2022 Press Releases

IVP Honored with Three 2023 CT Book Awards

Tue, 13 Dec 2022 16:23:00 GMT

Christianity Today has released the winners of its 2023 Book Awards, and InterVarsity Press is pleased to announce that it received top honors in three categories: Church and Pastoral Leadership, Marriage and Family, and Politics and Public Life. Another IVP title received the Award of Merit in the Popular Theology category, and three IVP books were finalists in Biblical Studies, Culture and the Arts, and Politics and Public Life.

“Each year, the Christianity Today Book Awards reviews a distinguished list of books in categories pertinent to the church,” said IVP president and publisher Terumi Echols. “We and others in our industry respect these awards due to the rigorous review that the content receives. It’s not a popularity contest. It honors what nourishes the soul, challenges the mind, moves the heart, and strengthens our walk as Christians.”

The IVP title that received the 2023 CT Book Award in the Church and Pastoral Leadership category is The Flourishing Pastor: Recovering the Lost Art of Shepherd Leadership by Tom Nelson. Pulling from his years of experience as a lead pastor and president of a nonprofit, Nelson offers pastors and ministry leaders a timely vision for leadership that incorporates in-depth biblical teaching and whole-life discipleship.

Steven Garber, senior fellow for vocation and the common good with the M. J. Murdock Charitable Trust, said, “The deepest, truest learning is always over the shoulder and through the heart. In The Flourishing Pastor we are drawn into Tom Nelson’s long labor of love—a vocation born of commitments to biblical theology and missional practice that have formed his work as a pastor among a particular people in a particular place, a vision for his congregation and his city. With surprising candor and humility rooted in an honest spirituality that seriously wrestles with the Word and the world together, this is a window into the mind and heart of someone who longs for the reality of an integral life for himself and for all of us. Every pastor I know would be graced by this apprenticeship in print, a book where words become flesh in the life of a good man who is also a good pastor.”

The 2023 CT Book Award in the Marriage and Family category went to Teach Your Children Well: A Step-by-Step Guide for Family Discipleship. Sarah Cowan Johnson unpacks how parents can have an active discipleship role in forming their children’s faith, with age-appropriate insights and strategies for different developmental stages. She shows how we can identify God moments, facilitate spiritual encounters, clarify emerging beliefs, and encourage new faith habits in our children.

“Sarah Cowan Johnson’s instincts are absolutely right: parents can be the most important pastoral presence in their child’s life,” said Jared Patrick Boyd, author of Imaginative Prayer. “Our children need something real to grab on to—from our own life with God, from their own encounters with God, and from the everyday moments when God is close. God is always very close to us. This book is a very practical guide helping parents facilitate the practice of encountering God in the tiny moments of everyday life. This book will absolutely help parents in the work of the spiritual accompaniment of their children.”

The top CT honor in the Politics and Public Life category was awarded to Beyond Racial Division: A Unifying Alternative to Colorblindness and Antiracism. Sociologist George Yancey offers an alternative approach to racial relations where all parties contribute and are mutually accountable to one another for societal well-being. He provides empirical rationale for how collaborative conversations in a mutual accountability model can reduce racial division. History and societal complexity mean that different participants may have different kinds of responsibility, but all are involved in seeking the common good for all to thrive. Avoiding unilateral decisions that close off dialogue, Yancey casts a vision for moving beyond racial alienation toward a lifestyle and movement of collaborative conversation and mutuality.

Mark DeYmaz, cofounder, president, and CEO of the Mosaix Global Network, said, “There is not a more theologically sound, empirically informed, well-reasoned, or rational voice addressing the complexities of race, class, and culture in America today than that of Dr. George Yancey. In Beyond Racial Division, he navigates nuance and effectively challenges readers to get beyond rhetoric to results in their engagement of diverse others.”

The IVP title that received the Award of Merit in the Popular Theology category is The Thrill of Orthodoxy: Rediscovering the Adventure of Christian Faith. “Trevin Wax shows that traditional orthodox Christianity might not be as glossy and glamorous as Christianity gone worldly, but it is ancient, majestic, global, and glorious,” said Michael F. Bird, academic dean and lecturer in New Testament at Ridley College in Melbourne, Australia. “It is a tried and tested alternative to the faddish and fragmentary fakes that masquerade as Christianity in some places. Trevin is not pushing dry doctrine but passing on fresh fire that is thousands of years old.”

The IVP books that were finalists for the 2023 CT Book Awards include The Samaritan Woman’s Story: Reconsidering John 4 After #ChurchToo by Caryn A. Reeder (Biblical Studies), A Supreme Love: The Music of Jazz and the Hope of the Gospel by William Edgar (Culture and the Arts), and What Are Christians For?: Life Together at the End of the World by Jake Meador (Politics and Public Life).

Echols said, “We are grateful to our authors for allowing us to work alongside them to bring their words and passions into fruition. Each gives the best of their hearts and minds in a desire to continue to breathe life into the church. Their words continue to challenge readers to think deeply about their faith and to navigate today’s culture with wisdom and grace.”

For a complete list of IVP award winners visit ivpress.com/award-winners.

IVP Hosts Largest Missions Bookstore in the World at Urbana 22 Missions Conference

Fri, 09 Dec 2022 19:56:00 GMT

With more than thirty-four thousand books representing more than seven hundred titles, InterVarsity Press (IVP) will soon be hosting the largest missions bookstore in the world at the twenty-sixth Urbana Student Missions Conference.

The Urbana 22 Conference, held in Indianapolis, Indiana, will include more than five thousand attendees and nearly two hundred seminars and organizations. It starts on Wednesday, December 28, and concludes at midnight on New Year’s Eve. During this four-day conference, participants engage in a variety of experiences, including multicultural worship sessions, seminars, Bible studies, testimonies from the global church, and prayer ministry. And IVP employees and volunteers will once again construct and serve at the expansive pop-up bookstore for Urbana.

Al Hsu, senior editor for IVP, will be participating in his tenth Urbana Missions Conference this year. He said, “When I attended Urbana 93 as a college student, I was amazed and overwhelmed by the big picture of what God was doing in the world. So I found my way to the IVP bookstore at Urbana, where I bought every Book of the Day and dozens of other books to help me navigate my next steps after the conference. I literally brought two boxes of books home with me on the bus! The books students encounter at Urbana can help them discern their vocation and get them to wherever in the world God may be calling them to serve.”

Urbana began over seventy years ago in 1946 in Toronto, Canada, with five hundred seventy-five students. Since then, Urbana has called nearly three hundred thousand people to whole-life, whole-world discipleship. For many years, Urbana was hosted in Urbana-Champaign, Illinois—hence the name Urbana.

Ruth Hubbard, vice president for Urbana, said, “I’m one of thousands upon thousands of Urbana alumni who have been discipled in my journey of ‘yes’—in my development as a whole-life, whole-world disciple of Jesus—by IVP authors through their books. I’m thrilled that, once again, Urbana participants will have access to curated resources in Book of the Day offerings that will challenge, inspire, instruct, and activate them as witnesses.”

Books on sale at the conference will once again be discounted anywhere from 30 to 80 percent off. The bookstore will also be featuring the ever-popular Books of the Day that are just seven dollars. This year the Urbana Books of the Day will include the following:

First Nations Version: An Indigenous Translation of the New Testament by Terry M. Wildman

Many First Nations tribes communicate with the cultural and linguistic thought patterns found in their original tongues. The First Nations Version (FNV) recounts the Creator’s Story—the Christian Scriptures—following the tradition of Native storytellers' oral cultures.

The Beautiful Community: Unity, Diversity, and the Church at Its Best by Irwyn L. Ince Jr.

The church is at its best when it pursues the biblical value of unity in diversity. Pastor and theologian Irwyn Ince boldly unpacks the reasons for our divisions while gently guiding us toward our true hope for wholeness and reconciliation.

God Speaks Through Wombs: Poems on God’s Unexpected Coming by Drew Jackson

In this dynamic collection of poems, Drew Jackson explores the first eight chapters of Luke’s Gospel. These are declarative poems, faithfully proclaiming the gospel story in all its liberative power.

The Reluctant Witness: Discovering the Delight of Spiritual Conversations by Don Everts

Everts grew up assuming that spiritual conversations are always painful and awkward. But his surprising—and sometimes embarrassing—stories affirm what Scripture and the latest research reveal: spiritual conversations can actually be a delight. With original research from the Barna Group on spiritual conversations in the digital age, this book offers fresh insights and best practices for how to become eager conversationalists.

