Speaking of women’s ministry, there are lots of common reasons young women leave church behind, and lots of great reasons to return.  Here’s a book about it (link to Amazon book purchase site at bottom of column).  - Bob

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Spirituality Column #846

January 31, 2023

Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary

Reason to Return

By Bob Walters

“[A church is] a holy community of imperfect saints traveling together toward the Holy City. Won’t you join us?” – author Ericka Anderson, Reason to Return

I’ve never met Ericka Anderson but she is a Christian writer and journalist who lives here in Fishers, Ind.  She has been published in Christianity Today, WORLD, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The New York Times and I’m sure, others.

So, a big-time talent with bona fides. I just read her latest book, Reason to Return, with interest and had a few thoughts to share.  Starting with: what a resource.

In retirement I drive a school bus and one of my former bus kids’ moms, who is an attorney and Facebook friend, now has her teenagers at Mission Christian Academy in Fishers where my wife Pam teaches secondary English.  The mom, Joni Sedberry, is Ericka’s good pal and church friend who recently posted about the just-released book.

Joni had fresh copies of the book and in the post offered to send a free copy to the first three people to respond.  The full title grabbed my interest immediately, Reason to Return: Why Women Need the Church and the Church Needs Women.

Ericka’s mission with the book is to encourage women, absent from a Christian congregation for whatever reason, to return to church.  It’s good for them, good for the church, and good for a whole lot of other reasons Ericka thoughtfully presents over the well-written and scripturally rich 225-page book published by Navigators’ NavPress.

Especially targeted are younger women who – in the busyness of life, kids, career, distractions of choice or past experience, and amid growing cultural apathy toward church in general – have taken church membership off their life priority list.  Funny thing is, by a large majority that Ericka notes in various ways throughout the book, spiritual growth and spiritual sanity rank high with women across the board.

The book’s title intrigued me because Pam’s daughter grew up in the church – baptized, youth groups, two involved church parents, the works – but hasn’t had a home church since she was 18.  Today Lauren is a wonderful, hard-working single mother of three with a good job, a nice home, a solid life … and … the title made me think of her.

Her three “littles” are a six-year-old boy and three-year-old boy-girl twins.  Last summer Pam, with my complete agreement and participation, decided we (well, she) would approach Lauren with the idea of us taking the grandkids to church in their town, Danville, Ind., every other weekend when they weren’t gone on visitation.  That meant we’d miss our E91 church a couple times a month or so, and the deal was that whether Lauren went was up to her.  Lauren leapt gratefully at the idea of her kids in church.

Lauren would never have the time or inclination to read a book about going to church.  But by the second Sunday we took the kids to Danville’s Northview Christian Church, Lauren joined us and now it’s on the radar every week, whether we go or not. How can you tell it’s “working”?  The kids are asking if they can go to church.  Bingo.

Reason to Return is a good and comforting read about valuable faith, not a panicked or hysterical diatribe about the “what ifs” of condemnation and hell.  Life is simply better, for everyone, with the right church family.  And girl ... is that ever true.

The God-centered book has as much sensible theology and scripture as it has practical advice and anecdotes about the quality and grace of church membership and participation in a loving, Christ-centered, scripture-believing, community congregation.

Read it for a woman you know – or love – who needs a faith-life boost. Then, share it boldly.  Don’t assume she has time to read it.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) appreciates this powerful voice for women’s ministry. 

Amazon purchase link: Reason to Return by Ericka Andersen

Spirituality Column #316
December 4, 2012
Current in Carmel – Westfield – Noblesville – Fishers – Zionsville

By Bob Walters
Author of (click) Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary

Rarely when we shop for the perfect Christmas gift are we thinking about the best gift of all – encouragement.

We generally purchase gifts based on what we think will make someone “happy” by meeting a material desire or temporary comfort.  Instead of building people up by providing the stuff of encouragement – peace, grace, mercy, forgiveness, and hope – we shop for the stuff of this world and then beat down doors at midnight to get it cheap.

Anybody see any Bible parallels or problems there?

The gift of encouragement is a much tougher “find.”  Few people put “encouragement” on their Christmas wish list.  I didn’t see a single Black Friday sale featuring a discount on or special shopping hours for “encouragement.”

Christmas gift-giving winds up being about expressing our love – a good thing – by making other people happy, preferably at a righteous discount.  But holiday gift exchanges are mostly semi-redundant expressions of our affection.  We present gifts to, and receive them from, people who already know we care.  I mean, it’s creepy to get a Christmas gift from someone we don’t like, isn’t it?  And who shops for their enemies?

This is all to say that Christmas gift-giving is geared not so much toward mimicking God’s universal encouragement of mankind but toward simple and transitory, worldly expressions of “I didn’t forget you” or “I want you to be happy.”

That’s all fine, but … the entire dynamic is out of sync with the actual story of Christmas and the glorious incarnation of God on earth.  Jesus was God’s ultimate gift of gracious, eternal encouragement to a world that didn’t know Him, would largely ignore Him, would treat Him as an enemy, mock Him, and kill Him.  Mankind never even asked for the gift God so spectacularly provided (John 1:1-14).

This was the gift of all gifts: God’s encouragement in the form of man’s eternal salvation through the humble human life and sin-cleansing death of his Son and our Lord, Jesus Christ.  The entire Old Testament points to this coming gift, but people interpreted scripture and prophecy to mean that God would give them happiness and comfort in exchange for their obedience.

People expected a trade, a transaction, a quid pro quo.  Almost everyone missed the cosmic, life-altering importance of divine encouragement – the love, freedom, grace, and life – God sent in His gift of Jesus.

Be encouraged and think about that while you’re out shopping.

Speaking of Christmas shopping, Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) published  Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary, a book of his first 260 Current columns, available at (click one) Amazon.com, Lulu.com, Barnes&Noble .  He’d be encouraged if you gave somebody one as a gift.