I am a lover of books—fiction and non-fiction, new and old, religious and secular. My bookshelves hold a place of significance in my office and my home, serving as both an aesthetic focal point and a place of meditation as I gaze upon a veritable rainbow of spines and am reminded of the words, stories and messages held within each volume.

Being able to read these books that I hold so dear is a privilege. According to The World Factbook, 200 years ago only 12 percent of adults could read, and as recently as 50 years ago the literacy rate for women around the world was still less than 60 percent. With this in mind, I don’t take the hours I spent as a young girl consuming The Baby-Sitters Club and Little House on the Prairie books for granted.

Over the years, God has used this gift of literacy to speak to me time and time again. While God can, and does, speak through nature and music, shared meals and a hug from a friend, for me, as for so many others, he has often chosen to speak to me through the written word.

As Nathan Foster, host of Renovaré’s Life With God podcast, says, “The right book at the right time can make a massive difference in our lives, propelling a trajectory shift, a marker of transformation,” and this has certainly been true for me. Fictional characters have befriended me in moments of loneliness, while spiritual formation books have provided me with fresh insights into the character of God in moments of seeking and questioning.

With this in mind, here are five books that hold a place of significance for me on my spiritual journey:

Searching for Sunday by Rachel Held Evans

Ultimately, this book made me feel like I was not alone. As a twenty-something, I wrestled with the concept of church and the role I wanted it to play as I transitioned into adulthood. In this beautiful, vulnerable and hopeful memoir, Evans shares her personal journey to understand church and find her place in it, experiences that mirror my own.

The Bible Tells Me So … by Peter Enns

I was, unashamedly, that girl in Sunday school with all the questions about the Bible, which is probably why I found Peter Enns’ book, The Bible Tells Me So …, refreshing. It’s full of hard questions about Scripture while acknowledging that sometimes there aren’t answers. “The Bible isn’t a cookbook,” Enns explains. “When we open the Bible and read it, we are eavesdropping on an ancient spiritual journey.”

Enns’ book renewed in me a deep love of the Bible while challenging the way I had read it for years. A contextual Bible scholar, Enns leans heavily into historical, sociological and other contextual data to help understand the biblical text, which I thoroughly enjoyed. 

The Very Good Gospel by Lisa Sharon Harper

Harper’s book pushed me outside my individualized Western view of the gospel to a more holistic view of creation and shalom within it. Chapter by chapter, Harper considers how the gospel works to rebuild connectedness within our world, healing relationships in our lives: with God, with ourselves, between genders, within creation, between races and so on, emphasizing the collective hope that is ours through Jesus on this side of eternity.

The Making of Biblical Womanhood by Beth Allison Barr

Having been raised in a denomination that, when I was young, was not ordaining women, and then transitioning to a faith tradition that prides itself on female leadership, I found this book deeply personal. Weaving together historical knowledge, theological insights and personal experience, Barr gave me insights into how the subjugation of women became prevalent in the church and the language to communicate the importance of seeking an egalitarian future.

A Church Called Tov by Scot McKnight and Laura Barringer

In the wake of numerous allegations against the church, calling out toxic leadership models and sexual abuse scandals, I found myself lamenting the way in which noxious church cultures had formed and persisted around unhealthy leaders. What’s more, I felt a silent accusation forming around all church leaders, and I began to feel restless in my calling.

A Church Called Tov suggests a pathway to healing for the church, and McKnight and Barringer hold to the promise that, while churches will never be perfect, they can be tov, the Hebrew word for good, if they are committed to cultivating empathy, grace, people above institution, truth, justice, service and Christlikeness. And through suggesting ways of healing the church, this book helped my soul to heal, too.

Which books would be on your list? 

CAPTAIN LAURA VAN SCHAICK is the corps officer at Barrhaven Church in Ottawa, and the divisional secretary for women’s ministries in the Ontario Division.

Photo: New Africa/stock.Adobe.com

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