We’re publishing what we all need in 2021: True Stories of Love, Resilience and Healing

Publishing Hope—
New Books That Will Make Our World A Better Place

Do you have a holiday gift card waiting for you to place an online order?

Well, this week, we’ve got an exciting preview of the wonderful books we will be publishing in 2021—including a couple that you can order right now. Think of this as an extension of your holiday spirit, because each good book makes the world a little better place, both in your reading and in the sharing of these stories with others.

And it’s obvious to everyone that we all need practical wisdom about peacemaking—right now.

A Book We Need Right Now—
‘Love, Loss and Endurance’

Available today for pre-order—and shipping from Amazon (and other retailers) on January 19—is Love, Loss and Endurance: A 9/11 Story of Resilience and Hope in an Age of Anxiety by veteran religion writer and author Bill Tammeus. (The book will be available in hardcover, paperback and all eBook formats.)

When al-Qaida terrorists murdered almost 3,000 people in the 9/11 attacks, Bill Tammeus was an editorial page columnist for the Kansas City Star newspaper. He was finishing up an article about the bombings when he learned that his 31-year-old nephew Karleton Douglas Beye Fyfe was a passenger on the first plane that crashed into the World Trade Center. 

As our nation prepares to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, Bill’s book takes us from the dramatic story of that day into the ongoing legacy of that world-changing trauma. This isn’t a history lesson. To put it simply: This is a gripping page turner written by one of America’s top journalists. It’s an invitation to join Bill and his family as they became part of the global community searching for constructive wisdom in the wake of 9/11. Tammeus explores the question of why some people get drawn into monochromatic thinking (religious and otherwise) that can lead to violence. And he suggests steps that each of us can take to counter such savage extremism.

STAY TUNED—As you will find in our ReadTheSpirit interview with Bill Tammeus, which we will publish on January 18, there’s not a more timely book for us to launch this January. Even as our publishing house team finished production in December, we had no idea that a tidal wave of extremism would erupt again in our nation’s capital city. If you, your friends, your community group or your Sunday School class is looking for a book to discuss in coming weeks about the troubling state of our nation—Bill’s book puts the dangers of extremist thinking into a fuller context.

In her Afterword to the book, peacemaker and community consultant Mindy Corporon puts it simply: “This book raises many questions about how humans choose to live either in healthy, generative ways or, by contrast, to murder others while, at the same time, losing their own lives. Such profound questions form the landscape of this book and they touch each of us because they are questions we cannot ignore. Bill’s memoir teaches us that the depth of evil can and must be overshadowed with an even deeper love of one another and of life itself.”

Interested in placing a group order right now? Email us at [email protected]  You could have books for your group discussion within a week or so.

Couldn’t Be More Timely—
God Is Just Love

Then, in February, and available for pre-sale now, we will publish God Is Just Love: Building Spiritual Resilience and Sustainable Communities for the Sake of Our Children and Creation by Traces of God Ministries Executive Director Ken Whitt. Traces of God Ministries is a nonprofit spiritual formation center Ken founded after his retirement from 40 years of service to American Baptist Churches (ABC/USA).

Once again, our publishing house team knew that readers would need books in 2021 that are packed with practical wisdom for restoring peace and wellbeing in our world—even though we could not foresee the latest eruption coming in Washington D.C.

Now more than ever, readers tell us they want help in finding practical next steps. This book is so practical that it closes with “100 Things Families Can Do To Find Hope and Be Love.”

The book’s Big Question is: How can people of faith foster love and resilience in our children while building sustainable, diverse communities? Through wisdom he has gleaned from scientists, scholars and lots of real families, Ken shows how God’s love is a hopeful compass in our lives. He encourages enjoying stories, songs and explorations of the natural world with children.

The moment you open this book—wherever you start reading—you will find dozens of ways to involve family and friends. Ken designed the book that way. He has years of experience working with multi-generational groups, so his ideas are time-tested in helping family and friends find fun and faithful ways to build hopeful communities. The cover of his book illustrates a central story he shares about the wonderment families discover when they look up into the starry night sky with their children.

