2018 Press Releases

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

Fri, 14 Dec 2018 15:58:00 GMT

With nearly fifty thousand books representing nine hundred titles, InterVarsity Press will soon be hosting the largest missions bookstore in the world at the twenty-fifth Urbana Student Missions Conference.

The Urbana 18 Conference, held in St. Louis, Missouri, will include nearly sixteen thousand attendees, two hundred seminars, and two hundred sixty organizations. It starts on Thursday, December 27, and concludes at midnight on New Year’s Eve. During this five-day conference, participants engage in a variety of experiences, including sixteen thousand person worship sessions, Bible exposition, messages and seminars, manuscript 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.

“The Urbana Student Missions Conference has made a significant impact on global missions for decades,” Jeff Crosby, IVP’s publisher, said. “And through Urbana, we have had the opportunity to introduce hundreds of thousands of people to life-changing books published not only by IVP but by other like-minded companies who care for global missions, for the expansion of the gospel, for social justice, evangelism, and Bible study. Those books return to homes and dormitories; they are studied, applied, and acted on. As an extension of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, we are privileged to be the bookstore curator for Urbana.”

Books will be discounted from 30 to 70 percent and also include the ever-popular Books of the Day that are just five dollars.

Al Hsu, senior editor for IVP Books, will be participating in his ninth 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.”

“We long to see this student generation fully engaged in God,” said Ruth Hubbard, vice president for Urbana. “For many, Urbana will be a time when they say yes to God’s invitation. The journey from yes to full engagement requires intentional discipleship. I’m confident that the books they purchase from Urbana’s bookstore curated by IVP will support this journey. Part of the Urbana legacy of yes is a legacy of deep discipleship through things like Urbana’s Book of the Day offerings.”

This year the Urbana Books of the Day will include

Crossing Cultures with Jesus: Sharing Good News with Sensitivity and Grace by Katie J. Rawson
Anxious: Choosing Faith in a World of Worry by Amy Simpson
From Cairo to Christ: How One Muslim’s Faith Journey Shows the Way for Others by Abu Atallah and Kent A. Van Til
The Power of the 72: Ordinary Disciples in Extraordinary Evangelism by John Teter
The Power of Proximity: Moving Beyond Awareness to Action by Michelle Ferrigno Warren
Rethinking Incarceration: Advocating for Justice That Restores by Dominique DuBois Gilliard
Sabbath Keeping: Finding Freedom in the Rhythms of Rest by Lynne M. Baab
Mending the Divides: Creative Love in a Conflicted World by Jon Huckins and Jer Swigart
Beyond Colorblind: Redeeming Our Ethnic Journey by Sarah Shin

Several of these IVP authors—Amy Simpson, Michelle Ferrigno Warren, Dominique DuBois Gillard, and John Teter—will be plenary speakers at the conference and participating in book signings in the bookstore. Other plenary speakers and book signings, include Danielle Strickland, author of A Beautiful Mess; René Breuel, author of The Paradox of Happiness; and John D. Inazu, author of Confident Pluralism.

Books and ebooks featured at the conference will be available to purchase online at ivpress.com/urbanabooks. The Urbana conference discounted prices will be offered between December 27 and January 2.

Christianity at the Crossroads Receives 2018 TGC Book Award

Thu, 13 Dec 2018 15:20:00 GMT

The Gospel Coalition (TGC) has announced that Christianity at the Crossroads by Michael Kruger was chosen as one of its best books of 2018.

TGC reviews around three hundred titles each year between its regular book review section and its academic journal, Themelios. From those titles judges selected one 2018 TGC Book Award winner and one runner-up for each of nine categories. Christianity at the Crossroads was chosen as the award winner in the History & Biography category.

Christianity at the Crossroads: How the Second Century Shaped the Future of the Church by Michael J. Kruger examines how Christianity took root in the second century, how it battled to stay true to the vision of the apostles, and how it developed in ways that would shape both the church and Western culture over the next two thousand years.

David A. deSilva, trustees’ distinguished professor of New Testament and Greek at Ashland Theological Seminary, said, “Kruger takes us into a world in which ‘Christianity’ is still very much at risk and up for grabs, struggling to find its identity in the midst of forces within and without seeking to define its identity or suppress its existence. His book invites us into the tensions and trajectories that would eventually give shape to what we, in distant retrospect, take for granted as Christian faith, practice, and polity. I recommend it highly, alongside the texts that have richly informed it (the apostolic fathers, the early martyrologies, and the apologists), to all those interested in learning how ‘New Testament faith’ found its footing and began to take root.”

TGC winners and runners-up are chosen based on whether they offer gospel-centered argument and application; include faithful and foundational use of Scripture, both Old Testament and New Testament; foster spiritual discernment of contemporary trials and trends; and encourage efforts to unite and renew the church.

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

IVP Honored with Four 2019 Christianity Today Book Awards

Wed, 12 Dec 2018 14:24:00 GMT

Christianity Today has released the winners of its 2019 Book Awards, and InterVarsity Press is pleased to announce that it received top honors in four categories: Church/Pastoral Leadership, Fiction, Missions/Global Church, and Politics and Public Life. IVP also received the Award of Merit in the Apologetics/Evangelism category.

The IVP title that received the 2019 Book of the Year in the Church/Pastoral Leadership category was Preaching as Reminding: Stirring Memory in an Age of Forgetfulness by Jeffrey D. Arthurs. Jason Helopoulos, author of The New Pastor’s Handbook said, “This book just became required reading for any young pastor I have the privilege of ministering to in the future. Thankfully, the evangelical church over the past half century has emphasized the need for expositional preaching. Yet much of what passes as expositional preaching today lacks impact. It tends to feel more like a running commentary on the text, rather than preaching. Arthurs underscores the importance of remembering in preaching. He provides a helpful biblical theology of the role of memory, cites modern science’s help in this area, and then applies the knowledge to the discipline of preaching. This book is engaging, informative, and lively—just like our preaching should be.”

Megachurch Christianity Reconsidered: Millennials and Social Change in African Perspective by Wanjiru M. Gitau was the winner in the Missions/Global Church category. Building from a behind-the-scenes case study of Kenya’s Nairobi Chapel and its “daughter” Mavuno Church, Gitau expands their story into a narrative that offers analysis of the rise, growth, and place of megachurches worldwide in the new millennium. Megachurch Christianity Reconsidered is part of the Missiological Engagements Series from IVP.

“Gitau’s even-handed examination of Mavuno Church in particular (and megachurches in general) is a welcome addition to an ongoing conversation that tends either to glorify or denigrate the megachurch model,” said Jaclyn Parrish, writer, editor, and social media associate for the International Mission Board. “Moreover, Gitau provides a poignant example of contextual understanding that Christians around the world would do well to emulate. Her examination of Mavuno Church’s history and growth takes into full account the living, breathing world in which this congregation took root and grew. Sociological and cultural insights are combined with an incisive understanding of theology, politics, and globalization, opening new horizons for understanding how these factors affect the local church. As such, Gitau’s work exemplifies the process of gospel contextualization for churches of every size and in every culture.”

The top title in the Politics and Public Life category went to Scars Across Humanity: Understanding and Overcoming Violence Against Women by Elaine Storkey. Acts of violence against women produce more deaths, disability, and mutilation than cancer, malaria, and traffic accidents combined. Storkey offers a rigorously researched overview of this global pandemic, exploring how violence is structured into the very fabric of societies and cultures around the world.

Mae Elise Cannon, writer and minister, executive director of Churches for Middle East Peace, said, “Elaine Storkey courageously identifies how violence against women—be it physical, sexual, psychological, or economic—is, as her title suggests, a scar across humanity. Her work addresses the broad-sweeping manifestations of patriarchy in Christian history, the internalized gender discrimination and justification of abuse in societies around the world, and the church’s inadequate response to these violations and injustices. But this book isn’t just a broad-sweeping condemnation of Christian failure, as Storkey offers direct and clear recommendations for how violence against women can be overcome. Not an easy read, Scars Against Humanity is an essential work calling the Christian community to address one of the greatest injustices of our day.”

The top fiction winner for Christianity Today’s 2019 Book Awards was An Extra Mile: A Story of Embracing God’s Call by Sharon Garlough Brown. In this final installment of the Sensible Shoes Series, readers are invited to travel with these beloved friends as they endure trials that test their trust and their willingness to walk an extra mile.

“Even for those who have not read the first three books, Brown does a masterful job familiarizing readers with her four main characters and providing the necessary backstory,” said Rebecca LuElla Miller, freelance writer and editor, blogger at A Christian Worldview of Fiction. “Each character is realistic and believable, faced with inner and outer struggles that intermingle in ways that readers may recognize. These aren’t ‘strong females’ after the fashion of Hollywood blockbusters—they aren’t leading armies or embracing their destiny as the chosen one—but they prove themselves strong in the truest sense of the word: they face the needs in their everyday lives, recognize their spiritual condition, and struggle to walk with Christ day by day.”

The Morals of the Story: Good News About a Good God by David Baggett and Marybeth Baggett received the Award of Merit in the Apologetics/Evangelism category. Tawa Anderson, professor of philosophy, Oklahoma Baptist University, said, “The Baggetts are convinced that the moral argument for God’s existence and nature is among the most resonant and persuasive arguments available in contemporary society, and they do a masterful job of pooling the relevant resources. They highlight the inability of secular ethical theories to account for objective good and evil and human moral obligation. They also demonstrate the rich explanatory power of the Christian worldview in accounting for those same moral realities. If humanity’s deep and unshakable moral intuitions are correct, then The Morals of the Story demonstrates that the rational observer should embrace Christian theism in response.”

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

Three IVP Titles Make WORLD Magazine’s Short Lists for 2018 Books of the Year

Thu, 06 Dec 2018 15:21:00 GMT

WORLD Magazine recommended about five hundred books to its readers in 2018 and recently chose from those the top books of the year. The winners were made up of five nonfiction books of the year, four theological honorable mentions, and twenty-five short list honorees, including three InterVarsity Press titles: Last Call for Liberty by Os Guinness, Embodied Hope by Kelly M. Kapic, and Disruptive Witness by Alan Noble.

Last Call for Liberty: How America’s Genius for Freedom Has Become Its Greatest Threat made the short list in the Understanding America category. WORLD Magazine editors wrote: “In this year of battles between Pro-Trumpers and Never-Trumpers, Os Guinness has thoughtful observations that can benefit both camps. Guinness writes, ‘The present obsession with President Trump, whether supporting or opposing him, is a massively distorting factor for a simple reason: Donald Trump is the consequence of the crisis and not the cause.’’

A frequent international speaker and prominent social critic, Guinness argues that the American republic faces a fundamental crisis of freedom as once again America has become a house divided. This grand treatment of history, civics, and ethics in the Jewish and Christian traditions represents Guinness’s definitive exploration of the prospects for human freedom today.

Embodied Hope: A Theological Meditation on Pain and Suffering was one of the short list titles in the Accessible Theology book category. Drawing on his own family’s experience with prolonged physical pain, Kapic reshapes our understanding of suffering into the image of Jesus. Embodied Hope was also chosen as Christianity Today’s 2018 Book of the Year for Theology/Ethics.

Joni Eareckson Tada, founder and CEO, Joni and Friends International Disability Center, said, “I am all too familiar with the topic of this book, having lived as a quadriplegic for nearly fifty years and dealing daily with chronic pain. So I’m always heartened when I stumble upon a rich new resource that really encourages. That describes the remarkable book you hold in your hands. Rather than focus on why, Kelly makes much of how—how to trust God in this world. Best of all, Embodied Hope leads the reader to the foot of the cross, the only place to find true relief and healing.”

Another IVP title that made the short list in the Accessible Theology book category was Disruptive Witness: Speaking Truth in a Distracted Age. In this timely book, Noble looks at our cultural moment, characterized by technological distraction and the growth of secularism, laying out individual, ecclesial, and cultural practices that disrupt our society’s deep-rooted assumptions and point beyond them to the transcendent grace and beauty of Jesus.

Author and podcaster Barnabas Piper said, “While reading Disruptive Witness I got more than a little tired of Alan Noble reading my mind, diagnosing my issues, and jabbing at the nerves of my heart. Page after page he hit on issues of thought, habit, perspective, or lifestyle with which I struggle and in which I fail to be a proper witness for Jesus. Of course what I was really tired of was my own distracted, thin faith. And those are the very things this book helps. Noble clearly and gently diagnoses the problems first and then he offers robust solutions. Disruptive Witness is incisive, substantial, and encouraging for tired, frustrated believers looking for direction.”

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

Birthing Hope Named One of Library Journal’s Best Books of 2018

Thu, 29 Nov 2018 14:52:00 GMT

InterVarsity Press is pleased to announce that Library Journal selected Birthing Hope by Rachel Marie Stone for its 2018 Best Books list.

“Rachel Marie Stone is one of the most elegant and perceptive authors I have ever worked with,” said Al Hsu, senior editor, IVP Books. “Her writing makes us reflect deeply on things that matter—birth and death, family and fear, life and hope. I’m delighted that Birthing Hope has been named one of the best books this year, or any year! Congratulations, Rachel.”

In place of the top ten best books list that Library Journal has traditionally released, this year editors sifted through thousands of books that were published in 2018 and put together a larger and more diverse mix of titles across twenty categories, with 188 titles recognized.

Birthing Hope: Giving Fear to the Light was chosen as one of Library Journal ’s top ten books in the religion and spirituality category. The mother of two sons, Stone unpacks how childbirth reveals our anxieties, our physicality, our mortality. She writes, “To bring anything new into the world is to open one’s self and therefore to take on risk, to contaminate oneself with the other, to be made vulnerable. This requires not just courage but many things, among them faith, hope, help, companionship, grace—in a word, love.”

In a June 2018 Library Journal review, Sandra Collins described Birthing Hope this way: “A quiet memoir on hope as the most paradoxical of virtues.”

Rachel Held Evans, author of Searching for Sunday, said, “I’ve been waiting for a book like this one for years, and no one could have written it more beautifully and wisely than Rachel Marie Stone. With the skill of a poet and the patience of a doula, Stone invites the reader to look straight into the face of fear and find in it the spark of hope. There are words and phrases from these pages that I will go on pondering for years. Theologically rich and carefully researched, Birthing Hope is a book for everyone, but as a new mother it proved life changing—the kind of book that leaves you breathless.”

Stone teaches English at the Stony Brook School in Stony Brook, New York. Her writing about food, faith, justice, public health, and maternal health has appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Huffington Post, Christianity Today, the Christian Century, Books & Culture, Sojourners, In Touch magazine, Religion News Service, Patheos, and more. Her books include the revised More-with-Less cookbook, Telling God’s Story, and Eat with Joy: Redeeming God’s Gift of Food, which won a Christianity Today Book Award and was named by a Religion News Service columnist as one of the year’s ten most intriguing titles in religion.

McKnight Inks Contract for New Testament Translation

Mon, 19 Nov 2018 14:42:00 GMT

Scot McKnight, renowned scholar, speaker, and award-winning author, has inked a book contract with IVP Academic for a fresh translation of the New Testament.

Tentatively titled The Second Testament, this volume follows on the heels of John Goldingay’s The First Testament: A New Translation, published by IVP earlier this year.

“From the moment I began reading The First Testament, I knew that John Goldingay was onto something that was going to change the way that I engaged with the Bible forever,” said Justin Paul Lawrence, director of sales for IVP. “I also knew that we needed a New Testament companion that had the same approach. I am so happy that one of my favorite NT scholars Scot McKnight has agreed to help us complete this important set. I can’t wait to delight readers with the complete set.”

The Second Testament aims to provide the careful reader with a closer experience to the original Greek texts, mirroring the work of Goldingay in The First Testament, and keeping in kind with the sounds and styles of the era in which it was originally written.

McKnight, who is a longtime member of the Society of Biblical Literature and the Society for New Testament Studies, saw an opportunity to create a fresh translation that would work alongside Goldingay’s. McKnight has closely followed the last three decades of Goldingay’s translations and interpretations and was eager to dig in to The First Testament when it was released in September of 2018.

“Readers of the Bible need a variety of translations,” said McKnight. “Most translations are shaped to speak to English readers, and the translation is pitched at a level that makes the translation understandable to the most possible readers. In so doing the Bible can become so ‘English-y’ that it no longer sounds like it comes from a different era and from non-English writers. The Second Testament complements translations available today by offering one that sounds less like English and more like the native Greek of the ‘second’ (New) Testament authors, and will also provide insights into the unique style and vocabulary of each author of The Second Testament. I am so excited to complement the stimulating and engaging translation of The First Testament by John Goldingay. I will attempt to bring out the new and the old of Goldingay’s approach to translation.”

McKnight is the author or editor of sixty books, and he is the Julius R. Mantey Professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary in Lombard, IL. McKnight obtained his PhD at the University of Nottingham and has been a professor for more than three decades, serving at North Park University and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. McKnight’s praised book The Jesus Creed: Loving God, Loving Others (Paraclete, 2004) won the Christianity Today Book of the Year award for Christian living. He is also an editor for IVP Academic’s forthcoming revision of the Dictionary of Paul and His Letters, set to be published in 2022.

In The Second Testament, McKnight plans to follow Goldingay’s translation principles while adjusting to the language shift to Greek from Hebrew and Aramaic. Additionally, he will provide brief introductions to each book, similar to those in The First Testament. McKnight also would like to bring the New Testament authors’ unique voices to life by highlighting their own syntaxes and styles.

“Any book project is an honor to undertake, but it’s an especially thrilling opportunity—and sobering responsibility—to set out upon a new translation of divine Scripture,” said Jon Boyd, editorial director for IVP Academic. “We’re conscious of the privilege of working so closely with these truly unique texts. This is a project that will call upon our best efforts and attention at every stage of the publishing craft, a challenge we relish and one that prompts our humble prayers.”

This new Bible translation will be added to IVP Academic’s already robust line of reference works and monographs. The Second Testament is expected to release in the spring of 2021 with marketing efforts focused on the annual gatherings of the Evangelical Theological Society, the Institute for Biblical Research, the Society of Biblical Literature, and the American Academy of Religion that fall.

IVP Art Director Honored with Three 2018 Top Shelf Book Cover Awards

Fri, 09 Nov 2018 15:31:00 GMT

InterVarsity Press is pleased to congratulate art director David Fassett for his work on three designs that were chosen for 2018 Top Shelf Book Cover Awards by the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA). Judges chose nineteen books and two Bible projects to represent the year's best designs.

The Top Shelf Award program is managed by ECPA in order to recognize design excellence in the Christian publishing industry. "A well-designed cover tells the story of a book in a single frame, drawing the prospective reader to look inside," said Stan Jantz, president of ECPA. "The 21 Top Shelf Award winners represent not just artistic excellence, but artistic storytelling at its most elemental level. Congratulations to the designers and publishers of these outstanding book covers."

Fassett's award-winning cover designs include

Disruptive Witness: Speaking Truth in a Distracted Age by Alan Noble
After the Trip: Unpacking Your Crosscultural Experience by Cory Trenda
Developing Clinicians of Character: A Christian Integrative Approach to Clinical Supervision by Terri S. Watson

Fassett joined InterVarsity Press (IVP) as a marketing designer in 2009 and was promoted to senior graphic designer in 2014. He was appointed to the position of art director in May 2017. Fassett's other award-winning book covers include Death Before the Fall, The Decalogue, Recapturing the Wonder, Introduction to Political Science, Embodied Hope and The Radical Pursuit of Rest.

"We couldn't be happier to see the strong response to the design work of David Fassett," said Lorraine Caulton, director of creative and customer engagement at IVP. "In his second year as art director David continues to stretch our imagination with his design skills. His work inspires all of us and makes marketing books that fulfill the mission of IVP that much easier."

ECPA announced the winners of this year’s awards on November 6 at Lipscomb University in Nashville during the opening session of ECPA PubU. Winning book covers are featured at TopShelfAwards.org.

To learn more about IVP's art department visit their Instagram account at instagram.com/ivp_design.

Eugene Peterson, Beloved Pastor and "Long Obedience" Author, Passes

Mon, 22 Oct 2018 21:25:00 GMT

Beloved pastor and poet Eugene Peterson, 85, passed away Monday morning, October 22, a week after entering hospice care for complications related to heart failure and dementia.

Peterson (1932–2018) wrote more than thirty books, including his widely acclaimed paraphrase of the Bible The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language and bestselling spiritual formation classic A Long Obedience in the Same Direction.

Cindy Bunch, associate publisher and director of editorial at IVP, said, “Eugene Peterson was a teacher who pointed us to the essentials of faith, worship, church life, Scripture, and obedience. I am grateful that InterVarsity Press has had the opportunity to publish his words of exhortation not just for pastors but for all believers. He wrote, ‘Many claim to have been born again, but the evidence for mature Christian discipleship is slim.’ We need his prophetic words now more than ever.”

Peterson was born in East Stanwood, Washington, and grew up in Kalispell, Montana. He was founding pastor of Christ Our King Presbyterian Church in Bel Air, Maryland, where he served for twenty-nine years before retiring in 1991. With degrees from Seattle Pacific, New York Theological Seminary, and Johns Hopkins University, he served as professor of spiritual theology at Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia, until retiring in 2006.

Peterson’s The Message paraphrase and writings on spirituality inspired evangelical leaders and Christians around the world. His popularity even reached U2 front man Bono, and they formed a friendship around their common interest in the Psalms.

“In the last few years, Eugene's writing has kept me sane,” said Bono. “Run with the Horses has been a powerful manual for me. It includes a lot of incendiary ideas. I hadn't really thought of Jeremiah as a performance artist. Why do we need art? Because if we're honest, the only way that we can approach God is through metaphor, through symbol. Through Run with the Horses I learned about the prophet's work and it really changed me.”

Peterson published several books with IVP including Run with the Horses, Earth & Altar and Traveling Light. His first book, published with IVP in 1980, was A Long Obedience in the Same Direction.

“When I wrote A Long Obedience twenty years ago, I was a parish pastor writing for my parishioners, the people I knew best in the place I knew best, a few acres of Maryland piedmont on which we were camped for a few years in our wanderings through the North American wilderness,” Peterson wrote in the epilogue to A Long Obedience in the Same Direction. “I was doing what pastors do—trying to get this gospel of Jesus Christ into the lives of these men and women with whom I was living, and doing it the only way I knew, through Scripture and prayer, prayer and Scripture. I preached and taught the Scriptures that revealed Jesus. I prayed with and for this mixed bag of saints and sinners that was my congregation, prayed in the name of Jesus.”

He further explains that seventeen publishers initially rejected the book, saying there was no “niche” for it. IVP’s risk in picking it up gave him confidence to continue in his work and his writing.

“Eugene Peterson’s A Long Obedience in the Same Direction vibrantly and powerfully opened up the wonder of the Psalms and its Songs of Ascents to me very early in my journey of faith,” Jeff Crosby, IVP's publisher, said. “And that book, in turn, prompted me to follow Eugene’s written work over the past three decades, from his essay on the classic literature of Fyodor Dostoyevsky to his spiritual theology from Eerdmans publishing and, of course, his work on The Message which I have used devotionally since its publication. His voice was one of great wisdom, his life an example of Christian fidelity, and his witness of obedient discipleship a challenge to us all.”

The family statement on Monday said Peterson remained joyful and smiling in his final days.

“It feels fitting that his death came on a Monday, the day of the week he always honored as a Sabbath during his years as a pastor. After a lifetime of faithful service to the church — running the race with gusto — it is reassuring to know that Eugene has now entered into the fullness of the Kingdom of God and has been embraced by eternal Sabbath,” according to the statement.

In an interview with Religion News Service last year Peterson said that he did not fear death. “I don’t think it’s anything to be afraid of,” he said. “I have no idea how it’s going to work out. But I’m not afraid, I’ll tell you that. I’ve been with a lot of people who are dying. I think those conversations are some of the best I’ve ever had. These are people who have lived a good life and who have embraced their faith. They’re not afraid.”

“We do know what’s going to happen, those of us who believe in the Trinity,” Peterson said. “For us, there’s something quite . . . I don’t want to use the word ‘miraculous’ in a sloppy way. But there are people who die well, and I want to be one.”

Peterson’s family stated, “With full and overflowing hearts, we give thanks for the gift of his life, knowing that his joy is now complete.”

To see IVP's tribute to Peterson, please visit www.ivpress.com/eugene-h-peterson.

IVP and Missio Alliance Partner on Resources for the Challenges of Our Day

Wed, 29 Aug 2018 20:42:00 GMT

In a time of great tension and divides across racial, gender, political, and socioeconomic lines, InterVarsity Press and Missio Alliance have partnered again on a resource to equip the church for the challenges of our day. A Sojourner’s Truth: Choosing Freedom and Courage in a Divided World by Natasha Sistrunk Robinson will release on October 9, 2018.

J. R. Rozko is the codirector of Missio Alliance, a fellowship of churches, denominations, schools, and networks partnering together to see the church in North America equipped for fuller and more faithful participation in God’s mission. He said, “Missio Alliance enjoys a partnership with IVP that allows us to platform books that reflect and advance our values for Comprehensive Mutuality, Hopeful Witness, and Church in Mission. What our dear friend, Natasha, offers us in A Sojourner’s Truthis a creative and masterful representation of all three! The picture she paints is instructive to be sure, but how she paints it—as a strong leadership-savvy black Christian woman—is perhaps of even greater significance. There is much in this book that thoughtful church leaders of all stripes would do well to pay careful attention to!”

A Sojourner’s Truth is an African American girl’s journey from South Carolina to the United States Naval Academy, and then to her calling as an international speaker, mentor, and thought leader.

Intertwined with Natasha’s story is the story of Moses, a leader who was born into a marginalized people group, resisted the injustices of the Pharaoh, denied the power of Egypt, and trusted God even when he did not fully understand where he was going. Along the way we explore the spiritual and physical tensions of truth telling, character and leadership development, and bridge building across racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, and gender lines.

Jeff Crosby, InterVarsity Press publisher, said, “Natasha Sistrunk Robinson’s theological wisdom, her unique perspective as a woman of color, and her two decades of leadership experience in a wide range of settings shines through on every page of A Sojourner’s Truth. In a day when the very notion of truth is challenged, Robinson’s book is a captivating and instructive exploration of hard-fought, hard-won lessons through her own history and ours. I’m so grateful to have her voice in the InterVarsity Press publishing program and to learn from her journey.”

Missio Alliance and IVP first partnered together in 2016 to release a line of jointly branded books. With a number of IVP authors serving as key voices for the work of Missio Alliance, the two organizations formally decided to leverage the natural synergies that existed between them for the benefit of both the IVP books included and of the Missio Alliance audience.

Al Hsu, senior editor for IVP Books, said, “In today’s contemporary context, we increasingly need pastor/practitioners who can navigate both church and culture with theological savvy and pastoral insight. Missio Alliance provides those kinds of authors and books, and IVP is glad to cultivate such strategic voices.”

Other titles that came out of the InterVarsity Press-Missio Alliance partnership include:

What Does It Mean to Be Welcoming: Navigating LGBT Questions in Your Church by Travis Collins
Seven Practices for the Church on Mission by David E. Fitch
God Is Stranger: Finding God in Unexpected Places by Krish Kandiah
Emboldened: A Vision for Empowering Women in Ministry by Tara Beth Leach
White Awake: An Honest Look at What It Means to Be White by Daniel Hill
Paradoxology: Why Christianity Was Never Meant to Be Simple by Krish Kandiah
Embrace: God’s Radical Shalom for a Divided World by Leroy Barber
Faithful Presence: Seven Disciplines That Shape the Church for Mission by David E. Fitch
The Church as Movement: Starting and Sustaining Missional-Incarnational Communities by JR Woodward and Dan White Jr.
Redeeming Sex: Naked Conversations About Sexuality and Spirituality by Debra Hirsch

For more about the partnership with Missio Alliance visit ivpress.com/pages/ivp-and-missio-alliance.

IVP Academic to Revise and Expand Pioneering Dictionary of Paul and His Letters

Wed, 25 Jul 2018 19:06:00 GMT

IVP Academic is thrilled to announce the revision and expansion of one of its most prestigious volumes Dictionary of Paul and His Letters.

Originally published in 1993 and edited by Gerald F. Hawthorne, Ralph P. Martin, and Daniel G. Reid, the dictionary received wide acclaim, including an ECPA Gold Medallion award for reference books. Upon its release, N.T. Wright wrote that the dictionary was “a mine of information for all students of Paul for many years to come.”

The new edition set to be published in 2022, will be similar in format to the original in terms of overall length and number of articles, but given the significant changes in Pauline studies over the last twenty-five years, approximately 80 percent of the articles will be entirely rewritten, with the remainder thoroughly revised and updated.

“The scholarship published in the first edition of the Dictionary of Paul and His Letters was groundbreaking for its time and has had an enduring impact on scholars, students, and the church since 1993,” said Jeff Crosby, publisher for IVP. “In the skillful hands of volume editors Dr. Scot McKnight, Dr. Lynn Cohick, and Dr. Nijay Gupta along with the careful editorial oversight of Anna Moseley Gissing, the second edition will bring the scholarship up-to-date and provide a valuable reference tool for years to come. I’m delighted to support the publication of this important volume.”

McKnight, professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary, will serve as general editor, and Cohick, provost and dean of Denver Seminary, and Gupta, associate professor of New Testament at Portland Seminary, will serve as associate editors on this new edition. Each expressed a desire to be a part of this new project, the original of which influenced their own work in the field of Pauline studies. Anna Gissing, associate editor for IVP Academic, is heading up the project for IVP and will work with the three editors to compile new articles and revisions.

“Since the appearance of the first IVP dictionary I have had each of them within arm’s reach of my studies,” said McKnight. “Rarely does a day go by that I don’t use one of them, and on many days I use more than one. These dictionaries have made information and scholarship immediately accessible. I consider the IVP dictionaries to be a deposit of the best scholarship in the last century. The privilege of being general editor for the second edition of Dictionary of Paul and His Letters is a highlight of my academic life.”

Added Cohick: “IVP’s Dictionary of Paul and His Letters helped shape Pauline studies over the last several decades with its exceptional articles written by leading scholars. I’m delighted and honored to be part of the editorial team that will produce the second edition. I look forward to updating the volume and adding articles to reflect the new contours of Pauline studies.”

“The first edition of Dictionary of Paul and His Letters was instrumental in my formation as a Pauline scholar when I was in seminary,” Gupta said. “And since then I have recommended it to countless students and friends. It is an honor and privilege to be a part of the editorial team for this second edition. In fact, it is a major highlight of my career to be invited to be a part of this important project with these distinguished editors.”

This project reflects a need, both in terms of updated research and study, and a market demand for a revised edition. Since 1993, Dictionary of Paul and His Letters has sold nearly 200,000 copies to scholars, bookstores, and academic institutions.

“Dictionary of Paul and His Letters and the others in the eight volume series have been a cornerstone of our reference offerings for nearly three decades,” said Justin Paul Lawrence, director of sales for IVP. “I’ve received orders from librarians for second and third copies because their shelf copies have been thumbed to dust. I am pleased that IVP has chosen to continue to revise and extend this incredibly useful tool for a new generation of pastors, scholars, and students.”

IVP’s Bible dictionaries have been the foundation of its academic publishing program since the release of Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels in 1992. Three other volumes followed in the New Testament and four in the Old Testament. Hundreds of specialists have contributed to these volumes, whether through serving on editorial boards or contributing specific articles. Additionally, the 1993 Dictionary of Paul and His Letters has been translated into five other languages: Chinese, Italian, Korean, Polish, and Portuguese.

The volumes themselves have won accolades each year, including ECPA awards, Preaching Magazine awards, Christianity Today Book of the Year awards, Logos awards, and more. Scholars such as Sandy Richter, Ben Witherington III, Craig Blomberg, and John Goldingay have all highly recommended them.

“I couldn’t be more delighted with the intellectual leadership we have on this project, both here at IVP and with our volume editors,” said Jon Boyd, editorial director for IVP Academic. “McKnight, Cohick, Gupta, and Gissing make a formidable lineup to cover Pauline studies and its related fields with integrity, vision, and creativity. I’ll be honest: I can’t wait to have this updated volume on my shelf just so I can use it myself.”

To learn more about the series of IVP Bible Dictionaries, please visit www.ivpress.com/the-ivp-bible-dictionary-series.

InterVarsity Press Authors Take Action for Immigration, Migrant Children

Mon, 25 Jun 2018 13:44:00 GMT

As the crisis over immigration and migrant children grows, numerous InterVarsity Press authors are putting power behind their written words as they work to change policies, bring about change, and educate the public about what is happening and what can be done.

Jeff Crosby, InterVarsity Press publisher, said, “I am thankful for the work of IVP authors and friends such as Kent Annan and his book You Welcomed Me: Loving Refugees and Immigrants Because God First Loved Us and Matthew Soerens and Jenny Yang and their book Welcoming the Stranger: Justice, Compassion & Truth in the Immigration Debate. Like other books published in recent years motivated by the ever-expanding crisis, Annan, Soerens, and Yang address issues of migration, asylum, and refugee populations in helpful, merciful, just, thoughtful, and practical ways.”

Annan was one of a number of IVP authors in Washington, DC, this week speaking out on behalf of migrants and their families. Sandra Maria Van Opstal, Kimberly McOwen Yim, Dale Hanson Bourke, Nikki A. Toyama-Szeto, Natasha Sistrunk Robinson, and others also took action in the nation’s capital for World Refugee Day and the Not Without My Child Campaign.

Annan, a senior fellow at the Humanitarian Disaster Institute of Wheaton College, spoke at a press conference and met with staff in six congressional offices. He said, “When we asked both Republicans and Democrats, they all said that they pay attention when people send letters, emails, or call their offices. They pay attention to letters to the editors or guest op-ed pieces in the local paper. It’s a frustrating time to be advocating for refugees and immigrants. But we saw this past week that raising your voice in a democracy can make a difference.”

Annan’s forthcoming book You Welcomed Me (November 2018) lays out ways to make a difference during this immigration crisis. He writes about how fear and misunderstanding can motivate our responses to people in need. Instead, he invites people into stories that lead them to see the current refugee and immigrant crisis in a new light. He also lays out simple practices for a way forward: confessing what separates us, listening well, and partnering with, not patronizing, those in need.

“I find the approach of the administration on these issues deeply disturbing and discouraging,” Annan said. “But giving up hope isn’t an option, nor is not working for change. People’s lives are at stake—some of the most vulnerable people in our world. Our country is made poorer (not great) morally and economically and in other ways by failing on these issues. As a Christian, I believe (as Jesus said) that to welcome the stranger is to welcome him [Jesus], welcome love, and welcome God.”

In Welcoming the Stranger, Soerens and Yang, both immigration experts at World Relief, put a human face on the issue and tell stories of immigrants’ experiences in and out of the system. With careful historical understanding and thoughtful policy analysis, they debunk myths and misconceptions about immigration and show the limitations of the current immigration system. Ultimately they point toward immigration reform that is compassionate, sensible, and just, as they offer concrete ways to welcome and minister to immigrant neighbors. Soerens said, “At a time of heated debate around the country, Christians in particular can be a sensible voice for reason and compassion in our nation’s immigration discourse and debate.”

Soerens was on Capitol Hill this week, at the Texas border, and speaking to the media in between as he advocated for refugees. He tweeted, “It’s been a crazy week: from CNN-Chicago to Capitol Hill to the border to Mexico. I’m exhausted. Grateful for the people with whom I get to do this work. Prayerful, for much remains undone. After thinking about kids a lot this week, I mostly want to get home and hold my kids tight.”

Crosby said that IVP is committed to working with authors like these who write about and advocate for “the least of these;” authors who put action behind their words and provide resources that help people understand how to put their own faith into action for issues such as immigration. Crosby said, “Even more than selling books I am interested in linking our resources with the unjust conditions of the country and the world.”

Crosby added, “We all need to educate ourselves and respond biblically, compassionately, and thoughtfully in the face of this crisis. I am grateful for the opportunity to lead a publishing house that is genuinely seeking to address these and other issues that plague our broken and divided world. We do, collectively, have the tools necessary to address them. Will we have the courage and the will?”

For a complete list of immigration and justice-related titles, visit ivpress.com.

The Myth of Equality Honored Among Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Awards

Fri, 22 Jun 2018 13:27:00 GMT

InterVarsity Press is pleased to announce that The Myth of Equality: Uncovering the Roots of Injustice and Privilege by Ken Wytsma was given the honorable mention prize for nonfiction: multicultural in this year's Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Awards.

Also named one of the five best religion titles of 2017 by Publishers Weekly, The Myth of Equality unpacks what we need to know to be grounded in conversations about today's race-related issues. Wytsma, founder of the Justice Conference, has gone through his own journey of understanding the underpinnings of inequality and privilege and helps us come to a deeper understanding of both the origins of these issues and the reconciling role we are called to play.

Stephan Bauman, former president and CEO of World Relief, said, "Ken Wytsma goes where few dare to tread. He asks hard questions about race, justice, and equality and presents proven and practical solutions. Above all, Ken personifies these solutions; he is seeking to live justice, not just do it. The message in The Myth of Equality is urgent."

Each year, Foreword Reviews shines a light on a select group of indie publishers, university presses, and self-published authors whose work stands out from the crowd. Thousands of books are entered each year, and a panel of over 150 librarians and booksellers takes part in the judging, narrowing it down to a group of finalists and winners that represent the best books, all independently published, in sixty-eight categories.

"Awarding the INDIES is an intense months-long judging process and our editorial team and librarian/bookseller judges grow a bit emotional as the announcement date nears," said Matt Sutherland, Foreword Reviews’ editor-in-chief. "Everyone involved finds it a great honor to recognize all these great books because so many of them have been overlooked by mainstream publications due to the low profile of their publishers and authors. While they don't have major PR machine[s] or corporate budgets, these indie publishers are passionate about what they do, take chances, and produce a wide range of thought-provoking books."

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

InterVarsity Press Achieves Best Christian Workplace Honors

Thu, 24 May 2018 21:22:00 GMT

The Best Christian Workplaces Institute (BCWI), a research-based organizational and human resources consulting firm, has announced that InterVarsity Press is certified as a 2018 Best Christian Workplace.

Al Lopus, president of BCWI, said, “InterVarsity Press has a strong, healthy culture and has sustained it over the years. This is particularly significant because the publishing industry has experienced significant changes over that time and many similar organizations no longer exist. Effective communication and staff development have been key strengths on their journey to achieve their important mission.”

With ninety employees, IVP had an exceptional sixty-six percent of staff engagement. BCWI describes staff engagement as the degree to which employees are emotionally and spiritually connected and committed to their organization and their role, exerting discretionary effort for the betterment of the organization and those they serve.

“I am convinced that the eight drivers for a flourishing workplace that Al Lopus and the team at BCWI have identified and track through this survey are, indeed, core to creating and maintaining a work environment that attracts and retains highly talented, engaged people over the long haul,” Jeff Crosby, InterVarsity Press Publisher, said. “We’re grateful not only to have been certified again in 2018 but even more grateful to have seen our levels of engagement increase measurably as a result of focusing on key takeaways from the 2017 survey responses over the past twelve months.”

To achieve certification, organizations must complete the Best Christian Workplaces Institute employee engagement survey and meet predetermined standards of excellence. Employees of IVP answer more than fifty questions measuring employee satisfaction in terms of organizational commitment, Christian witness, supervisory effectiveness, opportunities for personal growth and development, teamwork, communication, and fairness of pay and benefits. Additional open-ended questions provided an opportunity for department managers to gain insight into what employees think and ways they might improve.

“I highly recommend the BCWI survey to all publishers who want to deepen their understanding of what it means to be a learning, flourishing organization,” Crosby said. “IVP continues to have a lot of room for growth in areas that remain on the lower end of the engagement spectrum. And with the help of Lopus’s debrief with our senior leadership team, our intention is to once again focus our energy not merely on celebrating only achievements but also on addressing pockets needing further refinement, however large or small.”

Crosby added, “In some ways, a flourishing organization is like a riddle to be solved or like a thousand-piece jigsaw puzzle waiting to be assembled. It’s challenging to decipher and put together but when we do a vibrant picture emerges, and we can celebrate the work of God—and each other—in our midst.”

Best Christian Workplaces Institute’s purpose is to serve faith-based organizations by creating processes of discovery, facilitating organizational effectiveness, and encouraging practices that build healthy workplaces. For additional information on BCWI, please see bcwinstitute.org.

IVP Launches #ReadWomen Campaign

Fri, 27 Apr 2018 19:15:00 GMT

In alignment with their longstanding commitment to women’s voices and leadership, InterVarsity Press will launch the #ReadWomen campaign, officially beginning May 1, 2018.

This campaign takes after the #ReadWomen2014 campaign, which began when Joanna Walsh, a writer and illustrator, created bookmark-shaped New Year’s cards featuring her favorite writers, declaring 2014 "the year of reading women." Walsh was quickly flooded with requests for the cards, and a social media movement took off.

"The very notion that 'men don't read books written by women' has always struck me as odd (at best) and alarming (at worst) because of my own reading experience," Jeff Crosby, IVP’s publisher, said. "Whether classic works of spirituality by Teresa of Avila and Julian of Norwich, bestselling books by Maya Angelou and Krista Tippett, or current work by writers such as Marilyn Chandler McEntyre and Isabel Wilkerson, my intellectual, spiritual, and cultural perspectives have been deeply shaped by women writers and the unique gifts they bring. I believe it's essential to not only read widely and deeply, but to ensure we are engaging with content from men and women and people of diverse backgrounds. I genuinely believe that those who do not make that commitment are in some sense impoverished, whether they know it or not. I’m grateful to be a part of a publishing house that seeks out, elevates, and publishes books by women of insight, candor, and persuasion."

Senior editor Al Hsu added: "My PhD research on emerging adults’ book-reading experiences found that women read fairly evenly between male and female authors (54% / 46%), but that men read 90% male authors and only 10% female authors. That’s why the #ReadWomen campaign is needed, to highlight how we all benefit from reading women’s voices and hearing perspectives from the whole body of Christ."

IVP’s campaign will draw attention to its own catalog of women authors, both current and backlist, through a social media campaign using the hashtag #ReadWomen, through the distribution of posters and materials at trade shows like Book Expo America and the American Library Association, as well as by offering discounts on books by women through their website.

IVP has been intentional about publishing women's voices since the creation of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship's (IVCF) publishing program. It started in 1943, with an inductive Bible study written by Jane Hollingsworth titled Discovering the Gospel of Mark. In the 75 years since then, IVP has published a range of voices on many topics, from names such as Suzanne Stabile, Brenda Salter McNeil, Kathy Khang, Ruth Haley Barton, Natasha Sistrunk Robinson, Sharon Garlough Brown, Sarah Shin, Sandra Van Opstal, Luci Shaw, and hundreds of others. Additionally, IVP's editorial acquisitions team has annual goals to make sure it is publishing women's voices across all lines.

"In this age of #MeToo and #ChurchToo, women are making it clear that they will no longer tolerate being silenced, harassed, or oppressed," said Helen Lee, director of marketing. "I am so glad that we are part of a larger organization that has valued women's voices, gifts, and leadership skills throughout our history, and that those values apply to our publishing program as well. We are constantly on the lookout for ways to elevate women's expertise and experiences as authors of books that speak to the whole church, and this will never cease."

IVP has launched a webpage dedicated to these efforts that can be found at ivpress.com/readwomen. Women authors were interviewed as a part of this campaign, and they answered questions about why they've published with IVP and why IVP continues to be a house committed to the publication of women’s voices.

"I knew that IVP was a publishing house that not only honored and elevated women, but also honored and elevated people of color," said Kathy Khang, author of Raise Your Voice (July 2018). "And so as a woman of color I felt that I could trust IVP to not only honor me as an author but to honor my words."

Jen Pollock Michel, author of Teach Us to Want, added: "I feel incredibly proud to be a part of a press that is so thoughtful, that has a reputation for producing resources that are thoughtful and serious and deep and substantive and can be of real help to the church."

IVP hopes that women authors at IVP and elsewhere will be elevated through this celebration, and through that the broader church and culture might overcome their unconscious omission of women as experts and leaders.

"#ReadWomen is a celebration of women," said Lorraine Caulton, director of Creative and Customer Engagement at IVP. "Women are strong, talented, intelligent, and persevering. They are experts in their fields. We want to elevate women and get people reading books by them. Long after hashtags have faded away, IVP will remain committed to publishing and reading books by women."

Read more at ivpress.com/readwomen and follow along on social media using the hashtag #ReadWomen.

Struck Named a Finalist for the 2018 Christian Book Award® Program

Fri, 06 Apr 2018 18:07:00 GMT

InterVarsity Press is pleased to announce that Struck by Russ Ramsey was selected as a finalist in the biography and memoir category of the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association’s (ECPA) 2018 Christian Book Award® program.

The Christian Book Award® program has recognized the absolute highest quality in Christian books since 1978. Based on excellence in content, literary quality, design, and impact, the Christian Book Award® program is the oldest and among the most prestigious awards in the religious publishing industry.

“The quality and variety of the finalists exemplify the commitment to literary excellence of the Christian publishing industry,” said ECPA executive director Stan Jantz. “These books and Bibles reflect a professional curation process that begins with an idea in the mind of an author and ends with literature that brings the transforming message of Christ to millions of people of all ages. We are excited to honor our publishers with this recognition.”

Struck: One Christian’s Reflections on Encountering Death is the story of Ramsey’s journey through a near-fatal heart disease in real time. He was struck by a bacterial infection that destroyed his mitral valve, sending him into heart failure and requiring urgent open-heart surgery. As he faced the possibility of death, he found himself awakened to new realities. In the critical days and months that followed, Ramsey came to see the world through the eyes of affliction. He grappled with fear, anger, depression, and loss, and yet he experienced grace through the suffering that filled him with a hope and hunger for the life to come.

Claire Gibson, a freelancer writer and novelist, said, “Struck is Russ Ramsey’s raw, unflinching look at what it means to be a person of faith in the midst of physical suffering. Doctors should read this book to better understand their patients. Nurses should read this book as a reminder to leave ‘trail magic’ for the weary. But this book isn’t just for those who work in hospitals. To those whose lives or loved ones have been struck by pain, trauma, or heartbreak, this book speaks boldly about grief and the recovery process. Russ offers no silver linings. Instead, he offers the truth.”

The Christian Book Award® winners in each category, along with the 2018 Christian Book of the Year®, will be announced on May 1, 2018, at the ECPA Awards celebration held during the ECPA Leadership Summit in Washington, DC. The dinner event will be held after-hours in the Museum of the Bible and will celebrate forty years of Christian Book Awards, with Anne Graham Lotz serving as the keynote speaker.

See a complete list of IVP’s award-winning titles at ivpress.com/award-winners.

Four InterVarsity Press Titles Chosen as Outreach Magazine’s Resources of the Year

Tue, 27 Mar 2018 16:58:00 GMT

Outreach magazine named four InterVarsity Press titles as Outreach Resources of the Year, with four additional books making the short list for the Also Recommended resource in its category.

Outreach received close to 170 submissions with release dates between November 1, 2016 and October 31, 2017. Those submissions were divided into twelve categories and panelists were selected for each category. Each panelist chose one Resource of the Year, with some providing Also Recommended selections.

Here are the IVP titles that were honored as part of the 15th Annual Outreach Resources of the Year:

Breaking the Huddle: How Your Community Can Grow Its Witness by Don Everts, Doug Schaupp, and Val Gordon was the Resource of the Year in the evangelism category. In their groundbreaking book I Once Was Lost, Everts and Schaupp identified five thresholds that individuals cross when they shift from being skeptics to followers. In Breaking the Huddle they and Gordon show how huddled communities can become witnessing communities and then conversion communities, where evangelistic growth becomes the new normal. The authors have studied the growth of congregations and what enhances and limits them. They have also gathered best practices for transformation.

The top resource in the culture category was Culture Care: Reconnecting with Beauty for Our Common Life by Makoto Fujimura. Artist Makoto Fujimura issues a call to cultural stewardship in which we become generative and feed our culture’s soul with beauty, creativity, and generosity. It is a book for anyone who supports or has a passion for the arts.

It engages “creative catalysts” who understand how much the culture we all share affects human thriving today and shapes the generations to come.

The winners in the inspirational category were Recapturing the Wonder: Transcendent Faith in a Disenchanted World by Mike Cosper and Vintage Saints and Sinners: 25 Christians Who Transformed My Faith by Karen Wright Marsh.

In Recapturing the Wonder Cosper helps readers discover disciplines that awaken the possibility of living again in an enchanted world. Russell Moore, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, said, “Mike Cosper, one of the keenest gospel Christian analysts of culture alive today, shows us in this book why our world has become so disenchanted and charts us back to the joy of awe.”

In Vintage Saints and Sinners Marsh journeys with the likes of Augustine, Brother Lawrence, and Saint Francis, as well as Amanda Berry Smith, Søren Kierkegaard, Dorothy Day, Howard Thurman, Flannery O’Connor, and many more. She reveals surprising lessons in everyday spirituality from these “saints”—folks who lived and breathed, and failed and followed God.

IVP titles chosen as Also Recommended Resources include:

Racial Reconciliation

Beyond Colorblind: Redeeming Our Ethnic Journey by Sarah Shin

“This is groundbreaking work: first, it highlights how a lack of ethnic identity is a barrier to being effective witnesses, and then it calls all people to ethnic identity, awareness, healing, and reconciliation through the gospel” (James Choung, author of True Story and Real Life).

Church

To Alter Your World: Partnering with God to Rebirth Our Communities by Michael Frost and Christiana Rice

“In an over-messaged world, To Alter Your World cuts through noise with compelling narrative that describes our invitation to participate in kingdom transformation as a midwifing process rather than an engineering one. In a world experiencing searing pain with ever-deepening fault lines of injustice and income inequality, Christiana and Michael call us to question our traditional starting points for mission. With the stakes so high, they urge us to tap into Christ’s imagination rather than summon our human determination” (John Hayes, author of Submerge and founder of innerCHANGE).

Leadership

An Unhurried Leader: The Lasting Fruit of Daily Influence by Alan Fadling

“In An Unhurried Leader, Alan Fadling points the way out of hurried leadership that kills the souls of leaders. He reveals leadership steeped in spiritual abundance and joy. This is not a how-to book. This book lays out a path to becoming a better sort of person, who is then naturally a better kind of leader” (Todd Hunter, Anglican bishop, author of Christianity Beyond Belief).

Theology

In Search of Ancient Roots: The Christian Past and the Evangelical Identity Crisis by Kenneth J. Stewart

“This remarkable book seeks to trace the deep roots and determine the DNA of evangelical Protestantism. Using his considerable and profound knowledge of a vast terrain, Dr. Ken Stewart digs deep to show that evangelicalism is firmly rooted in Scripture, the early church, and historical Christianity. His archaeology of doctrine and liturgy argues against the recent loss of confidence and self-identity of evangelical Protestants who may be tempted to seek more ‘stable’ pastures or to wander with historical amnesia into cul-de-sacs. Instead, evangelical Protestants are urged to share the confidence of their Protestant-era forebears who knew their ancient pedigree and stood on sturdy ground” (Robert M. Solomon, bishop emeritus, the Methodist Church in Singapore).

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

Four IVP Titles Named Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Awards Finalists

Thu, 22 Mar 2018 22:04:00 GMT

InterVarsity Press (IVP) is pleased to announce that four IVP titles have been recognized as finalists for Foreword Reviews' 2017 Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Awards. Finalists were narrowed down by Foreword’s editors from over 2,000 individual titles spread across sixty-eight categories. IVP books were chosen as finalists in the following categories:

Essays (Adult Nonfiction)

Vintage Saints and Sinners: 25 Christians Who Transformed My Faith by Karen Wright Marsh introduces us to twenty-five brothers and sisters who lived and breathed, and failed and followed God. Narrating her own winding pilgrimage through faith, Marsh reveals surprising lessons in everyday spirituality from “saints” such as Augustine, Brother Lawrence, and Saint Francis, as well as Amanda Berry Smith, Søren Kierkegaard, Dorothy Day, Howard Thurman, Flannery O’Connor, and many more.

Multicultural (Adult Nonfiction)

In Beyond Colorblind: Redeeming Our Ethnic Journey, Sarah Shin, an ethnicity and evangelism specialist, reveals how our brokenness around ethnicity can be restored and redeemed for our own wholeness and also for the good of others. Showing us how to make space for God’s healing of our ethnic stories, Shin helps us grow in our crosscultural skills, manage crosscultural conflict, pursue reconciliation and justice, and share the gospel as ethnicity-aware Christians.

Multicultural (Adult Nonfiction)

In The Myth of Equality: Uncovering the Roots of Injustice and Privilege, Ken Wytsma, founder of The Justice Conference, unpacks what we need to know to be grounded in conversations about today’s race-related issues. And he helps us come to a deeper understanding of both the origins of these issues and the reconciling role we are called to play as witnesses of the gospel.

Religion (Adult Nonfiction)

In an age where neither society nor the church knows what to do with gay Christians, Gregory Coles shares his story in Single, Gay, Christian: A Personal Journey of Faith and Sexual Identity. It’s a story about a boy in love with Jesus who, at the fateful onset of puberty, realized his sexual attractions were persistently and exclusively for other guys. Still, from a young age he remained introspective, active in church circles, and absolutely committed to his faith, all of which led him to explore what Christian life might mean for someone who was both certain of their identity and secure in it, and convinced of the truth of the gospels.

Each year, Foreword Reviews shines a light on a select group of indie publishers, university presses, and self-published authors whose work stands out from the crowd. In the next three months a panel of volunteer librarians and booksellers will determine the winners in each category based on their experience with readers and patrons.

Winners in each genre—along with Editor’s Choice Prize winners and Foreword’s INDIE Publisher of the Year—will be announced June 15, 2018.

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

James W. Sire, “A Keystone in the Intellectual Renewal of Evangelicalism,” Dies

Wed, 07 Feb 2018 22:21:00 GMT

James W. Sire, longtime editorial director at InterVarsity Press (IVP), prolific author, and groundbreaking apologist, passed away on Tuesday evening, February 6, 2018, at the age of eighty-four.

James W. Sire

Sire was a renaissance man of publishing. Not only did he author over twenty books, but his thirty-year career at IVP also included contracting and developing works by Francis Schaeffer, Os Guinness, Calvin Miller, Rebecca Manley Pippert, J. I. Packer, John White, J. P. Moreland, and others.

"Jim Sire was a keystone in the intellectual renewal of evangelicalism in the 1960s and 70s, championing the work of Francis Schaeffer and contributing his own landmark books on world views," said Andy Le Peau, former associate publisher, editorial, for IVP. "He was also first to publish other influential figures such as Os Guinness and philosopher C. Stephen Evans. But his finely tuned radar for quality was not limited to the academy. He had a major influence on the church when he saw the potential in the poetry of Calvin Miller's The Singer, the power for church renewal in the work of Howard Snyder, as well as the evangelistic insight of Rebecca Manley Pippert. Personally, he taught me more about editing and publishing than probably anyone. I will miss his wit, his insight, his integrity, and his love for Jesus."

Born at a ranch on the rim of the Nebraska Sandhills, Sire served as an officer in the Army, a professor of English literature, philosophy, and theology, and a lecturer at over two hundred universities in the United States, Canada, Eastern and Western Europe, and Asia. He received a PhD in English from the University of Missouri, an MA in English from Washington State University, and a BA in chemistry and English from the University of Nebraska.

Sire began work at IVP in 1968 as IVP's first full-time editor. He had previously taught English at Nebraska Wesleyan. During Sire's tenure through 1999, the editorial department flourished as an extension of his giftedness and unique publishing vision.

Cindy Bunch, associate publisher and director of editorial for IVP, said, "I had the privilege of starting at IVP not long after I'd graduated from college—and that made me the sort of person who Jim Sire loved to engage. He had an immense passion for developing and encouraging the minds of young adults—always interested in drawing out a person's own ideas as well as, of course, offering his own! Jim's work as editorial director at IVP has set us on a course of both intellectual and spiritual rigor that continues up to this day."

His own influence as an author and lecturer, as well as his numerous connections, lifted the visibility of the Press that allowed him to acquire quality authors. He made his criteria for publishing clear: the worthiness of each piece, the quality of the ideas, and the unique interest each book held for him.

"One of the earliest InterVarsity Press books I ever read as an undergraduate was Jim Sire's seminal work The Universe Next Door, a catalog of worldviews that challenged and nourished and changed my understanding of not only the Christian faith but other religions and philosophies," said Jeff Crosby, publisher for IVP. "Later, his Why Should Anyone Believe Anything At All? became a book that I routinely put in the hands of friends, family members and acquaintances with whom I had spirited conversations about the veracity of the Christian tradition. But beyond his published works, Jim was a unique and winsome man of God. His presence in our hallways on his frequent visits back to IVP will be sorely missed, as will his witness for Christ in a world of much confusion."

The Universe Next Door turned out to be Sire’s most popular volume. First published in 1976, it has since sold over 350,000 copies in five editions and has been translated into eighteen foreign languages. His expertise on worldview studies and Christian apologetics continued in Sire’s later books and writings. He focused on the application of worldview thinking to the integration of Christian faith and the academic disciplines, as well as the nature of "signals of transcendence" and their relation to Christian life. His many books also include Apologetics Beyond Reason, Beginning with God, Scripture Twisting, Discipleship of the Mind, Chris Chrisman Goes to College, Why Should Anyone Believe Anything at All?, Habits of the Mind, Naming the Elephant, Learning to Pray Through the Psalms, Why Good Arguments Often Fail, and A Little Primer on Humble Apologetics.

In Heart. Soul. Mind. Strength., which records a history of IVP, Andy Le Peau and Linda Doll (former publisher for IVP) wrote that Sire's editorial instincts created a legacy of thoughtful, quality books that IVP is known for today. They write, "In its publishing program, IVP was a reflection of his thought, commitments and prophetic passions. It was a very personal editorial vision, but one that resonated with the needs as well as the spirit of the times." Sire’s impact at IVP can also be seen in its commitment to quality over popularity. He believed that IVP should be as faithful to its mission as possible, stating, "Don’t let someone else set your agenda."

"When I think of Jim Sire I think of the apostle Paul who said 'We proclaim him (Christ), admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ,'" said Bob Fryling, former publisher of IVP. "'To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me.' Jim had an eager mind and an infectious spirit in his love for God and the truth of the Gospel. I will miss his intellectual integrity, his spiritual longings, and his irrepressible presence."

Sire’s books have been heartily praised over his long writing career, including winning Christianity Today Book of the Year Awards for Why Should Anyone Believe Anything at All?, The Universe Next Door (5^th edition), and Habits of the Mind.

Eugene H. Peterson (The Message, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction) wrote of Sire's 1995 book, Learning to Pray Through the Psalms: "Jim Sire's wide-ranging intelligence, fused with his attentive spirit, makes him a welcome guide through this country, opening our eyes and ears—our hearts!—to these prayers that teach us to pray."

In The Universe Next Door, Sire writes, "To glorify God is not just to do so in religious worship, singing praise and enacting the traditional rites of the church. To glorify God is to reveal his character by being who we were created to be—the embodiment of the image of God in human form." Sire’s life exemplified this message, both in word and deed. He is survived by his wife Marjorie, who also worked at IVP, and his four children: Carol, Gene, Richard, and Ann. May he rest in peace.

View IVP’s tribute to Sire at www.ivpress.com/james-w-sire.