Books by Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove

Voted Best Book of 2010 by Englewood Review of Books"e;In whatever place you live, do not easily leave it."e; -Abba AnthonyIn an age where we might email a friend in Africa, skype a co-worker in Brazil, and teleconference with people in different time zones-all in one day-the sheer speed of life can be dizzying. Like children stumbling off a merry-go-round, says Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, we are grasping for something to anchor our lives in a sea of constant change. In The Wisdom of Stability, Wilson-Hartgrove illuminates the biblical and monastic understanding of why staying in one place is both a virtue and good for you. "e;For the Christian tradition,"e; he writes, "e;the heart's true home is a life rooted in the love of God."e; When we cultivate an inner stability of heart - by rooting ourselves in the places where we live, engaging the people we are with, and by the simple rhythms of tending to body and soul - true growth can happen. The Wisdom of Stability is a must-read for pastors, leaders, and anyone seeking an authentic path of Christian transformation.

''To Baghdad and Beyond'' is the story of a young evangelical couple who followed the conviction of their faith into a war zone and discovered an alternative to the violence of empires and the complicity of quietism in the ""third way"" of Jesus''s beloved community. Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove writes of his journey from a rural Southern Baptist church to Iraq in a time of war to a Christian community of hospitality in an urban neighborhood. Excited by ways that Christian hope is taking concrete form, Wilson-Hartgrove describes a new monastic movement that is witnessing to a world at war that another way is possible.""Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove takes us with him on a journey, a trip toward the biblical ''Babylon,'' helping us to see the truth about ourselves and our culture. Here is a retrieval of truly evangelical Christianity - truthful, prophetic, vibrant, apocalyptic, and by God''s grace, hopeful. What a great trip!""Will Willimon, Bishop, the North Alabama Conference of the United Methodist Church""''To Baghdad and Beyond'' tells of a voyage beyond the horizon, to an embattled city. But the story is no simple excursion into the unknown. It tells of inner transformation, from collusive silence and inertia to an energetic torrent of service - from a cultural dead end, defaulting and self-defeated, to a biblical ''third way,'' the way of Jesus, of nonviolent resistance. Let the ''official'' churches fret and turn in their sleep. A new dawn approaches. Its signature is Hope.""Daniel Berrigan, S.J.""When Christians in the early church read the book of Revelation, they understood its symbolism. They realized that Babylon, the wicked city described in the latter part of this book, referred to the dominant societal system in which they lived. It referred to the Roman Empire.""As contemporary American Christians read the book of Revelation within the dominant societal system in which we live, we must ask ourselves whether or not our own nation-state has become the modern equivalent of the Roman Empire. We must ask, ''Has America become Babylon?'' That is the question that Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove endeavors to answer.""Tony Campolo, From the PrefaceJonathan Wilson-Hartgrove lives with his wife, Leah, and other friends at the Rutba House, a new monastic community of hospitality, peacemaking, and discipleship in Durham, North Carolina. (www.newmonasticism.org)

