Brian Cole

The Shape of the Church

Theology

“Brother Ephrem, through his own spiritual autobiography, inhabits a Christian life of ecclesial wholeness which he invites us all to explore. Upon finishing The Shape of the Church, I am now convinced that Brother Ephrem has given us a kind of improvisational ecumenism—a ‘Yes, and . . .’ approach to a truly Catholic Church for this age. As the Body of Christ, we need each other, and we need all the dimensions noted in this book to flourish. Brother Ephrem is to be applauded for this work.”

Was That You Boss

Prayer & Spiritual Formation

“Before I knew the poetry of J. Stephen Rhodes, I knew him as a theologian, educator, and an accidental farmer. I know the tract of land he owned in Kentucky. I even bush-hogged it a few times. But even if I had not already seen it, Rhodes’s poems allow me to ‘see’ that landscape and others where he keeps up a running, honest, poignant, funny, and demanding conversation with Boss. I once read where Rowan Williams said every theologian is beginning in the middle of things. Rhodes’s Boss poems are situated in the Middle, where an imperfect person attempts to have honest conversations with Boss. Rhodes unveils for his readers a landscape we can all see in order to show us the Boss who remains, as always, veiled, while also known.”