francis a postmodern saint

i have just finished reading chasing francis, a novel by ian morgan cron. the plot is of a pastor who feels trapped and is dying inside in a church he leads. a death of a young person pushes him to the edge and he announces in a sermon that he has lost his faith and is then sent off to get some space and give the church some space to decide what to do. he ends up tracing the trail of saint francis in italy with his unkle. saint francis’ story re-invigorates his faith in a very different way. i won’t spoil the plot any more, save to say when he comes back to the church and presents a new vision the church has to decide whether it can cope with a much more radical stance and approach to faith.

i really enjoyed the book. i read it over two days. it was refreshing to read a story about faith in postmodern times rather than another book that maps the contours of culture, the crisis in church life and offers models of new ways people are imagining faith, which seems to be the trajectory of a lot of books on this sort of theme. it was also a creative way into the story of saint francis rather than picking up a biography. he is an incredible saint/character – ian refers to him as the consummate postmodern saint. i guess the parallel is that he lived in a time where the church had got stuck in its own way and offered a radical vision of returning simply to follow the teachings of christ and work them out in small communities. his life is very challenging in lots of ways.

at the beginning of each chapter are some rather good quotes. i liked this one from marcel proust:

the real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes

This Post Has 4 Comments

  1. Richard L

    It’s a great book (although for me the romantic backstory gets in the way a little bit). I loved the bit about the “artist pastor” …

  2. Paul Fromont

    I loved it too when I read it (on Maggi’s recommendation) when it first came out… it’s a great weaving together of (something) of Francis, and a contemporary story of going backwards in order to go forwards…

  3. Becky

    I had the opportunity to meet Ian at Soularize 2007 when we were both leading workshops. His publisher NavPress is moving in some very interesting directions — it’s worth tracking to see what comes out of their new Deliberate line. I got the sense they’re really trying to capture unique voices like Ian’s.
    From what I can tell based on what crosses my desk, the vast majority of US emergent church books coming out in 2008 will continue to follow the pattern you just described – the one notable exception being Phyllis Tickle’s offering from Baker Books due out around the end of 2008. She also has a book that will be released in February by Jossey-Bass called the The Words of Jesus: A Gospel of the Sayings of Our Lord with Reflections by Phyllis Tickle. I found this book an invaluable aid in crafting my new atheist critique. Really powerful stuff.
    I do fear that the plethora of Emergent Church (TM) books that show no sign of abating are going to turn people off completely from this global spirit — and this is something that I don’t think can be defined lest it die. In fact, that’s why I insisted that the book you’re in “Rising from the Ashes: Rethinking Church” NOT be marketed as an “emerging book” though there are elements of emergent church in many of the interviews. The people that were doing the ministries that excited me the most tended to be those that didn’t box themselves into the role of being an “emergent church” leader.

  4. Carole

    I am a Roman Catholic, but untypical in that I don’t do ‘the saint thing’. However, I was fortunate enough to be able to visit Assisi this year. A priest friend of mine describes it as a ‘thin place’. It is a lovely place to visit and brilliant to be able to immerse yourself in the life of Francis. He really was an unconventional yet inspirational man whose life has a lot to say to our times.

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