“Ken Whitt offers care to weary souls in this book. It is not just his words but the spirit that manifests through the words. Ken says that love is at the heart of reality and love is what he gently breathes on us here,” Christian ethicist David Gushee, author of Changing Our Mind, writes in the book’s Foreword.

“As you read this wise and joyful book, I know you will feel both instructed and delighted, and you will agree that your life has been enriched by adopting Ken Whitt as a literary pastor, mentor and friend,” Brian McLaren, best-selling author of more than 20 books, writes in the Preface.

Interested in placing a group order right now? Email us at [email protected]  You could have books for your group discussion within a week or so.

‘Now What?’
Caring for our Elders in an Uncertain World

March is a worldwide celebration of social work, including special observances you’ll read more about in our Front Edge Publishing and our ReadTheSpirit magazine columns as we approach that month. That’s when we’ve chosen to release Now What? A Guide to the Gifts and Challenges of Aging to the general public.

“Now what?” is the question that millions of us ask—as we, or our parents or grandparents, suddenly face age-related challenges. We need fast answers. In this new book, experts provide practical advice, including how to form a caregiving team, ensure home and online safety, maintain mobility and support independence. The writers also emphasize the gifts of aging, including deepened relationships and new opportunities to give back to our communities. The book is written so that aging individuals, their families and caregivers can read it and find solutions together. Once again, this book is designed to be opened anywhere you prefer as a reader. The topics you need most are easy to find in the Table of Contents of two dozen themed chapters.

“An amazing feature of this volume is its ability to address both caregivers and those in need of support, fellowship and aid to improve quality of life,” Robert J. Wicks, the author of many books about resilience, writes about Now What? “You will be so much better prepared to live a full life more sagely and enjoyably with less unnecessary worry, and guide others in the process as well.”

Lian Dolan, author, host and Satellite Sister podcaster said, “What a gift this book is! Now What? is a thorough and thoughtful guide to aging that is a must-read for those who are 65 and beyond or those who are dealing with aging parents or relatives. I wish I’d had Now What? when I was caregiving for my parents. I had so many questions and this book provides so many answers! The information is accessible, well-organized and practical, but also warm and encouraging. A very handy, helpful resource filled with heart.

Interested in placing a group order right now? This book is not yet visible in online bookstores, as of early January 2021, but we soon will be able to fulfill early group orders. By special arrangement with us, you could have books for your group discussion even as early as February, a month before the book officially launches to the general public. Email us at [email protected]  

‘What Belongs To God’—
Why We Must Choose Peace

Once again, as militarism, nationalism and extremist violence are circling our planet—pastor, teacher and singer-songwriter David Edwards reminds us of the timeless Christian calling to be peacemakers. We will be publishing Edwards’ What Belongs to God: Reflections of a Conscientious Objector

In inviting readers to recommit themselves to peacemaking, Edwards draws on a lifetime of commitment to this calling. During the Vietnam War, he took that calling so seriously that he served as a conscientious objector (CO) performing alternative service in a children’s hospital. In this memoir, he invites us to share his spiritual journey and rediscover the hope of peace in our world. At its best, he writes, religion calls us to build peaceful communities with all who share our planet.

In What Belongs To God, David Edwards explains the core values he believes can be found in Jewish and Christian scriptures and that should move us toward a nonviolent life—and a love that embraces the stranger, including one’s enemy. When we adopt this sacred vision, we realize that living peaceably is our nature as God’s children.

David shares his own story as a conscientious objector, how his decision developed, his experience of civilian alternative service in a hospital for children, and his life and work as a pastor and conscientious objector. He explores the core scriptural teachings that have formed his life, beliefs and actions as a conscientious objector. He also examines and explains several passages of the Christian New Testament that have been used through the centuries to argue that Jesus justified violence in some circumstances. His wise and thoughtful analysis makes this book a perfect choice for small groups in congregations when people want to talk about war and peace from a biblical perspective. With David as a guide, readers will find lots of questions to discuss with friends.

