Preaching in a Tavern and 129 Other Surprising Stories from Brethren Life

Rating:
Summary: A Delightful Collection!
Review: Preaching In A Tavern (and 129 other surprising stories from Brethren life) is a delightful collection of stories from Brethren experience over the last couple hundred years. As a Brethren minister today, I was looking forward to having a resource of illustrations that relate closely to our religious heritage. My only disappointment was that many of the stories were the same as those included in the Brethren Encyclopedia, which I own and have read. The stories are categorized into eight different areas - worship, peace and justice, witness, migration, Annual Conference, vocation, Brethren personalities, and celebrity connections. The stories are well written and insightful - most are quoted from other sources, which are well documented. Some are old familiar classics (such as the undocumented story of President Lincoln's baptism by night,) and others were new to this reader (such as how "Quantrill's Raid - A Most Dastardly Episode" impacted Brethren families living south of Lawrence, KS.)

Not only does Morse's book provide a special look into the past for Brethren people today, it also provides for entertaining and instructive reading for those unfamiliar with the Brethren movement. The book itself is a pleasing little square handful, appropriate both as a gift, a coffee table book, or casual reading of any kind.