Description
Book SynopsisProgressive faith is at a crossroads. Liberal pulpits ring with grand sermons about the arc that bends toward justice and about progress "onward and upward forever." Meanwhile, the people in the pews struggle to attend to the suffering of their souls and the tragic aspects of life. In this engaging polemic, using stories and metaphor, Nancy McDonald Ladd issues a call for change. Speaking from a rising generation of clergy and lay leaders who formed their commitments to liberal religion at the end of the optimistic modernist age, she shows how the religious life is not characterised by endless human advancement, but by lurching movement, crisis management and pain. With humour and humanity, Ladd calls religious progressives to greater authenticity and truth-telling rather than blind optimism. She charts a course forward that includes reclaiming rituals of atonement and lament and becoming more vulnerable and accountable in our relationships. She shows how, together, we might build a necessary and greater resilience among ourselves and for the generations to come.
Trade Review"Rev. Nancy McDonald Ladd's book is a razor-sharp critique on the optimistic excesses of liberal religion, particularly as they relate to racial justice. At the same time, Ladd has a pastor's heart and seeks to reconcile progressive religion's failings with a genuine love for religious institutions and belief in their ability to make positive change. After the Good News reads like an insistent shake of the shoulder after a long, self-satisfied slumber—telling readers to not only ‘wake up’ but ‘stay woke!'" —Kathleen Rolenz, co-author of Worship That Works: Theory and Practice for Unitarian Universalists, 2nd Edition
"Nancy McDonald Ladd’s artistic and thoughtful book names what we are all thinking: that it is difficult to be in the ‘hope’ business these days. The undertow she creates with her storytelling and naming of what is real in the world drags us closer to the heart of faithful living. She calls us to the task of a deeper understanding of our faith and future with every page. After the Good News is not just a book you want to read; it is a book you MUST read." —Daniel Chesney Kanter, Senior Minister, First Unitarian Church of Dallas and author of Faith for the Unbeliever
"A brilliant contribution by Nancy McDonald Ladd. She offers us a soul-stirring, historically grounded approach to theology, one rooted in her Gen X experience, and yet compelling and relevant for all; a UU theology of wholeness that meshes hope with realism, social justice, and the practical spiritual needs of our world." —Rev. Manish Mishra-Marzetti, Senior Minister, First UU Congregation of Ann Arbor, Michigan and co-editor of Justice on Earth: People of Faith Working at the Intersections of Race, Class, and the Environment
"Nancy McDonald Ladd is a wonderful teller of stories whose insights and ministry have blessed many. Now we see that she is also a gifted writer and this book shows us why. Weaving her own unique and moving narrative with the story of modernist, progressive theology, she names the historical legacies of the liberal religious imagination. With humor and compassion, she seeks a relational wholeness grounded in ritual, liturgy, and authenticity—a faith that illumines a path of partnership and promises a new way shaped by ‘resilience, truth-telling, and humble courage.’ Reaching deep into every corner of life and ministry, she exposes the ‘good old days’ of twentieth-century modernist theology and plots a twenty-first-century course that replaces estrangement with life-affirming consequential commitment. This is one of those books whose publication comes at the right time. It is a shining gem with sharp edges to prick your conscience and move you beyond the platitudes of traditional liberal religion. It is a must-read for anyone who cares about and is committed to the future of the liberal faith.” —Fredric J. Muir, Minister Emeritus, Unitarian Universalist Church of Annapolis and editor of Turning Point: Essays on a New Unitarian Universalism
“With her trademark blend of incisive analysis, eloquent persuasion, and captivating wit, along with a penchant for sometimes painful honesty, Nancy McDonald Ladd exorcises the often racist and classist demons of optimism and progress, in order to fully embrace the only spirit that can inhabit brokenness: the spirit of humility, confession, and atonement. This is a powerfully transformative vision from one of our leading theological voices.” —Rev. Galen Guengerich, Senior Minister, Unitarian Church of All Souls, New York City and author of The Way of Gratitude: A New Spirituality for Today
Table of ContentsIntroduction: A Realist Spy among the Optimists
One: The Shadow of the Dead Utopias
Two: Twentieth-Century Modernists in the Twenty-First Century Church
Three: The Myth of Inevitable Progress
Four: Respectable Church People and the Kingdom of God
Five: The Will to Power and the Power of Mutuality
Six: We Are Not Going to Get This Right
Seven: Access to Atonement
Eight: Liturgies of Lament
Nine: Fundamentally Estranged, Inextricably Interconnected
Appendix A: On Prayers of Confession or Atonement
Appendix B: On Liturgies of Lament
Notes