Interested in placing a group order right now? This book won’t be visible in online bookstores until Spring 2021, however, our staff already is taking pre-orders for groups. Email us at [email protected]  

‘The Healing of a Shattered Soul’—
How Do We Respond to Deadly Violence?

If our early 2021 booklist doesn’t already sound prophetic—perfectly timed to spark timely discussions with friends—then definitely consider Mindy Corporon’s compelling and wisely hope-filled Spring 2021 book, The Healing of a Shattered Soul. Especially if you are inspired by Bill Tammeus’s book in January, you’ll want to pre-order Mindy’s book to follow up in the spring. 

Mindy Corporon’s soul was shattered on a rainy day in April of 2014 when her father and oldest son were murdered in Overland Park, Kansas, by a white supremacist intent on killing Jews. As Mindy grieved the loss of her son and father she found a God-given strength to piece herself and her family together. In the pages of her book she shares her heartbreaking, inspirational and authentic story of finding peace and her life’s work in answer to God’s message: “Bring my people together.”

If you are searching for a glimmer of hope and faith in the wake of turbulence at the dawn of 2021, this book is for you. In The Healing of a Shattered Soul Mindy Corporon takes readers into the challenges of interfaith understanding, and concludes with the challenges of cross-racial conversations. She shines a light on the courage it takes to find healing and peace.

We are planning to publish this book in April to commemorate the 7th anniversary of the shootings at the Jewish Community Center and the deaths of Mindy’s father, Dr. William Lewis Corporon and his 14-year-old grandson and Mindy’s oldest son, Reat Griffin Underwood.

Interested in placing a group order right now? This book won’t be visible in online bookstores until March, however, our staff already is taking pre-orders for groups. Email us at [email protected]  

’30 Days With America’s High School Coaches’

Long-time journalist and coach Martin Davis will publish his first book 30 Days With America’s High School Coaches. The book’s introduction says, “When it comes to shaping America’s next generation, high school coaches may well be the most important people in our society.”

If that statement seems over the top, consider this: Students who engage in athletics not only tend to do better in school, but research has repeatedly shown the lessons they learn from sports and their high school coaches stay with them long after they leave high school. High school student-athletes tend to have fewer mental health issues later in life, do better in their work careers, vote more regularly, and volunteer more than students who don’t play interscholastic sports. More interesting, these findings generally apply to students of all socio-economic statuses, races, and family backgrounds.

One doesn’t need to review 20 years of academic research, however, to appreciate the profound impact these high school coaches have. Just spend some time talking to those who played high school sports.

Martin writes: “I’ve watched high school coaches through a number of lenses in my life. As a parent. As a journalist. And most important, perhaps, as a coach myself. My interactions with these people, and my own experiences as a coach, has furthered my belief that this question deserves more attention than it’s traditionally received.”

So, Martin spent more than a year interviewing coaches from all over America. “Some of these coaches are well-known in their communities and celebrated for their success in winning championships, others are just starting out or have labored under the radar for years. They coach in more than a dozen varsity sports, and they’re in elite private schools, sprawling suburban high schools and inner-city campuses. Some enjoyed elite educations, others came up through the school of hard knocks. Some were stand-out athletes themselves in high school and college; most were not. They are Asian, Black, Latino, and White; male and female; well-compensated, working on small stipends, and serving as volunteers.”

This third volume in the 30 Days With… series takes readers beyond the playing field to the schools, practice fields and homes of high school coaches to examine how they successfully mold the characters and shape the spirits of the next generation of American leaders. Until Martin’s book is available, please visit Martin’s website and enjoy the many resources he provides.

Curious about group orders? Email us.

‘What’s Your Why?’

Nationally celebrated journalist, public relations and business development expert Lynne Golodner brings her decades of experience to the pages of What’s Your Why? How to find the meaning in your life to transform your work into a purpose-driven pursuit. Lynne believes every person has a purpose and it should be our life’s work to figure out what that is—and live it. In these pages, Lynne shares her own purposeful pursuit and then walks us through her evaluation process so we can find our own stories of meaning and identify our purposeful pursuits in the world.

