and otherwise. You’ll travel with them on the roads of life, face fears, fall flat on your face, and be lifted up by the unexpected wonder of it all. How do you cope when someone’s one-second mistake has destroyed a life? How do you offer comfort to a stranger who doesn’t believe? How do you change Christianity’s condemnation into Christian welcome and hope? Reading Accidental Saints is surely a good start. It’s also a journey where laugh-out-loud moments balance pathos, deep thoughts offer serious inspiration, and, yeah, you'll hear some swearing too.Disclosure: I received this book from Blogging for Books and I offer my honest review.
    • 5/5
      This is a very thought-provoking book, peppered, as the author's autobiography was, with decidedly ‘strong’ language. Nadia Bolz-Weber is a Lutheran pastor who has found the heart of the Gospel, finding Jesus in the unlikely - and sometimes unlikeable - people she meets. Each chapter tells a different story, and what shines through most is the lack of judgementalism. The author freely acknowledges her biases and mistakes, and through it all God emerges as the one who matters most. There was much to think about in almost every chapter.I would this recommend this book to anyone, with the warning that some may be shocked, even offended by the crude language. It’s not on every page; the writing is mostly friendly, clear and intelligent. I’m aware that by mentioning this I’m in danger of being judgemental myself on this issue. Clearly a heavily tattooed strong-speaking woman pastor is herself an ‘accidental saint’ in the minds of many, and this book an unexpected gem.