Books
The Eastern Territory maintains a Publications Council for which it considers books to be published by the territory. This is not its only function, but is an important part of what we do.
I'm interested...
What kind of books should we publish?
What subjects would you reccomend?
What authors do you think we should consider?
and...
How about some sample book titles that you would read?
1 Chronicles 16:24 (MSG)
"Publish his glory among the godless nations, his wonders to all races and religions."
I'm interested...
What kind of books should we publish?
What subjects would you reccomend?
What authors do you think we should consider?
and...
How about some sample book titles that you would read?
1 Chronicles 16:24 (MSG)
"Publish his glory among the godless nations, his wonders to all races and religions."
posted by Jim Knaggs | 9:37 PM
17 Comments:
I have recently since being at the Training School feel in love with books. And since you asked the question of kinds of books, I really love history books, specifically SA history, maybe even a biography section. I really love history, and would enjoy any book on SA history.
Ooh! Books!! Now you're right up my alley. I shall ponder these questions and get back to you... ~Karen~
I know set prayers are not our 'thing' but in practice, praying twice daily is easier based around,but not limited to, set prayers and they come in very handy here and there with small gatherings. So I would value a daily prayer book - I don't mean a bible reading and a sentence or two of prayer, rather a simple morning and evening service with room for extemporary prayer and praise as well. It occurs to me that the new Anabaptist prayer book (which I use for lack of an army one) would be beautifully adaptable - using songs from the SASB. The Mennonites would probably love the idea of contributing their very simple and beautiful liturgy. Some of us at least would use it, regularly or now and again. The other thing that would be fun would be an SA "Saints" calendar with short and snappy bios of SA people and their place in our history. We surely have enough!
:o)
Contact Paul Harvey and publish "The Salvation Army--the Rest of the Story" There are so many incredible stories throughout SA history of forgotten and lost people who were found in or by The Salvation Army. Lives have been redeemed and changed and within a generation, whole families have been radically transformed. The stories are so compelling, it would have an audience outside of the Army as well.
There are stories of those who have been helped by the Army and excelled in their field with some credit going to work (really workers) from the Army. I think of Dr. J. There are many Army officers whose lives began very humbly, but were radically transformed. One of the stories I love most is of a CO in a small town going out to visit a family on the edge of town that he had been told was in some need. The family got assistance and began attending the Army. The CO's last name was Hepburn. The family's name was DeMichael. And years later, in Quincy, MA, the bandmaster's last name was Hepburn and a fellow by the last name of DeMichael led the songsters. Help me with the facts, Brett, but that's an amazing story.
Surely there are other stories out there.
Paul Harvey loves the Army. I think it would be a great collaboration.
i agree with drew....that is a great idea...my mom's story...is also a great one....
i have another idea...steve and sharon bussey could also write a book...on history replaying itself..on army roots...and new army evangelism strategies...i love volunteerting other people!!!!
My first response is actually in the form of a question—who are you publishing for? So many of the books published by the Army are only known within in the Army… and that is if they are known in the Army. There are so many Salvationist who don’t know about Army publications because they don’t have access to Trade’s inventory/stock. Like Dave said, I wonder if we should be expanding our visibility thought books. Should we be partnering with more Christian booksellers to further marketing? We have so many amazing writers that just no one knows about. If the point of Army publications are to produce just for Army readership, you are accomplishing that—otherwise, I wonder how we can change…
What kind of books should we publish? What kind of books should we publish? - I thoroughly enjoyed “The First Dysfunctional Family.” I know that wasn’t a territorial publication, but I use that as an example. It truly was “A modern guide to the book of Genesis.” I think we need more books along these lines. We need books that put Biblical books and/or Biblical themes in a modern day context. I enjoy books that are enlightening but also entertaining.
What authors do you think we should consider? - I am always intrigued by the stories that come out of the YS Creativity contest. I am convinced that there are plenty of Salvationists of all ages who are publishable-worthy. There has got to be a way to find these people that are part of our congregations who have brilliant stories, brilliant writings, and brilliant pieces of poetry and see how to go about publishing them. There is probably a definite chance no one else is willing to give them a second look. One of my college profs just finished a book and I saw all that he had to go through. It’s a difficult process and I think that if we can identify local Salvationist writers and encourage them, we can make that process just a little easier on them.
How about some sample book titles that you would read? - I love catchy titles and catchy covers. If a book has a catchy title, I’m more apt to pick it up and read the blurb of what it is about. Also if it has a catchy cover, it piques my interest and again, I’ll flip to the back cover. Further, some of the Crest books titles that I’ve seen I have never quite understood what they meant. They may be catchy, but I just don’t get it. If you have to explain the title, then there isn’t much interest for me. So, though I can’t give you “sample book titles” I can honestly say that if you have a catchy title and it’s relative to the books content- great.
~Karen~
You're just about right, Drew, though it was my Dad's mom's family, so the name wasn't DeMichael - close, though.