For early inquiries, email us. Meanwhile, if you are interested in exploring Lynne’s work, visit her website. You also may want to order a copy of Lynne’s earlier book, Flavors of Faith: Holy Breads.

‘Shining Brightly’—
There’s Hope Wherever Life Takes You

Howard Brown is an internationally known entrepreneur, consultant and interfaith peacemaker who also is active around the world in advocacy on behalf of cancer patients. That’s because he is a two-time survivor of advanced Stage IV cancer. In 2020, he wrote two of the most popular columns in ReadTheSpirit magazine, which you can find on this ReadTheSpirit page. In 2021, we will publish Howard’s inspiring memoir, Shining Brightly, in which he shares true stories about his many adventures ranging from high-stakes Silicon Valley competition to cutting-edge strategies to unite diverse communities, to mentor the next generation of promising college students and to help families struggling with life-threatening cancer. Through these stories, Howard helps readers understand their potential to shine brightly wherever they find themselves in life.

For early inquiries, email us.

‘Reuniting the Children of Abraham’—
New Resources for Peacemaking

In 2020, we launched Reuniting the Children of Abraham with interfaith peacemaker Brenda Rosenberg—during the national debut of a new kind of Girl Scouts program, held in Detroit just before the COVID pandemic ended such huge regional gatherings. 

In 2021, we will expand this book to add even more resources, including related videos produced by Brenda—and a series of inspirational ideas Brenda has developed for readers to try at home.

Yes, that’s right: We’ve clearly heard your call for “practical” ideas about resilience and peacemaking—a theme that runs through all of the new books we are publishing.

’30 Days With E. Stanley Jones’

Our popular 30 Days With … series of books will continue later this year with a fourth volume drawn from the life of the pioneering evangelist E. Stanley Jones, who harnessed the power of faith to begin building global bridges many decades before such ideas reached the mainstream. Among his daring worldwide travels was a series of experiences with Mahatma Gandhi in India, which led to Jones founding a Christian Ashram movement that continues to this day. Jones’s writings later helped to move Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. toward nonviolence. We are preparing this book in conversation and cooperation with both the Ashram movement and the very active foundation that continues to promote Jones’ writing and spiritual wisdom. We thank and welcome these professional colleagues in this ongoing effort to share Jones’ life-changing wisdom.

And, quite clearly, this is another very timely book! This will be an important part of our ongoing 30 Days With … series because this upcoming volume will show how we can connect the best of America’s strong evangelical heritage with the ongoing potential for cross-cultural and inter-religious peacemaking in our world.

Got questions about this book? Email us.

And Much More from—
America’s Leading Christian Ethicist

On January 1, 2021, we reported: Front Edge Publishing is pleased to announce an agreement to publish the final Introducing Christian Ethics lectures by Dr. David P. Gushee, who is known around the world as a leading Christian scholar and ethicist. Through decades of teaching Christian Ethics at Mercer University in Atlanta and Macon, Georgia, Dr. Gushee has shaped the lives of thousands of young men and women as they begin to grapple with morality in ministry and their chosen professions.

The book is coming later in 2021. As with all these titles: If you have questions, please email us.

Ways You Can Help

As you can see, 2021 is stacking up to be a very significant year for our publishing house. We are hard at work preparing these books and working with their authors to bring their stories to life. In the meantime, if you are looking for some other wonderful books from our publishing partners, Front Edge Publishing or our imprint Read the Spirit Books, check out our Front Edge Publishing Bookstore. If you order from Amazon.com you will be able to support your favorite authors by leaving a rating and verified purchase review. If you order from our bookstore you support the authors by providing them with an additional 15% royalty. All of our books are offered online via Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Walmart and a host of other online retailers.

Interested in talking to one of our authors, perhaps to inquire about a personal appearance with your group, community or conference? Email us.

Looking for a Publisher?

Perhaps this preview of new books inspires you to consider Front Edge Publishing, if you are an author finishing a timely book. Email us at [email protected]