Here in Spirit: Knowing the Spirit Who Creates, Sustains, and Transforms Everything by Jonathan K. Dodson

Who is the Spirit? Is he a person or a spiritual force? How are we meant to relate to him? What does being filled with the Spirit look like? Instead of relating narrowly to the Holy Spirit based on just a few of his gifts, this book broadens our engagement with him, touring aspects of his vast character that often go unexplored. It turns out, living here in the Spirit is the source of the most meaningful, creative, satisfying life possible.

The Way Up Is Down: Becoming Yourself by Forgetting Yourself by Marlena Graves

For writer, professor, and activist Marlena Graves, formation and justice always intertwine on the path to a balanced life of both action and contemplation. Drawing on the rich traditions of Eastern and Western Christian saints, she describes the process of emptying herself that allows her to move upward toward God and become the true self that God calls her to.

Finding Your Yes: Living a Life That's Open to God's Invitations by Christine E. Wagoner

Would you like to live into your yes? Christine Wagoner invites you to be attentive to the movements of the Spirit and engage with opportunities God gives you on your spiritual journey. Sharing about her own yes moments as well as those of others, Wagoner offers practical tools for living a life of openness to the invitations of God in our lives.

Healing Racial Trauma: The Road to Resilience by Sheila Wise Rowe

Professional counselor Sheila Wise Rowe exposes the symptoms of racial trauma to lead readers to a place of freedom from the past and new life for the future. In each chapter, she includes an interview with a person of color to explore how we experience and resolve racial trauma.

While most Book of the Day authors will be leading seminars and signing books at Urbana, several IVP authors will also be part of the large group plenary sessions, where conference attendees gather for worship, messages, prayer, and Bible exposition. This year IVP author Bishop Claude Alexander (Necessary Christian and Becoming the Church) will serve as the Urbana 22 Bible expositor, daily guiding attendees through the book of Acts. IVP authors Alexia Salvatierra and James Choung will be main stage plenary speakers. Salvatierra is the coauthor of IVP’s Faith-Rooted Organizing and more recently Buried Seeds (Baker Publishing Group). Choung is the author of True Story, Real Life, and Longing for Revival.

A complete list of plenary and seminar speakers is available at urbana.org, and plenary sessions will be streaming live from urbana.org.

Books and ebooks featured at the conference are already available for purchase online at urbanabooks.com. The Urbana conference discounted prices will be offered through January 31, 2023.

The Gospel Coalition Honors Three IVP Titles with Awards of Distinction

Fri, 09 Dec 2022 20:06:00 GMT

The Gospel Coalition has announced that three IVP books have received Awards of Distinction as part of the TGC 2022 Book Awards. Drawing from the thousands of resources produced by Christian publishers this year, the TGC staff, along with dozens of key contributors, took stock of the best Christian books across twelve categories and recently announced their top choices.

The IVP titles that received Awards of Distinction in the TGC 2022 Book Awards include the following:

The Thrill of Orthodoxy: Rediscovering the Adventure of Christian Faith by Trevin Wax was honored with the Award of Distinction in the Popular Theology category. Wax said, “In a world of personalized spiritual paths, Christian orthodoxy can sound stuffy and stifling, while doctrinal change and innovation seem exciting. The Thrill of Orthodoxy turns the tables, illuminating and inspiring Christians by contrasting the narrow and dull principles of heresy with the electrifying, unchanging paradoxes that form the heart of the gospel.”

Judges for the Popular Theology category included Joshua Chatman, Clarissa Moll, Juan Sánchez, and Matt Smethurst. They said this about The Thrill of Orthodoxy: “With trenchant insight and memorable turns of phrase, Trevin Wax beckons us to cling to Scripture’s never-changing truths amid an ever-changing world. Instead of bowing to the spirit of the age, Christians humbly stand for truth. This book explains what’s at stake, both now and for eternity, not to scare but to sober. After all, we’re not the first generation of Christians to face vexing opposition from a surrounding culture—and even from professing believers. It’s never boring to stand on the shoulders of those who have gone before us and to exchange the straitjacket of heresy for the freedom of gospel grace. The Thrill of Orthodoxy will fire you up for all the right reasons.”

Analog Christian: Cultivating Contentment, Resilience, and Wisdom in the Digital Age received the Award of Distinction in the Christian Living category of the TGC Awards. Jay Kim’s Analog Church explored the ways the digital age and its values affect the life of the church. In Analog Christian, he asks the same question of Christian discipleship. As the digital age inclines us to discontentment, fragility, and foolishness, how are followers of Jesus to respond? What is the theological basis for living in creative resistance to the forces of our day? How can Christians cultivate the contentment, resilience, and wisdom to not only survive but to thrive as we navigate the specific challenges of our age?

Judges for the Christian Living category included Judges: Matt Boga, Winfree Brisley, Megan Hill, and Courtney Reissig. They said, “Though we understand in a general sense that the digital age is negatively affecting our culture and individual lives, we may struggle to pinpoint exactly how it’s changing us and what we can do about it. In Analog Christian, Jay Kim insightfully identifies technology’s rotten fruit of discontentment, fragility, and foolishness and explains how the fruit of the Spirit is the antidote we need. By pairing specific problems of the digital age with contrasting fruit of the Spirit, Kim models Paul’s put-off, put-on framework—joy instead of comparison, kindness instead of hostility, faithfulness instead of forgetfulness. Rather than calling us to unplug and cease our scrolling and swiping, Kim shows readers how to thoughtfully engage the challenges of the digital age and—by the power of the Spirit—cultivate contentment, resilience, and wisdom.”

A Supreme Love: The Music of Jazz and the Hope of the Gospel received the Award of Distinction in the Arts & Culture category of the TGC 2022 Book Awards. Theologian and jazz pianist William Edgar places jazz within the context of the African American experience and explores the work of musicians like Miles Davis and Ella Fitzgerald, arguing that jazz, which moves from deep lament to inextinguishable joy, deeply resonates with the hope that is ultimately found in the good news of Jesus Christ.

Category judges Terry Glaspey, Aaron Lee, Brett McCracken, and Rachel Wilhelm said, “What hath jazz to do with Jesus? In A Supreme Love, William Edgar explains how jazz music connects with the hope of the gospel. Clearly written and well researched, this book situates the jazz genre in the historical context of black experience in the United States as well as suggesting jazz follows the arc of the gospel message—from the darkness and sorrow caused by sin to the supreme light and joy of Christ’s salvation. Along the way, Edgar offers fascinating examples and anecdotes from the entire repertoire of jazz. His love for this music is clear and infectious.”

For a complete list of IVP award winners visit ivpress.com/award-winners.

Adam McHugh's Memoir, Blood from a Stone, Longlisted for the André Simon Food and Drink Book Awards 2022

Fri, 09 Dec 2022 00:11:00 GMT

Blood from a Stone: A Memoir of How Wine Brought Me Back from the Dead, written by Adam McHugh, has made the longlist for the prestigious André Simon Food and Drink Book Awards. This year’s UK-based award recognizes an international list of fifteen food books and nine drink books published by a variety of commercial, university, and independent presses.

Within the drink category, this year’s titles celebrate everything from books about coffee, sake, and cider to McHugh’s book about wine. The panel of judges reviewed one hundred forty books before narrowing it down to the longlist. The selected books were evaluated on four key criteria: the amount of original research in the book, the educational value of the content, whether it was a pleasurable read, and the quality of the work in total.

“Blood from a Stone is such a personal and unconventional exploration of wine, and I am so pleasantly surprised that the André Simon awards would choose to honor it. I am gratified that they made room for humor and self-discovery in what can be a pretty serious drinks business,” said McHugh.

Since its inception in 1978, this award has sought to honor the legacy of André Simon, an author, former president of the Food and Wine Society, and leader in the English wine trade throughout the 1900s. The award grew out of the André Simon Memorial Fund, which was established after Simon’s death and continues to be managed by a group of trustees to benefit the public in the fields of food and drink.

In McHugh’s own words, Blood from a Stone is a story about how “wine brought me back from the dead.” After leaving his career as a former hospice chaplain and grief counselor, McHugh found his new calling within the vineyards of France and ultimately as a wine tour guide, sommelier, and Certified Specialist of Wine in the Santa Ynez Valley of California. This memoir shares the highs and lows of McHugh’s personal journey alongside the old, old story of wine. In bringing wine and faith together, it is a new story about recovery, one of healing brought on by the good gifts of wine, friends, and the beauty of the wine country.

“Adam McHugh has not just written a terrific book about wine, he has pioneered a whole new genre of wine writing. At once funny and sad, his book is a deeply personal exploration of how one man finds himself through his relationship with the world’s most remarkable beverage.” said Karen MacNeil, author of The Wine Bibleand editor of WineSpeed.

Cindy Bunch, IVP Vice President, Editorial, said, “Reading Blood from a Stone is like being in a wine country tasting room overlooking the vineyards with a delightful host and an open afternoon to talk of nothing but wine. Adam McHugh brings to this book the same wealth of detail about the history of winemaking, the glories of the various regions around the world, and the insights into the industry that he offers in a tasting experience.”

The shortlist of titles within both the food and drink category will be announced in February 2023, and final awards will be presented toward the end of March 2023. A special commendation will be given to one of the shortlisted titles in either the food or drink category at that time as well.

To learn more about the André Simon Food and Drink Book Awards visit andresimon.co.uk/awards. For a complete list of IVP award winners visit ivpress.com/award-winners.

IVP Creative Director Honored with Four 2022 Top Shelf Book Cover Awards

Fri, 18 Nov 2022 15:56:00 GMT

InterVarsity Press is pleased to congratulate its creative director, David Fassett, for his work on four designs chosen for 2022 Top Shelf Book Cover Awards by the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA). The Top Shelf Book Cover Awards program is managed by ECPA to recognize design excellence in the Christian publishing industry.

“David Fassett’s designs are one of the best parts of getting to work at IVP,” said Justin Paul Lawrence, divisional vice president of marketing and sales at IVP. “His consistent eye and continued excellence are amazing. Plus he’s a joy to work with and is a positive presence on my team. Very well deserved!”

Fassett joined InterVarsity Press (IVP) as a marketing designer in 2009. He was promoted to senior graphic designer in 2014, to art director in May 2017, and now serves as IVP’s creative director.

Fassett’s four award-winning cover designs in the nonfiction category include:

A Supreme Love: The Music of Jazz and the Hope of the Gospel by William Edgar

Enjoying the Old Testament: A Creative Guide to Encountering Scripture by Eric A. Seibert

The Religion of American Greatness: What’s Wrong with Christian Nationalism by Paul D. Miller

When Thoughts and Prayers Aren’t Enough: A Shooting Survivor’s Journey into the Realities of Gun Violence by Taylor S. Schumann

ECPA announced the winners of this year’s awards on Wednesday, November 16, at Lipscomb University in Nashville during the opening session of ECPA PubU. Winning book covers are featured at TopShelfAwards.org.

For a complete archived list of IVP’s Top Shelf Award–winning book covers visit ivpress.com/award-winners.

The Celebration Place from IVP Kids Receives 2022 Jerry Pinkney Children's Book Award

Thu, 27 Oct 2022 20:09:00 GMT

IVP Kids is pleased to announce that The Celebration Place by Dorena Williamson was selected as the winner of the 2022 Jerry Pinkney Children’s Book Award in the Religious/Faith category.

The Jerry Pinkney Children’s Book Awards are sponsored by the National Black Book Festival (NBBF) and were established in honor of the late Jerry Pinkney, a world-renowned children’s book illustrator. Nominated titles for the award must be copyrighted in 2021 or 2022 and be either written by an African American author or have an African American theme.

Williamson said, “Jerry Pinkney was a familiar name when I curated representation for my young children. His work is a legacy of diverse children’s literature and an example to follow. This award is an incredible honor as we approach the one-year anniversary of the release of The Celebration Place.”

Written by Williamson and illustrated by Erin Bennett Banks, The Celebration Place: God’s Plan for a Delightfully Diverse Church is told in a delightful rhyme. This colorfully illustrated children’s book also includes tools to help parents engage in conversation about the book’s theme of God’s vision for justice and unity.

“We were so pleased to sign Dorena as one of our first acquisitions for IVP Kids because The Celebration Place casts such a beautiful vision for the church as a community of inclusion and celebration,” said IVP Kids editor Elissa Schauer. “But it was also significant to us that Dorena incorporated Dr. King’s message of justice and unity, pointing out that the dream that Dr. King preached is simply what God intended for the church. I can’t think of a more profound message for us today!”

Natalie Grant, singer, songwriter, and cofounder of Hope for Justice, said, “Dorena has such a beautiful yet compelling way of writing about these most important topics of justice and unity. Yes, The Celebration Place will inspire children to walk this message out better than the generation before them did. But I also believe it will help challenge the parents, teachers, and leaders of these children that it’s not too late to do the same.”

The award winners in each category were announced on October 22 at the 2022 National Black Book Festival in Houston. More information about the Jerry Pinkney Children’s Book Awards is available at www.jerrypinkneybookawards.com.

For a complete list of IVP award winners visit ivpress.com/award-winners.

Nancy Wang Yuen Returns as Season Four Host of The Disrupters Podcast, Launching October 31

Fri, 21 Oct 2022 18:07:00 GMT

InterVarsity Press is pleased to announce that sociologist and pop-culture expert Nancy Wang Yuen will return as host of the fourth season of The Disrupters podcast. The first episode, featuring New York Times bestselling author Jemar Tisby, will release on October 31.

Yuen is the author of Reel Inequality: Hollywood Actors and Racism and coeditor of Power Women: Stories of Motherhood, Faith, and the Academy. She has appeared on PBS, NPR, MSNBC, BBC World, and Dr. Phil. She is a guest writer at CNN, Elle, Los Angeles Times, NBC, Newsweek, and Vanity Fair.

The first two seasons of The Disrupters were hosted by Esau McCaulley, author of Reading While Black: African American Biblical Interpretation as an Exercise in Hope, associate professor of New Testament at Wheaton College, and a contributing opinion writer for the New York Times. Interviews with guests such as Beth Moore, Sho Baraka, Tish Harrison Warren, Dominique Gilliard, and others focused on a specific disruption—a break, interruption, or disturbance—in the church.

With the return of Yuen for season four of The Disrupters, IVP benefits from a successful host series pivot. In season three, Yuen shifted focus from a negative disruption of the evangelical church to a more positive posture of disruption of the secular workplace. By speaking with guests who were actively living out their faith in places of cultural importance, this season demonstrated how faith can be lived out in peaceable but nonetheless disruptive ways to improve the world.

Season three asked the question, Is it possible to be a faithful Christian in the face of overwhelming problems such as racism and sexism within the US church?

Season four follows up an affirmative answer with a simple follow-up question: How? Through both her life experiences and interviews, Yuen will explore the nature of Christian spirituality in the real world. Guests will include people with experience, insights, and advice in doing just that.

Yuen said, “This season, I invite listeners to join me on my spiritual journey toward liberation. Each week, a new guest will help me process the foibles of evangelicalism, teach me how to heal from spiritual trauma, and share fresh new ways of doing faith.

Confirmed guests for season four of The Disrupters include the following:

October 31

Jemar Tisby is the author of the New York Times bestselling book The Color of Compromise: The Truth about the American Church’s Complicity in Racism. His writing has been featured on CNN, the Washington Post, The Atlantic, and the New York Times. He is the founder and president of The Witness: A Black Christian Collective, and the cohost of the Pass the Mic podcast.

November 7

Jon Ward is chief national correspondent at Yahoo News, author of Testimony and Camelot’s End, and host of The Long Game podcast.

November 14

Michael Te Pei Chang is a former professional tennis player and coach. He was the youngest man in history to win a singles major, winning the 1989 French Open at age seventeen. Chang won a total of thirty-four top-level professional singles titles and reached a career-best ranking of number two in the world in 1996. Chang was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2008. He is also the author of Holding Serve: Persevering On and Off the Court.

November 21

Christina Barland Edmondson is the cohost of the Truth’s Table podcast and Get in the Word with Truth’s Table, and is the coauthor of Faithful Antiracism: Moving Past Talk to Systemic Change. Edmondson is also a certified cultural intelligence facilitator, public speaker, mental health therapist, and consultant in the areas of ethics, equity, and Christian leadership development.

