Joyce Ann Mercer

Drama Tweens

Children & Youth

“Turpin's way of creating biblical drama with tweens is a testament to her respect both for young people and the Bible. Drama Tweens makes a real and usable contribution to religious education and youth ministry.”

From Generation to Generation

Discipleship & Christian Education

“Foster invites all of us invested in the life of faith to look forward. He calls on those concerned about Christian formation and education to cultivate capacities of collective 'ecclesial imagination' in churches that can envision the future of congregations through the faith of our children and youth. . . . From Generation to Generation is an insightful resource for the church today and its future, and it is an invaluable gift to religious educators.”

Hope Deferred

Counseling, Grief & Mental Health

“Hope Deferred fills a huge gap in the available literature addressing the theological issues in reproductive loss . . . A volume that gets beyond the simplistic platitudes about God and faith in the midst of such a loss.”

Post-Colonial Theology

Theology

“This is no ordinary academic book in post-colonial studies. Where so many other volumes offer theoretical, and often a-contextual, readings of coloniality dominated by jargon, Heaney engages post-colonial thought in clear language grounded in particular contexts and experiences. While many postcolonial writers exclude religions/theologies altogether as only and inevitably problematic vehicles of colonialism, Heaney, amid the recognition of theology’s propensities for cooptation by imperial interests, calls for the engagement of intercultural theology as a resource for post-coloniality: ‘At the heart of the Christian gospel is the revolutionary idea that God interrupted the power of empire.’ The result is a practical post-colonial theology that interrogates the work of hate in relationships marked by colonized-colonizer enmity. This work is situated in four particular lived experiences of coloniality. It brings each one into conversation not only with the conceptual framework of postcolonial theory but also with texts and practices of Christian traditions. Starting with his own location as an Anglo-Protestant Christian growing up in Northern Ireland, Heaney engages Irish poet W.B. Yeats to give voice to the ambiguities and instabilities of colonial identities where the boundaries between colonizer and colonized are ‘porous.’ Heaney considers three other settings shaped by struggles for emancipation from imperial powers—Kenya, Korea, and U.S. Native American contexts. He explores themes of particularity, agency, coloniality, hybridization, and resistance in relation to these contexts, which anchors the book’s post-colonial theoretical discourse in lived experiences of colonial contestation. For readers new to this thought world, the book provides a helpful introduction to post-colonial studies with definitions of key terms and concept-linking. For seasoned readers of post-colonial literature, Heaney’s book offers a fresh perspective by situating this post-colonial project as a form of practical theology that aims toward transformation. This book is a must-read for theologians who are not content with merely describing and uncovering Christianity’s role in cultural domination, but who also seek to participate in the life of God whose transforming Spirit is at work to re-humanize us all.”

The Gravity of Joy

Counseling, Grief & Mental Health

“In The Gravity of Joy Angela Gorrell courageously narrates her personal experience of clawing her way through the valley of the shadow of death and despair, yearning for hope yet questioning whether joy can possibly exist in a world where suicide and opioid addiction steal lives away. When she begins to lead a Bible study with incarcerated women, she finds unexpected balm for her own despair, leading her to affirm: ‘By grappling with suffering we actually come to a clearer understanding of joy. . . . God’s primary response to suffering is withness and witness—the visible manifestation of God’s presence in the midst of suffering.’”

Youth Ministry as Peace Education

Children & Youth

“Youth Ministry as Peace Education brings together Corrie's deep respect for young people and her commitment to what Paulo Freire called 'education as a practice of freedom.' A remarkable, practical, and readable volume.”