Accidental Saints

July 6, 2015
Bolz-Weber, pastor of the House for All Saints and Sinners in Denver, Colo., presents a compulsively readable account of her meetings with many remarkable sinners who still retain the glimmers of God’s grace. Bolz-Weber isn’t your typical pastor; she is an ordained minister in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, covered in tattoos, often profane, and convinced that God can be met in the darkest places, just as readily as in any church. Stepping through the liturgical year, reflecting on the deepest meanings of Christ’s presence in these rites, the author deftly explains why God’s love should be the heart of every sacred (and secular) experience. There is great healing to be found in this kind of preaching. Some readers may blanch at her often rough language, but her love for God and for humankind shines through on every page.

September 15, 2015
Bolz-Weber follows up her 2014 Pastrix with a collection of stories from her current pastoral life as the leader of the Lutheran congregation House for All Sinners and Saints. Although her own experiences as a rebel, addict, and current-day badass are still essential to the stories here, the focus is more specifically on how she finds her own burgeoning understanding and communication of Christian doctrine in everyday situations (presiding at a friend's deathbed, traveling abroad with a tour group of strangers). Warm, witty, and unafraid to expose her own faults, Bolz-Weber is also well educated and respectful of both her congregants and her readers. Many of the chapters here are tied to specific liturgical events and seasons (Lent, Easter), while others focus on rites (absolution, prayers for the departed). Never stuffy or doctrinaire, this is a book for any reader with curiosity about Christianity as a lived practice as well as feminists who are interested in a model who functions in a male-dominated context.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)