This season will also include a four-part Christmas miniseries releasing on November 28, December 5, 12, and 19. The series will feature Yuen and Tisby, who will be discussing the Christmas-Industrial Complex.

The Disrupters podcast will be available through Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other major podcast distributors. For a sneak peek, check out the trailer for the fourth season of The Disrupters at ivpress.com/disrupters.

Karin DeHaven Named PW Star Watch Honoree for 2022

Fri, 21 Oct 2022 16:57:00 GMT

Karin DeHaven, publicist for IVP Academic, was named a PW Star Watch honoree. DeHaven is one of forty-one honorees selected for the 2022 awards, which identify and celebrate innovators in book publishing. The group of honorees includes representatives from the Big Five publishers, independent houses, comics publishers, literary agents, booksellers, and others who influence books that get read.

As the publicist for IVP Academic, DeHaven works to secure book reviews and author interviews online and in magazines and journals. DeHaven has been at IVP for seven years and carries a wealth of knowledge about the inner workings of the theological academy to her work. She holds an MA from Wheaton College and an MDiv from Fuller Theological Seminary.

“Having worked with Karin for more than five years, I have come to appreciate her attention to detail and her knowledge of academia and the publishing industry,” said Krista Clayton, associate director for publicity at IVP. “Through her experience at IVP, and because of her eagerness to learn, she has gained a detailed understanding of the overall publishing process at IVP, which informs her role and the overall work of the publicity team. Amazingly, in addition to working full time, she has managed to juggle master’s classes and earn a degree from Fuller.”

From among the forty-one honorees, five finalists will be announced on October 26, 2022, and one “Superstar” will be revealed at the in-person celebratory reception on November 15, 2022, to be held in New York. Publishers Weekly magazine will feature a profile of the honorees in its October 31, 2022, issue.

Nearly two hundred nominations were vetted by the PW Star Watch jury, with attention paid to the standouts of the publishing world. Last year’s Superstars were Madison, Wisconsin, booksellers Gretchen Treu and Wes Lukes, co-owners of A Room of One’s Own.

Krista Rafanello, senior marketing director for Publishers Weekly, said, “Continuing the PW Star Watch tradition is an honor in itself, and knowing we’ll be coming together in person to celebrate the entire pool of honorees makes it even sweeter.”

PW Star Watch was founded in 2015 by Publishers Weekly, originally in partnership with Frankfurter Buchmesse; Publishers Weekly is now the sole sponsor and manager of the awards. PW Star Watch honors innovative and inspired “rising stars” of the US and Canadian publishing communities.

Now celebrating its 150th anniversary, Publishers Weekly is the international news platform of the book publishing industry. Founded in 1872 and published weekly since then, the magazine boasts 1.23 million social media followers; publishes ten e-newsletters, BookLife (a website and weekly supplement), two blogs, a mobile edition, digital editions, apps, and podcasts; and features a thriving website that reaches 14 million unique visitors annually.

IVP Welcomes Sharon Garlough Brown as Editorial Consultant for Adult Fiction Titles

Mon, 03 Oct 2022 15:00:00 GMT

IVP has retained bestselling author, spiritual director, and retreat leader Sharon Garlough Brown as an editorial consultant to continue to grow IVP’s presence in the adult fiction market. Brown has written seven novels for IVP beginning with Sensible Shoes. Her most recent fiction title, Feathers of Hope, released in April 2022.

“I am honored and delighted by this new opportunity for partnering in ministry with IVP,” Brown said. “IVP has a long history of commitment to publishing books that invite us into deeper life with Jesus, and I’m excited about finding and working with fiction authors who can tell compelling stories that take us on a journey of transformation.”

Brown is a spiritual director, speaker, and cofounder of Abiding Way Ministries, providing spiritual formation retreats and resources. A graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary, she has served on the pastoral staff of congregations in Scotland, Oklahoma, England, and most recently in West Michigan, where she copastored with her husband, Jack, for many years. Brown is the author of the bestselling Sensible Shoes Series, which includes spiritual fiction novels Sensible Shoes, Two Steps Forward, Barefoot, and An Extra Mile, which won Christianity Today’s 2019 Fiction Book of the Year. Her other books include Remember Me and Shades of Light. Each of her books has a separate study guide intended to help readers deepen their understanding of spiritual practices.

“It has been one of the particular delights of my publishing career to work with Sharon Garlough Brown,” said Cindy Bunch, IVP Vice President, Editorial. “I have watched her grow as a novelist over the course of her seven books. She not only has craft and skill, but she combines these gifts with an openness to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. As a result, Sharon’s particular vision for fiction that illuminates spiritual practices and the process of being formed in Christ is a hallmark of her work. It is that quality that IVP is looking for in the next authors we acquire. With Sharon’s guidance we look forward to developing new voices in spiritually formative fiction.”

In addition to Brown’s fiction titles, IVP recently released Kelly Flanagan’s The Unhiding of Elijah Campbell: A Novel. Flanagan is currently working on a second novel for IVP. In 2020 IVP picked up James Bryan Smith’s classic book about heaven, Room of Marvels: A Story About Heaven that Heals the Heart. All of these books are a part of the IVP Formatio line of books focused on spiritual formation.

IVP plans to publish three to five novels a year and is looking for fiction focused on themes of spiritual formation and personal transformation. The press will be looking for authors who are subject-area experts, and who are teaching, speaking, and writing on the themes of their work.

Visit ivpress.com/submissions for more details on how to submit a manuscript. Authors should be ready to submit a complete manuscript upon request.

Sandra Morgan, Coauthor of Ending Human Trafficking, Awarded Wilberforce Award

Thu, 29 Sep 2022 17:33:00 GMT

Sandra Morgan, coauthor of IVP Academic’s Ending Human Trafficking: A Handbook of Strategies for the Church Today, was awarded the esteemed Wilberforce Award by Atlas Free at its eleventh annual Freedom Gala on Saturday, September 24. Atlas Free is a nonprofit organization that is fighting human trafficking and sexual exploitation in the United States and over twenty countries around the world.

The award is named after William Wilberforce, the British parliamentarian who led the charge to abolish slavery across the British Empire. Wilberforce dedicated forty-five years to the abolitionist cause, and in 1833 he helped to pass the Slavery Abolition Act. Wilberforce passed away three days later knowing he had accomplished what many said was impossible. This award is presented to an extraordinary leader and modern-day abolitionist who has used his or her voice and passion to influence policy, government, and the anti-trafficking movement at large.

An educator and nurse, Morgan is recognized globally for her expertise in combatting human trafficking and working to end violence against women and children. She currently serves as director of the Global Center for Women and Justice at Vanguard University where she builds capacity for research, education, and advocacy directly related to the exploitation of women and children.

Morgan served two years as co-chair of the Public-Private Partnership Advisory Council to End Human Trafficking by presidential appointment. She was nominated by John Richmond, ambassador at large of the US State Department’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons.

Morgan’s experience serving exploited women, men, and children includes direct care as a pediatric nurse, a volunteer with Doctors of the World (Athens, Greece), and a past administrator of the Orange County Human Trafficking Task Force (OCHTTF). She has been a tireless advocate for victims of exploitation, slavery, and trafficking across the world, including South America, Russia, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. Morgan also serves on the Orange County Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC) Steering Committee, partnering with Child Welfare and Juvenile Justice. Her Ending Human Trafficking podcast has listeners in one hundred forty-eight countries and is now housed in the Library of Congress as a resource to practitioners and the public.

Morgan said, “My favorite justice verse is Proverbs 31:8: ‘Speak up for those for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those being crushed’ (NLT). There are two things to notice. First, this is a mandate and does not say, ‘If you are called.’ It just says, ‘Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves.’ Second, there’s a semicolon here, so we don’t get to stop with talking about it. The second half calls us to find ways to make things right, to ‘ensure justice for those being crushed.’ This is not criminal justice; we are talking about justice, making things right, making things fair for someone vulnerable and for those being crushed. We are called to be God’s witnesses to the ends of the earth. We are given an Old Testament mandate (Prov 31:38), and in the New Testament, the standard for measuring our true religion is how we care for widows and orphans—marginalized women and children.”

In April 2022 Morgan released Ending Human Trafficking: A Handbook of Strategies for the Church Today with coauthors Kimberly McOwen Yim and Shayne Moore. Published in collaboration with The Global Center for Women and Justice, Ending Human Trafficking is an accessible and compelling resource for Christian leaders, written by three seasoned leaders in the struggle against modern slavery. Grounded in a theological response to the issue and filled with stories, up-to-date data, and practical tools and tips, it promises to be an invaluable resource for years to come.

“I very much appreciated Sandie Morgan’s eye-opening presentation on human trafficking at our Crisis Publishing Initiative conference in Hungary in 2017, so I was delighted to hear that she had cowritten a book on this often-misunderstood topic,” said Sharon Mumper, president of Magazine Training International. “This practical book delineates the sensible ways the church can most effectively engage in the fight against human trafficking. The compelling overview of human trafficking through the centuries and in all its sometimes-surprising permeations today is well-documented, liberally illustrated with case studies, and theologically grounded. It will be immensely valuable to anyone who is concerned about human trafficking and looking for a way to make an impact in the battle against this evil practice.”

My Vertical Neighborhood Receives Top Word Guild Award as Best Nonfiction Book of the Year

Fri, 23 Sep 2022 15:25:00 GMT

IVP is pleased to announce that My Vertical Neighborhood: How Strangers Became a Community by Lynda MacGibbon was named the best nonfiction book of the year as part of the 2022 Word Guild Awards. In addition, IVP Academic’s Welcome, Holy Spirit: A Theological and Experiential Introduction by Gordon T. Smith received the 2022 Word Guild Award in the Christian Living – Spiritual Formation category. And the late Donald M. Lewis received the top honor in the academic category for his book A Short History of Christian Zionism: From the Reformation to the Twenty-First Century.

The Word Guild’s thirty-fourth annual awards event was held on Saturday, September 17, in honor of talented Canadian writers who are Christian. The event, which took place online for the third consecutive year, recognized unpublished work by new writers as well as work published in 2021 for both Christian and mainstream audiences. During MacGibbon’s acceptance speech, she said, “Thank you to the Word Guild for championing writers in Canada, particularly writers who come from a Christian perspective in thought and writing.”

After encouragement from friends and family to write down her experiences of moving from a small city in eastern Canada to a high-rise apartment in Toronto, MacGibbon spent five years writing My Vertical Neighborhood. She tells the story of the community that took shape as neighbors said yes to weekly dinners and a writing group, Christmas morning brunch and even a Bible study. It’s a story of the simple, everyday risk of reaching out with love to those around us, and of the beauty and messiness of real human relationships. ”Thank you to the team at InterVarsity Press who believed in this project,” MacGibbon said.

MacGibbon currently serves as vice president of People and Culture for InterVarsity Canada. Before working for InterVarsity, she was a journalist for over twenty years.

Karen Stiller, author of The Minister’s Wife: A Memoir of Faith, Doubt, Friendship, Loneliness, Forgiveness, and More, said, “Whether you live in a tall apartment building or a tiny house on a quiet street, My Vertical Neighborhood will make you want to throw your doors open wide and invite the neighbors in. This beautifully written chronicle of risk taking, hospitality, success, and even the sadness and struggles of building community for the sake of loving neighbors well over the long run, is inspiring and also practical. There are good ideas in these pages. After reading it, I want to shop for salty olives and some really good bread, and throw a dinner party for my neighbors.”

The recipient of the Word Guild Award in the Christian Living – Spiritual Formation category, Welcome, Holy Spirit by Gordon T. Smith, helps readers cultivate an understanding of the Holy Spirit that helps them experience the presence of the Spirit in worship, in witness, in joy and sorrow, in seasons of blessing and times of difficulty alike, all the while honoring the fullness of the Trinity.

Domenic Ruso, founding planter of the180 Church in Québec and faculty member at diverse theological schools across Canada, said, “In an age bubbling with numerous spiritualities, Dr. Smith, in this book, has given us a gift: a biblical, pastoral, and practical guide for what it means to discern and obey God the Holy Spirit so that God the Son and God the Father are magnified in our time.”

Smith (PhD, Loyola School of Theology, Ateneo de Manila University) is the president of Ambrose University and Seminary in Calgary, Alberta, where he also serves as professor of systematic and spiritual theology. He is an ordained minister with the Christian and Missionary Alliance and a teaching fellow at Regent College, Vancouver, British Columbia. He is the author of many books, including Institutional Intelligence, Courage and Calling, Your Calling Here and Now, and Evangelical, Sacramental, and Pentecostal.

The late Donald M. Lewis, a beloved Regent College professor who passed away unexpectedly in 2021, was honored by the Word Guild for his book in the academic nonfiction category. In the early 2000s Lewis became fascinated with the Christian Zionist movement. In 2009 he published The Origins of Christian Zionism: Lord Shaftesbury and the Evangelical Support for a Jewish Homeland. This was followed by this, his last book, A Short History of Christian Zionism: From the Reformation to the Twenty-First Century.

Lewis was a prolific author who wrote eleven books, including the two-volume Blackwell Dictionary of Evangelical Biography, 1730–1860. His first book with IVP was titled Global Evangelicalism: Theology, History and Culture in Regional Perspective, which he edited with Richard V. Pierard.

Jon Boyd, academic editorial director for IVP, said, “Working with Don on his history of Christian Zionism gave me insight into what the fruits of a life well spent in scholarship can be. The long hours with archival and primary sources shone through, of course, but that’s just a baseline for any historian. What Don added was patience with and even an appetite for feedback to develop the manuscript further, a sincerely charitable attitude toward critics, and a vision for the good he hoped his work might do. What a privilege to watch someone like that at work!”

The Word Awards were established by The Word Guild to encourage the pursuit of excellence in the art, craft, practice, and ministry of writing and help raise the profile of Canadian writers who are Christian. For more information about The Word Guild, please visit thewordguild.com. You can see the complete list of winners for the 2022 Word Awards below and at thewordguild.com/media.

For a complete list of IVP award winners visit ivpress.com/award-winners.

IVP Welcomes Nilwona Nowlin as Associate Editor

Fri, 16 Sep 2022 15:15:00 GMT

InterVarsity Press (IVP) has announced that Nilwona Nowlin will serve as its new associate editor.

Cindy Bunch, IVP Vice President, Editorial, said, “Nilwona Nowlin comes to IVP with strong recommendations from several of our authors. Her breadth of ministry experience, professional training, and wide networks will be an asset to IVP. But most of all her pastoral heart will guide her as she mentors authors through the publishing process. I am looking forward to having her on the IVP team.”

Nowlin holds a master of divinity and a master of arts in Christian formation from North Park Theological Seminary in Chicago. She also has a master’s degree in nonprofit administration from North Park University. Most recently Nowlin has served as a contract chaplain for Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. She has also worked at North Park Seminary and for the Evangelical Covenant Church. Nowlin is a member of Redbud Writers Guild and serves on the board of the Christian Community Development Association (CCDA).

Nowlin frequently preaches at churches in the Chicago area and has been a speaker at Duke Youth Academy, Christians for Biblical Equality (CBE) International, Deeply Rooted Chicago, and a number of other conferences. She has also given a TEDx Talk at North Park University. Nowlin has written for CCDA, Covenant Companion, Christianity Today, the Evangelical Covenant Church, and Redbud Writers Guild.

Nowlin describes herself in this way: “I am a redemptive artist, which means that I use my creative abilities to move others toward redemption, restoration, and reconciliation with the goal of helping individuals and communities around the world experience God’s shalom. Areas of interest include leadership development, community development, intercultural competence, and helping others discover and pursue their God-given purpose.”

Serving in her new associate editor role, Nowlin will be attending both the CCDA Conference November 2 to 5 in Charlotte, North Carolina, and the Mosaix Conference November 8 to 10 in Dallas, Texas.

Visit Nowlin’s website at nilwona.com, and follow her on Twitter: @nilwona.

James Bryan Smith Signs with IVP for Anniversary Edition Honoring the Life and Legacy of Rich Mullins

Thu, 25 Aug 2022 21:30:00 GMT

James Bryan Smith has signed a contract with InterVarsity Press (IVP) to honor the life of his good friend Rich Mullins twenty-five years after Rich’s death with the release of a new edition of his devotional biography titled Rich Mullins: An Arrow Pointing to Heaven. The book will release on February 7, 2023.

Andrew Peterson, recording artist and author of The God of the Garden, said, “Writing a book about someone who meant so much to so many is a daunting task but one that James Bryan Smith has accomplished with a great deal of passion and wisdom. This book is a gift to all of us who miss having Rich in this world, and it will be a treasure to those who are just discovering who he was.”