I am intrigued by the "people stories" as well. Being the "camp person" that I am, and the camping ministry such an integral, unique aspect of the Army, I've always thought someone could compile a book of camp stories. I volunteer Larry for that project!
Actually, I plan to show these comments to the Publications Council. You did post it on the www.
Any more?
How about authors' names?
Mmm...books....I have a list of books a mean to buy...a list of books that I have bought and mean to read...
I love the Army stories idea - wasn't it DC Talk, or some other 'trendy band' that published their own martyr book, wouldn't that be kinda cool if we had our own wee TSA one, or is that a stupid idea?
I'd like to see a "Complete Idiots Guide to Understanding Salvationist Traditions, Symbols and Ceremonies." I don't know if it was just me that missed the boat, but I would really like to know the rhyme and reason for some of what we do. If there are good reasons then all well and good, but if some don't know the reasoning behind it, then it loses it's meaning. I am not downing it all, sometimes I'd just like to be 3 again for five minutes and have a series of "Why" questions answered for me.
We have a beautiful history, that is so unique, let's not forget it.
Also, while we are at it, anything that will educate us in scripture; our bible knowledge is sadly poor. What can we do about that? Like General Tillsley's "Life in the Spirit" taught us and challenged us on Doctrines, let's do something with scripture. Something that can be done by a group or by an individual.
As for authors, I have no idea - but there must be some untapped resources out there, we are not an ignorant bunch.
It would be interesting to piggyback this idea off of the Chief's latest blog on EDS. What about a book documenting the Army's EDS actions in the last few decades. The Army is in a unique position unlike any other church, or non profit organization, and if we can get our message out by less then conventional means, i.e. EDS, our social service programs, and have well known individual write the book,I believe we could see a windfall of the Lord's blessings in a variety of ways.
One of the most powerful gifts is the gift of writing...having the ability to create a life, a story, a time, a place. It never ends.
It would be fascinating to read about The Salvation Army Then and Now. I am an outsider looking into a captivating and sanctified world. The history of The Salvation Army is so rich and deeply rooted, but not only is it written in dated terms, it isn’t available to just anyone. It’s almost like you have to know someone to get it into that world.
Here is something to think about:
What’s the point in investing in something that doesn’t get the recognition that it should?
Why tell the same story to the same audience? Where is the diversity?
How about the Army’s work in different countries? The worldwide impact?
How about having books available in Audio form?
Hey CS, what you’ve started here is significant.
One last thing….
I’m very proud to be part of this organization and I tell everyone about it. You are beyond bells… you change lives and the world should know this. It's something I’ve seen first hand and I am so honored to say “I work for The Salvation Army.”
Try this title..."Beyond the Bells"
(If this works...you can take the credit..wink..wink)
Thanks for these additional good thoughts to share. What about womens' ministries? What about camps and camp staffs? What about a guide for kids to be filled with the Spirit? What about a help to adults to value Spirit-filled teens? What about something to reach young adults in spiritual formation?
General Gowans or Chick Yuill might be good authors for people of all ages. They are both colorful and would make for an easy read.
I am all for books for youth! Camps and camp staffs would be awesome too..so many amazing things happen at camps.. I nominate Drew! I've heard him speak about youth and he sure does know what he is talking about!
I agree with the camp idea...see my comment above.
N/n: Your idea takes the book thing up another notch. We could be doing more with video formats. The costs appear high and begs the priority question. When we are closing corps for lack of funds, can we afford an expensive media project? The tension is healthy.
I would even be interested in doing a cheap vlog of some sort.
I wanted to add to this, but got sidetracked with Christmas. Now that Christmas basket distribution is over, I wanted to post another thought that came to me. Colonel Knaggs, you previously mentioned what about women’s ministries or something to that regard. Well, it got me to thinking about ministry in general. How about a book called “Re:define Ministry”. The Re:define is purposefully done. Because so much in this new technological age, ministry is done via computers (the internet, sermons online, blogs, etc.) In emails or business correspondence you often have Re: and the subject title. The ‘subject’ of the book is about defining ministry. So, having said all that (I know, I just broke my own rule of having to explain a title…) we need a book that chronologies what we define as ministry through The Salvation Army. In each phase of the Army- though its mission has stayed the same, the face of ministry has changed. I think of all the facets we’ve discussed: camps, EDS/EDM, World Wars. These are just ministries on the larger scale, but even ministry at the local level has changed as humanity and technology have changed. I saw we need a book that Re:defines ministry—where we’ve been, where we are now, and where we should be going.
Secondly, I though about the idea for a “Who’s who in The Salvation Army”. I am not sure who publishes the “Who’s who” series, but I still think it’d be interesting to profile our great leaders of the Army as well as just the randomly selected soldier who attends a corps in East Podunk, PA (I believe that is a Colonel Berry-ism). I’d be fascinated by such a book because we do it to a lesser extent in all our publications, but why not compile all the profiles we’ve done in a book? Just a thought.
…Oh, and just a heads up. I told my After School Director about this thread and she is writing something up about two ideas she had and I’ll post them when she gets back from vacation…
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