Making Room: Recovering Hospitality as a Christian Tradition [Paperback]

Christine D. Pohl (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 3, 1999

Although hospitality was central to Christian identity and practice in earlier centuries, our generation knows little about its life-giving character. Over the past three hundred years, understandings of hospitality have shrunk to entertainment at home and to the hospitality industry's provision of service through hotels and restaurants. But for most of the history of the church, hospitality was central to the gospel and a crucial practical expression of care, relationship, and respect.

This penetrating new work by Christine Pohl revisits the Christian foundations of welcoming strangers and explores the necessity, difficulty, and blessing of hospitality today. The book offers an original argument that traces the eclipse of this significant Christian practice, showing the initial centrality of hospitality and the importance of recovering it for contemporary life.

Combining rich biblical and historical research with extensive interviewing of contemporary service communities -- the Catholic Worker, L'Abri, L'Arche, Good Works, Annunciation House, St. John's Abbey, and others -- this book shows how understanding the key features of hospitality can better equip us to respond faithfully to contemporary needs and challenges.

Product Details

• Paperback: 218 pages
• Publisher: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company (August 3, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802844316
• ISBN-13: 978-0802844316
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.6 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #53,683 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 34 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Making Room - an action agenda for the faith community February 4, 2002

By David J. Weinschrott

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

It is hard to know where to start. The book is elegantly written, it is full of interesting history of the early church. But more importantly, it speaks to a deadness in the church today. Often members of the church have learned to live distant from problems of their "neighbors" be they down the block or down the street in the challenged neighborhoods in our cities.

In the early church, members were the challenged people, they reached out to each other, but now much of the church is isolated and distant from the needy stranger. Read Luke 14 - decide if you have responded to principles in those scenarios described by Jesus. If you come up short, then this book will help with a compassionate analysis of our dilemma in reaching out to "the least of these."

In addition to setting the stage for individuals to learn to reach out to needy strangers, the book creates a context for the faith-based social service discussion. While members of congregations may not exhibit the skills of professional social workers, they have an important role to play in being present and responding to neigbors in their communities who need the touch of grace in their lives.

The book is a good read, but it requires more than one pass. If you invest in the book deeply, you will be called to action.

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars God and angels May 30, 2000

By Nicola Creegan

Format:Paperback

Making Room is a narrative of the Christian story of hospitality, and is rich in historical and Biblical detail. Pohl convinces us that in recovering this lost Christian practice we will not only encounter the holiness and mystery of God, but entertain angels as well.

Making Room is a positive and a healing book. All is not right with Christendom, but throughout church history there have been a few persons who have recovered and continued the practice of entertaining strangers, and have promoted or formed redemptive welcoming communities. Making Room is thus a book that brings to life the holy underside of history. Included in the narrative are the stories of some contemporary communities of hospitality still functioning on the edges of church life today, bringing hospitality to workers, the condemned, the handicapped, or those seeking spiritual direction.

In spite of the persistent theme of encountering angels, however, Pohl does not gloss over the human toll involved in providing hospitality, and the enormous burden it often places on a few. She discusses openly the painful question of boundaries and limits in the practice of hospitality, and the need to maintain identity as well as openness to others.

Pohl's writing is remarkable in its ecumenical application. All traditions and communities are incorporated at some point in the history and in the contemporary application. This text will be invaluable for seminary students, pastors and priests, lay church groups, and anyone interested in social issues, spirituality or church history. Making Room will provide answers to those perplexed by the lack of depth in contemporary church life today, and those who are thinking through issues of boundaries and openness with regard to refugees and aliens in many contexts.

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The ministry of Mary and Martha NOT Martha Stewart December 6, 2000

By Amanda Smith

Format:Paperback

In her book, Pohl makes an excellent case for the lost ministry of hospitality. She explores the tradition of welcoming stangers into our homes while discussing the ways in which Christians can offer practical hospitality to the poor, homeless, and refugees in our communities. I am impressed that Pohl is careful not to confuse the challenging ministry hospitality with entertaining.