Strength for the Journey: A Pilgrimage of Faith in Community

"Bass delivers ... an account of her life in eight different Episcopal churches .... Her parish stories unfold in that riveting, better–than–fiction way .... Each chapter is more intriguing than the last ... (The book) records a soul′s search for God and communion with God’s people." — Publishers Weekly "Throughout her journey, (Bass) remains a restless spirit with a strong Christian heart, one who, despite loving tradition and timeless values, has never settled for easy answers. The imminent death of mainline Protestantism has been greatly exaggerated, she believes, and indeed American Protestantism has entered a new period of growth and renewal. This book is, in part, her personal rebuttal of Protestantism′s doom–criers." — Booklist "Diana Butler Bass has written a rare kind of book. Part religious travelogue, part contemporary tracing of one pilgrim′s progress, part spiritual autobiography, Strength for the Journey gives us a very personal and a very acute view of what life is like for a committed Christian today." — James P. Wind , president, The Alban Institute "A compelling intertwining of a personal spiritual journey and the recent history of Protestantism. Diana Butler Bass makes the case that baby boom seekers are drawing the Church into a new, more authentic Christianity." — Nora Gallagher , author, Things Seen and Unseen: A Year Lived in Faith "With the insights of a mystic, Diana Butler Bass recounts her spiritual pilgrimage from Methodism to evangelicalism to the benumbing diversity of the Episcopal Church, where she found a spiritual home. Along the way, she offers a guided tour of the crises and the controversies afflicting mainline Protestantism over the past several decades. For anyone looking for evidence that the glass of mainline Protestantism is half full rather than half empty Strength for the Journey offers a persuasive case." — Randall Balmer , author, Growing Pains: Learning to Love My Father′s Faith

Foreword Acknowledgments Introduction: Resurrection: All Saints Church, Pasadena, California 1996 1 Chapter 1 Coming Home: All Saints–By–The–Sea, Santa Barbara California, 1980–1981 21 Chapter 2 Competing Authorities: Christ Church, South Hamilton, Massachusetts, 1982–1987 53 Chapter 3 The Establishment: St. Stephen′s Episcopal Church, Durham, North Carolina, 1987–1989 89 Chapter 4 Practicing Faith: Church of the Holy Family, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 1989–1991 121 Chapter 5 Interim: Santa Barbara, California, 1991–1994 153 Chapter 6 The Open Door: Trinity Church, Santa Barbara, California 1995–1997 189 Chapter 7 The Household of God: Grace–St. Luke′s Episcopal Church, Memphis, Tennessee, 1997–2000 223 Conclusion: Pentecost: Christ Church, Alexandria, Virginia, 2001 261 Bibliography 285 The Author 291

Diana Butler Bass writes a weekly newspaper column on contemporary religion as New York Times syndicate columnist. In addition to being a popular speaker, retreat leader, and seminary professor, this scholar of American religion serves as director of faith formation at Christ Church in Alexandria, Virginia.