If the church is more than just a building, what could it mean to live in it--to inhabit it as a way of life? From their location in new monastic communities, Otto, Stock, and Wilson-Hartgrove ask what the church can learn from St. Benedict''s vows of conversion, obedience, and stability about how to live as the people of God in the world. In storytelling and serious engagement with Scripture, old wisdom breathes life into a new monasticism. But, like all monastic wisdom, these reflections are not just for monks. They speak directly to the challenge of being the church in America today and the good news Christ offers for the whole world.Conversations between contemporary Christian communities and Benedictine monasticism are among the most surprising and promising in the church today. Given that the roots of monasticism and of contemporary Protestantism lie in different parts of the Christian tradition, mutual engagement between contemporary Christians and monastics has been rare. Recently, however, the scene has shifted, and Inhabiting the Church represents the new eagerness to learn the art of living together faithfully from experienced and ancient practitioners.--Christine D. Pohl from the foreword""Protestants looking for a richer, thicker, more robust and enchanted way of living into the Christian story should not ignore this invitation into the rhythms and cadences of Benedictine spirituality. Indeed, only one kind of person should avoid this book: the reader who does not wish to be changed.""--Lauren F. Winner author of Girl Meets God and Real Sex ""This book is a timely intersection of the new and ancient, breathing fresh life into an aging body. An older generation will find this book a long-awaited reassurance that the Spirit is still stirring radical nonconformity on the margins of empires. And the contemporary renewal of new monastics and prophetic tricksters will find a cure for the pretension and sloppiness that can so often taint our vision or tempt us to pretend that there is ''something new under the sun.'' With both courage and humility, we will all find ourselves invited to inhabit the incarnational body that makes God visible to the world . . . May it inspire all of us to become the church that God longs for."" --Shane Claiborne author of The Irresistible Revolution, founding member of The Simple Way, and recovering sinner""These folks are bringing things both old and new out of the great Christianstorehouse! The New Monasticism is discovering what is alwaysrediscovered--and always bears great life for the Gospel.""--Fr. Richard Rohr, O.F.M.Center for Action and ContemplationAlbuquerque, New MexicoJon Stock is a member of Church of the Servant King, publisher of Wipf and Stock, and proprietor of Windows Booksellers in Eugene, Oregon.Tim Otto serves as an Associate Pastor of the Church of the Sojourners in San Francisco. He is also a part-time nurse at the San Francisco county hospital, working with AIDS and cancer patients.Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove is a member of Rutba House in Durham, North Carolina. He is the author of To Baghdad and Beyond.

Fifty-two readings on living in intentional Christian community to spark group discussion.Gold Medal Winner, 2017 Illumination Book Awards, Christian LivingSilver Medal Winner, 2017 Benjamin Franklin Award in Religion, Independent Book Publishers AssociationWhy, in an age of connectivity, are our lives more isolated and fragmented than ever? And what can be done about it? The answer lies in the hands of God's people. Increasingly, today's Christians want to be the church, to follow Christ together in daily life. From every corner of society, they are daring to step away from the status quo and respond to Christ's call to share their lives more fully with one another and with others. As they take the plunge, they are discovering the rich, meaningful life that Jesus has in mind for all people, and pointing the church back to its original calling: to be a gathered, united community that demonstrates the transforming love of God.Of course, such a life together with others isn't easy. The selections in this volume are, by and large, written by practitioners-people who have pioneered life in intentional community and have discovered in the nitty-gritty of daily life what it takes to establish, nurture, and sustain a Christian community over the long haul.Whether you have just begun thinking about communal living, are already embarking on sharing life with others, or have been part of a community for many years, the pieces in this collection will encourage, challenge, and strengthen you. The book's fifty-two chapters can be read one a week to ignite meaningful group discussion.Contributors include from John F. Alexander, Eberhard Arnold, J. Heinrich Arnold, Johann Christoph Arnold, Alden Bass, Benedict of Nursia, Christoph Friedrich Blumhardt, Leonardo Boff, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Joan Chittister, Stephen B. Clark, Andy Crouch, Dorothy Day, Anthony de Mello, Elizabeth Dede, Catherine de Hueck Doherty, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Jenny Duckworth, Friedrich Foerster, Richard J. Foster, Jodi Garbison, Arthur G. Gish, Helmut Gollwitzer, Adele J Gonzalez, Stanley Hauerwas, Joseph H. Hellerman, Roy Hession, David Janzen, Rufus Jones, Emmanuel Katongole, Arthur Katz, Soren Kierkegaard, C. Norman Kraus, C.S. Lewis, Gerhard Lohfink, Ed Loring, Chiara Lubich, George MacDonald, Thomas Merton, Hal Miller, Jose P. Miranda, Jurgen Moltmann, Charles E. Moore, Henri J. M. Nouwen, Elizabeth O'Connor, John M. Perkins, Eugene H.Peterson, Christine D. Pohl, Chris Rice, Basilea Schlink, Howard A. Snyder, Mother Teresa, Thomas a Kempis, Elton Trueblood, Jean Vanier, and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove.