Recommended Reading
The following books were important and influential during the early forming of St. Hildegard's community as well as more recent books. While many books have played a role in forming our community vision and practices, the list is just a small offering of a few of these titles to help give an idea of some of our sources of inspiration.
Christianity Rediscovered
Donovan, Vincent J.
Donovan tells what the Church in America and Europe can learn from his experiences as a missionary among the Masai in Tanzania: evangelization is a process of bringing the gospel to people where they are, and not where we would like them to be. Donovan is a Roman Catholic priest now in pastoral work in the U. S. An important follow-up book by Donovan is “The Church in the Midst of Creation” Orbis, 1989. In this book, Donovan paints a portrait of the radically new, turbulent church of the future.
Community and Growth
Vanier, Jean
Vanier's basic premise of this inspiring book is that we all live with the wound of loneliness. By accepting our suffering and using it to connect with people affected by poverty in a community setting, we can experience the character of God.
Engaging the Powers
Wink, Walter
The author, who is Professor of Biblical Interpretation at Auburn Theological Seminary in New York City, presents an ethically challenging reframing of angels, demons, principalities, and powers. He writes: "Every business corporation, school, denomination, bureaucracy, sports team — indeed, social reality in all its forms — is a combination of both visible and invisible, outer and inner, physical and spiritual." These systems, institutions, and structures can do good and evil at the same time: "They form a complex web that we can neither ignore nor escape."
Handbook for Mission Groups
Cosby, Gordon
As the idea for St Hildegard's Community was gestating in the founder's minds they visited the Church of the Saviour and attended retreats offered at Dayspring Retreat Center. This handbook served as a guide in the early formation of St. H.
The Inclusive New Testament and the Inclusive Hebrew Scriptures
Priests for Equality
A publishing project of the Roman Catholic Quixote Center, these new translations are designed to eliminate sexist language and stereotyped role descriptions from public Worship, and are not intended for scholarly study. Language, seemingly innocuous and inconsequential, is in reality an area which reveals unconscious attitudes, prejudices, stereotypes and patterns of discriminatory thinking.
Jesus Before Christianity
Nolan, Albert
The messages contained within this book are timely and important. The author asks us to look at what Jesus really said and what he could have meant by these words. To also judge ourselves and our doctrine by how well it maps with what Jesus did himself, such as dining with "sinners" and foreigners, not just those people who could advance our careers or who we think are proper like ourselves.
Journey Inward, Journey Outward
O’Connor, Elizabeth
O’Connor writes about the remarkable Church of the Savior in Washington D.C. and its innovative ministries. O’Connor writes of the Church’s vital balance of engagement with self, God, and others (the journey inward), and of how it proceeds from this solid base to involvement with the needs of the greater community (the journey outward). O’Connor is one of the original members of the Church of the Savior, and has written extensively about her experiences.
Other important books that O'Connor authored include: Call to Commitment, Cry Pain, Cry Hope, Eighth Day of Creation, Our Many Selves, and Search for Silence
Life of the Beloved
Nouwen, Henri
This spiritual classic began as a simple request from one friend to another for a book explaining the spiritual life in terms that he and his friends could understand, avoiding theology and technical language. Nouwen's answer has become one of the most cherished books of our era. "All I want to say to you is, 'You are the Beloved.'"
Living in the Margins
Veling, Terry
A gifted theologian sheds light on the meaning and value of intentional faith communities in the margins of the parish life.
Open Mind, Open Heart
Keating, Thomas
This book is a basic Must Read for anyone exploring the world of contemplative or centering prayer.
Prophetic Imagination
Brueggemann, Walter
She Who Is
Johnson, Elizabeth
Women-Church
Radford Ruether, Rosemary