Beloved contemporary Christian musician Rich Mullins lived his life with abandon for God, leaving the spotlight to teach music among a Navajo community. An accident cut his life short in 1997, but his songs and ragamuffin spirit continue to teach many.

In honor of the twenty-fifth anniversary of Rich’s homegoing, this edition of Rich Mullins: An Arrow Pointing to Heaven delivers an intimate look at the experiences that sparked praise hit songs and the values behind his Christlike candor. James Bryan Smith captures just what Rich wished for when he said, “I hope I would leave a legacy of joy—a legacy of real compassion.”

See the layers of his story through reflections from friends and family, an afterword by Rich’s brother, David Mullins, and Smith’s own bond with him. David said, “James Bryan Smith did with Rich Mullins: An Arrow Pointing to Heaven what Rich did with his life. He was able to tell a story about a man but really tell a story about God.”

James Bryan Smith is the author of The Good and Beautiful Series. He is a theology professor at Friends University in Wichita, Kansas, where he also serves as the director of the Apprentice Institute for Christian Spiritual Formation. A founding member of Richard J. Foster’s spiritual renewal ministry, Renovaré, Smith is an ordained United Methodist Church minister and has served in various capacities in local churches.

Smith was represented by Kathryn Helmers of the Helmers Literary Services.

Two IVP Kids Titles Named Finalists for Jerry Pinkney Children’s Book Awards

Fri, 19 Aug 2022 14:14:00 GMT

Two IVP Kids titles have been named finalists for the first annual Jerry Pinkney Children’s Book Awards. Josey Johnson’s Hair and the Holy Spirit and The Celebration Place are two of five finalists in the religion category.

Josey Johnson’s Hair and the Holy Spirit was written by Esau McCaulley and illustrated by LaTonya Jackson. This IVP Kids book tells the story of Josey, who is spending the day with her dad, getting her hair braided at Monique’s Beauty Shop, and picking out a new red dress for Pentecost Sunday. In the process, she learns to celebrate the differences she sees all around her as part of God’s plan for his creation.

Benjamin Watson, author of Under Our Skin and The New Dad’s Playbook, said, “God has created beauty in diversity. But in a world that can be uniquely unkind to our Black girls, I have known the responsibility and privilege of intentionally celebrating their inner and outer glory. In Josey Johnson’s Hair and the Holy Spirit, Esau McCaulley reminds me of deep conversations with my own beautiful daughters, appreciating their differences, affirming God’s love, and telling them they are valuable beyond measure. This message is for today.”

The Celebration Place: God’s Plan for a Delightfully Diverse Church was written by Dorena Williamson and illustrated by Erin Bennett Banks. Told in a delightful rhyme, this colorfully illustrated children’s book also includes tools to help parents engage in conversation about the book’s theme of God’s vision for justice and unity.

The award winners in each category will be announced on October 22 at the 2022 National Black Book Festival in Houston. At that time, a grand prize winner will also be announced and receive a $250 grand prize.

More information about the Jerry Pinkney Children’s Book Awards is available at www.jerrypinkneybookawards.com.

For a complete list of IVP award winners visit ivpress.com/award-winners.

Relational Spirituality Receives MIDWC 2022 Book Award

Thu, 18 Aug 2022 22:14:00 GMT

The Martin Institute for Christianity & Culture and the Dallas Willard Research Center (MIDWC) at Westmont College has announced that Relational Spirituality by Todd W. Hall (with M. Elizabeth Lewis Hall) is the winner of the MIDWC Book Award for 2022.

Mark Nelson, who is on staff with the Martin Institute, said, “Relational Spirituality was chosen because of its lucid, convincing presentation of an interpersonal paradigm of Christian spiritual transformation.”

Dallas Willard (1935–2013) was a thinker, pastor, and author of such books as The Spirit of the Disciplines and The Divine Conspiracy. Now regarded as modern spiritual classics, these works have inspired thousands of ordinary Christians to become extraordinary Christ followers, and have influenced a generation of writers and teachers, especially on the topics of Christian spiritual disciplines and formation. The MIDWC Annual Book Award Program was created in 2015 to help place an enduring emphasis on the intellectual legacy of Dallas Willard by recognizing original written work that shares his vision that invisible things such as soul, spirit, and the kingdom of God are part of reality, and that spiritual transformation is possible, especially through spiritual practices and disciplines.

Drawing on historical theology, biblical interpretation, clinical psychology, and neurobiology, Hall and Hall take a multidisciplinary approach to Christian spiritual formation seeking to overcome the historic split between theoretical knowledge of doctrine and experiential knowledge of Christian life. They argue that trinitarian theology, psychological attachment theory, and connectionist accounts of the mind converge on a view that reality is fundamentally relational, that we are prewired for attachment to other humans and God, and that real spiritual transformation takes place in community. Hall and Hall write how in properly functioning spiritual communities, “we are loved into loving, and as this occurs, we grow into the image of God as exemplified in Christ.”

“With Relational Spirituality, Todd Hall and Elizabeth Hall have, with erudition and mercy, given us a masterpiece that not only tells us who we are but also points us in the direction of who we long to become,” said Curt Thompson, author of The Soul of Desire. “Broad in its scope, prophetic in its conviction, beautifully imaginative in its synthesis of multiple domains of human experience, and accessible in its application, this is sure to become a wellspring of hope and transformation—one that could not come at a more timely moment.”

Todd W. Hall (PhD, Rosemead School of Psychology) is professor of psychology at Rosemead School of Psychology at Biola University, where he teaches courses on the integration of psychology and theology, psychodynamic psychotherapy, and positive psychology. He is a faculty affiliate at the Harvard Human Flourishing Program at Harvard University and a founding partner at Flourishing Metrics. Hall is also an award-winning researcher, focusing on relational approaches to spirituality, virtue, and leadership. He is the author of The Connected Life and coauthor of Psychology in the Spirit and Relational Spirituality. Hall is also the developer of several widely used spiritual assessments and codeveloper of the Flourish Assessment.

M. Elizabeth Lewis Hall (PhD, Rosemead School of Psychology) is professor of psychology at Rosemead School of Psychology at Biola University, where she teaches courses on the integration of psychology and theology. She has published over one hundred articles and book chapters and serves as associate editor for Psychology of Religion and Spirituality.

The Halls’ book joins other recent MIDWC Book Award winners, including Barbara Peacock, Soul Care in African American Practice; Angela Carpenter, Responsive Becoming; Gary Moon, Becoming Dallas Willard; Katherine Thompson, Christ-Centred Mindfulness; and Mark McMinn, The Science of Virtue.

For a complete list of IVP award winners visit ivpress.com/award-winners

Feathers of Hope Shortlisted for 2022 Christian Resources Together (CRT) Fiction Book of the Year

Thu, 11 Aug 2022 21:05:00 GMT

Christian Resources Together (CRT) has released the finalists for its 2022 awards, and IVP is pleased to announce that Feathers of Hope by Sharon Garlough Brown is one of three books shortlisted for the CRT Fiction Book of the Year.

CRT, based in England, provides support, fellowship, training, and business opportunities for those working within the United Kingdom Christian retail and supply trade. Winners of the 2022 CRT Awards will be announced on October 13 at an awards celebration at Sandown Park in Surrey, England. Winners will also be featured in CRT’s Together magazine.

Feathers of Hope details the story of Wren Crawford and her great-aunt, Katherine Rhodes, who prove to be companions in both sorrow and hope. In this sequel to Shades of Light and Remember Me, fans of the Sensible Shoes Series will not only be able to attend Katherine's final retreat sessions at New Hope but will also encounter old and new friends along the way.

Elizabeth Musser, author of The Swan House and The Dwelling Place, said, “In Feathers of Hope, Sharon Garlough Brown brilliantly portrays mental illness in a gentle and heartbreaking way as young Wren continues on her path toward healing from deep depression. We also glimpse the bare humanity of Wren’s great-aunt and housemate, Katherine Rhodes, as she navigates her impending retirement from directing the New Hope Retreat Center. Feathers of Hope tells a story of shedding the old to bring forth the new, giving hope to all of us who are confronted with our deep humanity and sinfulness after days or decades of our own sacred journey. A poignant, deeply personal, and relevant story for such a time as this.”

Sharon Garlough Brown is a spiritual director, speaker, and cofounder of Abiding Way Ministries, providing spiritual formation retreats and resources. She is the author of the bestselling Sensible Shoes Series, which includes spiritual fiction novels Sensible Shoes, Two Steps Forward, Barefoot, An Extra Mile, and their study guides.

A graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary, Brown has served on the pastoral staff of congregations in Scotland, Oklahoma, England, and most recently West Michigan, where she copastored with her husband, Jack, for many years. In March 2013 her book Sensible Shoes was named one of television personality Kathie Lee Gifford’s “favorite things.”

Voting for the CRT Awards is overseen by Christian Resources Together (CRT) in conjunction with the Booksellers Association-Christian Booksellers Group (BA-CBG), the Christian Suppliers Group (CSG), Kingsway CLC Trust (KCLCT), and Eden.co.uk together with suppliers and retailers.

For a list of IVP award winners, visit ivpress.com/award-winners.

Refuge Reimagined Shortlisted for Australian Christian Book of the Year Award

Fri, 15 Jul 2022 16:47:00 GMT

InterVarsity Press (IVP) is pleased to announce that Refuge Reimagined has been recognized as a finalist in the annual Australian Christian Book of the Year Awards.

The Australian Christian Book of the Year Award recognizes excellence in Christian writing by an Australian citizen. Candidates are judged according to the original nature, literary style, design, and contribution that the book makes in Christian writing for an Australian audience. Winners are now being decided by a team of past winners of the Australian Christian Book of the Year.

Refuge Reimagined: Biblical Kinship in Global Politics is one of ten titles shortlisted for the award. Coauthors Mark R. Glanville and Luke Glanville apply the kinship ethic to issues such as the current mission of the church, national identity and sovereignty, and possibilities for a cooperative global response to the refugee crisis. Challenging the fear-based ethic that often motivates Christian approaches, they envision a more generous, creative, and hopeful way forward.

“What would it mean if, rather than just providing support and protection for people experiencing displacement, we actually lived life with them?” said Erin Wilson, associate professor of politics and religion at the University of Groningen. “In this important book, Mark and Luke Glanville provide an answer to this question through the biblical concept of kinship. Building on existing work in political theory, theology on hospitality, and our responses to people on the move, Glanville and Glanville suggest that the Scriptures call us to enfold displaced people as kindred, in relationships where both the host and the hosted bless and receive blessing. This framework has the potential to radically disrupt existing approaches to refugees and protection in both scholarship and practice, as they demonstrate through their engagement with key biblical texts and day-to-day institutions and processes. It’s a radical disruption that is desperately needed in these dark and challenging times for the politics of migration and politics in general.”

Mark R. Glanville (PhD, Bristol University) is associate professor of pastoral theology at Regent College, Vancouver, and an Old Testament scholar. He is the author of Adopting the Stranger as Kindred in Deuteronomy and Freed to Be God’s Family: The Book of Exodus and has written articles for a variety of publications including the Journal of Biblical Literature, Refuge Journal, Journal of Missional Practice, Christian Educators Journal, Evangelicals for Social Action, Faith Today, The Light Magazine, and The Presbyterian Pulse.

Luke Glanville (PhD, University of Queensland) is associate professor in the department of international relations at Australian National University. He is the author of Sovereignty and the Responsibility to Protect: A New History, which won the Australian Political Science Association Crisp Prize in 2016 and the CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title Award in 2014.

Winners of Australian Christian Book of the Year Award will be announced September 1, 2022, at the SparkLit Awards Night in Melbourne, Australia.

For a complete list of IVP award winners visit ivpress.com.

IVP Announces Contract for the Release of First Nations Version: Psalms and Proverbs

Fri, 15 Jul 2022 14:08:00 GMT

InterVarsity Press is pleased to announce that they will be following up the much-loved First Nations Version: An Indigenous Translation of the New Testament (FNV) with the newly contracted First Nations Version: Psalms and Proverbs, to be released in 2024. The First Nations Version is a new translation, attempting to capture the simplicity, clarity, and beauty of Native storytellers in English, while remaining faithful to the original language of the Scriptures.

“The First Nations Version is a groundbreaking, fresh translation of the New Testament filled with vivid, evocative language and imagery,” said Al Hsu, senior editor for IVP. “We’re thrilled with how the FNV New Testament has been received and are excited to be developing the FNV Psalms and Proverbs as the sacred songs and words of the wisdomkeepers.”

As an example, the FNV translation of Psalm 1:1-3 says,

Creator’s blessing rests on the ones who do not walk the path of the bad-hearted. They do not stand with those who follow broken ways. They do not sit in a talking circle where others are spoken of with scorn and disrespect.

Instead, they take joy in Grandfather’s instructions. Throughout the day and night, they think deeply about his ways.

The ones who walk this path will be like trees planted by flowing waters. When the harvest moon comes, they will bear much fruit. Their leaves will not dry up, and all they put their hands to will go well for them.

The First Nations Version: Psalms and Proverbs will once again be authored by Terry M. Wildman with input from the First Nations Version Translation Council and Native reviewers. The First Nations Version is a collaborative effort that includes First Nations/Native Americans from over twenty-five tribes.

Wildman said, “You might call this a contextual translation in English, in the tradition of the storytellers of oral culture. While it is not tribally specific, it is intended to relate in a general way to all our First Nations people. The FNV is not only a gift to our First Nations people, but we also consider it an offering from First Nations people to the world. It is similar in concept to The Message by Eugene Peterson or The Living Bible by Kenneth N. Taylor. But it is different in the sense that it attempts to convey the rhythm and feel of an oral storyteller from our Turtle Island (North American) cultures.”

These projects were birthed out of a desire to provide an English Bible that connects, in a culturally sensitive way, the traditional heart languages of the over six million English-speaking First Nations people of North America. The First Nations Version Translation Council has been selected from a cross section of Native North Americans—elders, pastors, young adults, and men and women from differing tribes and diverse geographic locations. This council also represents a diversity of church and denominational traditions to minimize bias.

Megan Murdock Krischke serves as the director for Native InterVarsity, a ministry of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. She said, “The FNV has quickly become a go-to resource for Native InterVarsity across the nation. We are using it in our small group Bible studies, and it is influencing the words we choose when we invite students to the full life that Creator Sets Free (Jesus) offers. The word choices of the FNV not only resonate with Native students but are also offering a fresh hearing of Scripture for non-Natives. For example, when we talk about ‘sin,’ defenses and blinders go up immediately. But when the FNV talks about ‘bad hearts’ and ‘broken ways,’ people can see that in themselves and others. I would recommend the FNV to any Native person who wants to learn more about Jesus and any non-Native person who longs to be able to read Scripture with new eyes.”

The FNV is a retelling of the Creator’s Story—the Scriptures—following the tradition of the storytellers of these oral cultures. Many of the First Nations tribes still resonate with the cultural and linguistic thought patterns found in their original tongues. This way of speaking, with its simple yet profound beauty and rich cultural idioms, still resonates in the hearts of First Nations people.

Juanita Rasmus, Author of Learning to Be and Forty Days on Being a One, Named One of SUCCESS Magazine’s Women of Influence 2022

Fri, 13 May 2022 13:32:00 GMT

IVP author Juanita Rasmus has been named one of SUCCESS magazine’s Women of Influence 2022. This inaugural list honors Juanita as a woman who is positively pioneering change, impacting her community, and shaping the personal and professional lives of others. A total of 50 accomplished women across a number of different industries received this honor after a panel of judges reviewed nominations from over 120 different candidates.

In winning this award Juanita is in the company of the likes of poet laureate Joy Harjo, award-winning TV writer Shonda Rhimes, tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams, space traveler Wally Funk, and several other CEOs, cofounders, vice presidents, speakers, and authors.

“I am both awed and humbled by this honor. Who could ever have guessed that a magazine I grew up with, under editor W. Clement Stone, would years later acknowledge my work in our world? It really is surreal. I have always believed that each of us has incarnated here to be of service to the other. I have believed that success was the result of finding a need and filling it,” said Juanita Rasmus.

“SUCCESS launched the Women of Influence awards to spotlight the extraordinary females who are shaping our world today. We believe in the saying, ‘What you focus on increases,’ so we chose to be the channel that empowers our readers to have a positive impact through the inspirational stories of others who are doing the same,” said Cecilia Meis, Editor-in- Chief of SUCCESS magazine.

Juanita is one of only four women in the country leading a large membership congregation as a senior pastor at St. John’s United Methodist Church in downtown Houston, a church that started with nine members in 1992 and now serves thousands as one of the most culturally diverse congregations in the country. She is also a transformational coach and speaker, and the author of Learning to Be and Forty Days on Being a One. Her life’s work is in providing essential resources for every person seeking to navigate life in contemporary culture: whether that’s a diagnosis, disaster, divorce, disease, life disruption, or the great “resignation.” Juanita travels, speaking on spirituality and the transformational lessons she’s learned.

Cindy Bunch, IVP Vice President, Editorial, celebrates Juanita’s work in saying, “IVP has been delighted to publish Juanita Rasmus. Her book Learning to Be explores the dark side of life for a high-achieving woman. That is, what happens when all that good work you are doing leads to burnout? In her book Juanita explores her own journey into a more balanced way of living and shares the spiritual practices that she learned along the way. Juanita is the kind of spiritual mentor that the world is longing for. I am so pleased that SUCCESS magazine has taken notice of her important work.”

Juanita’s influence extends beyond her writing and teaching through a variety of leadership positions held at both the local and national level. She founded the nonprofit Bread of Life, Inc., helping to eradicate food insecurity, improve health outcomes, and provide resources to the greater Houston community. She cofounded Temenos CDC, which has developed an excess of sixty million dollars of supportive housing in downtown Houston. She has served on the board of directors and ministry team of Renovaré, founded by author Richard Foster. She has served on the boards of her alma mater Houston Graduate School of Theology and Rice University’s Religion and Public Life Program. Juanita is also a senior fellow of the American Leadership Forum, Class XXIII, and serves as faculty and adviser for the Jung Center’s Mind, Body, Spirit Institute. Juanita is a recent recipient of the Rothko Chapel’s Illumination award, and has been named a Social Book “Houston Treasure.” In February of 2022 she was honored to be named one of Houston’s 50 Most Influential Women of 2020–2021.

For a full list of SUCCESS magazine’s Women of Influence 2022, visit https://woi.success.com. For more information about Juanita’s upcoming speaking engagements, visit her website at www.juanitarasmus.com.

IVP Hosts African American Publishing Consultation

Fri, 13 May 2022 13:32:00 GMT

As a continuation of its initiatives to learn from and amplify voices of color, InterVarsity Press hosted an African American Publishing Consultation June 8–10 at IVP’s main office in Westmont, Illinois. The gathering was led by IVP president and publisher Terumi Echols and Ed Gilbreath, vice president of strategic partnerships at Christianity Today. The press welcomed activists, professors, pastors, entrepreneurs, theologians, podcasters, and authors to sit under their leadership to gain insights on how to further elevate voices of color for the benefit of the church.

“These publishing events have been highlights of my time at IVP,” said Cindy Bunch, IVP Vice President, Editorial. “They are an opportunity for IVP staff to get to know a group of authors and potential authors in order to encourage them to publish—these voices are needed. These gatherings are also an opportunity for us as a publisher to learn from the consultants about the needs of their audiences and gain insights about how to reach a specific audience. The consultants in turn can learn more about publishing from us and from each other.”

From classic titles such as Free at Last? (1995), More Than Equals (1993), and The Heart of Racial Justice (2004) that are now part of the IVP Signature Collection to more recent award-winning titles such as Reading While Black (2020), Healing Racial Trauma (2020), and The Beautiful Community (2020), IVP has intentionally published and pursued authors of colors and topics surrounding race and racial healing for decades.

Since 1970, IVP has published well over two hundred titles on topics of multiethnic interest or by authors of color. With well over 60 percent of these still in print, IVP has remained dedicated to addressing the issues of the day, changing culture and speaking into and about the experience of people of color in America.

Terumi Echols, president and publisher at IVP, said the ministry is committed to continuing its legacy of giving voice to topics that impact the church and culture. She added that IVP set a priority on listening and learning from the consultants about how to authentically speak into and with the church, as a press and in collaboration with the important work these consultants are already doing. “We want and need to make greater inroads into reaching the whole church. We want to serve Black denominations, churches, and pastors. We want to serve Black communities in all its diversity. How do we do this well? We need to hear from each other in a gathering like this so that we can build on what we’ve started and move toward unity and understanding within the church.”

Throughout the three-day event, the gathering of consultants and IVP staff talked about the history of IVP and its multiethnic publishing vision, considered future writing opportunities, and explored many of the publishing and marketing challenges for African American writers and how IVP might address these challenges. There were also discussions about the legacy of the Black church and its place in their lives. Workshops were offered on developing book concepts and creating book proposals, and on academic publishing. Andrea Palpant Dilley, contributing editor for Christianity Today, also led a workshop on writing articles.

Participants of the African American Publishing Consultation included

Natasha Sistrunk Robinson, author of A Sojourner’s Truth, president of T3 Leadership Solutions Inc. and visionary founder of Leadership LINKS Inc.
Dr. Heather Thompson Day, author of It’s Not Your Turn, and associate professor of communications at Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan
Dr. Christina Edmondson, coauthor (with Chad Brennan) of Faithful Antiracism and coauthor (with Ekemini Uwan) of Truth’s Table, cohost of Truth’s Table and Get in the Word with Truth’s Table
Brad Everett, InterVarsity/USA regional director for the Southeast region and associate national director of Black Campus Ministries (BCM)
Paula Fuller, InterVarsity/USA executive vice president of People and Culture
Dr. Theon Hill, associate professor of communications at Wheaton College
Dr. Esau McCaulley, author of Reading While Black and Josey Johnson’s Hair and the Holy Spirit, and assistant professor of New Testament at Wheaton College
Jacqueline Horbrook, CEO of Black Christian Influencers (BCI)
L. Brian Jenkins, founder and president of Entrenuity in Chicago, and author of Know More Non-Profits
Oneya Okuwobi, Rice University academic junior fellow with Religion and Public Life
Ed Ollie Jr., campus pastor/teaching team member at Willow Creek Community Church
Sheila Wise Rowe, author of Healing Racial Trauma and Young, Gifted, and Black, and cofounder of The Cyrene Movement.
Dr. Nicholas Rowe, historian, author, and peace-building consultant
Ekemini Uwan, coauthor (with Christina Edmondson) of Truth’s Table, cohost of the Truth’s Table and Get in the Word with Truth’s Table.

Bunch said, “Working with authors of color at IVP has been one of my greatest joys. I have had an opportunity to learn from authors such as Dr. Brenda Salter McNeil, Paul Tokunaga, Alex Gee, Manuel Ortiz, Ed Gilbreath, Juanita Rasmus, Marlena Graves, Sheila Wise Rowe, and many others through multiple writing projects. I have also learned from our publishing consultations with people of color as we’ve brought in current and potential authors for a two-way conversation about serving communities of color. In these contexts it has been an extraordinary gift just to be able to listen in to the needs and struggles of writers of color. The journey is ongoing and I am eager to continue to grow our publishing program to serve BIPOC authors and readers.”

In October of 2020, IVP launched the Every Voice Now (EVN) initiative, which was set up to contribute to IVP’s commitment to authors of color. EVN features a sizable fund underwritten jointly by InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and IVP for the purpose of supporting the development, marketing, and sales of books by authors of color as well as aiding in the recruitment of diverse staff and the deepening of the organization’s cultural competency.

In addition to the fund, the initiative launched or underwrote several podcasts featuring voices of color: The Every Voice Now Podcast, hosted by IVP’s Maila Kim and Helen Lee and IVP author Ed Gilbreath (Reconciliation Blues, Birmingham Revolution); The Disrupters, hosted by IVP authors Esau McCaulley and Nancy Wang Yuen; and Get in The Word with Truth’s Table, featuring IVP author Christina Barland Edmondson and Ekemini Uwan as hosts.

“At IVP, we’ve established a legacy of supporting voices of color and creating pathways to showcase Black experiences, education, and excellence,” said Helen Lee, IVP’s director of product innovation. “The Every Voice Now initiative and our recent podcasts are complementing our core business of book publishing as ways to help us meet the needs of a changing population both demographically and with regard to reading habits. In these ways, we hope to connect with audiences that want to not just read Black authors but also hear Black voices each and every day.”