Customer Reviews

Sundays in America: A Yearlong Road Trip in Search of Christian Faith

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The best spiritual stories are the stories of people all around us -- what journalists like to call "real people," as if media professionals normally exist in a realm of plastic replicas. And, perhaps that's the problem with a lot of what passes for American media, these days, isn't it?

Writing as a journalist for more than 30 years, as someone who has circled the globe and also poked around America's most obscure corners -- I understand how rare this kind of book project truly is. As much of American media shrinks, resources to undertake major projects like this year-long pilgrimage through our quirky religious landscape are growing scarcer with each passing year.

And yet -- this kind of pursuit is what defined our greatest writers.

I'm not arguing that Suzanne Strempek Shea claims Mark Twain, Walt Whitman or Jack Kerouac status with this book -- but she's a fascinating memoirist in that noble tradition. This book takes us from New York to Hawaii -- and from Texas to the last holdout of Shaker worship in Maine.

Truth be told -- I didn't have time for this book, but I opened the morning mail and was lost for the next 2 hours! I kept coming back to this book, again and again, as a first choice among a stack of urgent reading.

Here's an easy way to make your choice about this book. If you're a fan of NPR, enjoy Bill Moyers, occasionally chuckle along with Garrison Keillor -- and, especially, if you recall Charles Kuralt with a smile -- then buy this book.

A final tip: It's a great spring read as you're planning your summer, because you may find yourself jotting down details about some of her more intriguing stops.

Mormons and mennonites; Quakers and Shakers; Baptists and Spiritualists. A Fifty-two week journey featuring a different religion every Sunday. This was quite a task to undertake, but Suzanne Strempek Shea stays right on course and takes the reader on a yearlong journey across the country as she seeks to understand both the similarities and differences between the ways Christians worship. Attending both megachurches and places of worship where most of the congregation consists of ghostly presences, lapsed-Catholic Strempek Shea also rediscovers what is important to her in a spiritual sense. The book is witty and passionate, and Strempek Shea doesn't shy away from what turns her off and why, and what fills her with the spirit. It took me a bit of time to read this book, as too many religions in one sitting is a bit overwhelming, but each chapter contains both personal and public observations that clue the reader in to what the author was feeling on the day she walked into each church. I like this writer's energy and commitment to her task. I've never read anything quite like it, and I enjoyed it very much.

"Sundays in America" is not only a wonderful book, it is a soulful pilgrimage that lifts you up, causes you reflect, makes you laugh, moves you to tears, even leads you to pray. In the end, I felt as though my life was transformed in the same way Suzanne Shea's was as she traveled the country in search of heartfelt faith. Treat yourself and those you love to a heartwarming journey that will change your life and bring joy to your world. Buy this book.

This was a book I had to keep reminding myself to slow down and savor - it's so engaging and so delicious - yet I kept wanting to read on and discover more. After all, this could not be a more timely topic. At a point in history when we are surrounded by spiritual starvation - people leaving churches in droves - and faced again and again with religious fundamentalism at home and abroad, Suzanne Strempek Shea's response is a personal one - she goes out and actively samples church services around the country, experiencing what they have to offer and asking herself if this is what it is all about, truly.

By the end of this book I felt I had not only traveled roads to outlandish and inspiring places, but I also felt I had reached a personal revelation of what spirituality could be, whether or not it was tied to a religion, a creed, or a parcel of dogma. As I read I was amused, astonished, and sometimes shocked by the types of worship she observed, and ultimately I had to admit I was profoundly moved by what she showed me about faith and belief. For when we witness others' faith, we allow our own to grow.

I cannot think of a book that is more relevant to spirituality today in the USA. I shall be giving copies to those friends I know who are sampling churches and chapels, looking for something that feels genuine.

We should be profoundly thankful for this book.

Allan Hunter
Author of "Stories We Need To Know: Reading Your Life Path in Literature'
www.allanhunter.net

Suzanne Strempek Shea is a master storyteller whose non-fiction is as creative and imaginative as her novels. I was eagerly looking forward to reading this book and it lived up to my expectations.

The idea of visiting one church a week for a year is daunting, considering the preparation and travel involved. However, the author walked into every one with an open mind and a photographer's eye, gifting us with minute descriptions of everything from the church's building and decor, demographic profile and attire of the congregation, scripture readings, liturgy, music, sermons, bulletins, the weather, and the intangible --- without wasting a word. Each chapter is prefaced with a brief history of the particular denomination, in itself very educational. There is humor and introspection throughout.

Politicization of religion, both on the right AND the left, has probably alienated enough Americans to explain why church attendance is down. Even so, several of Suzanne's spotlighted houses of worship were inviting. SUNDAYS IN AMERICA is both thought-provoking and entertaining. Amen.

This is a sometimes-interesting read by a rather bored (or jaded?) Catholic writer in search of a more fulfilling church. The writing is not bad, and there is some good information for people who have ever wondered what other American church-goers are experiencing each weekend. The author only visits congregations that would have some claim to greater Christianity, including those as diverse as the Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, Unitarians, Adventists, Mennonites and others. Celebrity-type churches are also attended during the one-year project, including those made famous by Rick Warren, Joel Osteen, Jeremiah Wright and President Jimmy Carter.

In her quest for the ideal church. the author is most satisfied with churches that emphasize social-justice, multi-culturalism, and an emotional/spiritual "feel-good" experience. She also values art and decoration in her perfect worship setting. From my reading, I didn't think Shea is very interested in issues such as the Biblical truth, accurate teaching of Scripture, evangelism, or the importance of living for Christ. Where many Christians seek ways to please God, the writer seems more intent on finding a place where God can please her. Shea seems to desire a church where "tolerance" is a key virtue, but she can be rather intolerant herself of preachers who espouse traditional church values.

Ms. Shea hails from Massachusetts, and fully one-half of the churches reviewed are in greater New England/New York/eastern Pennsylvania (including five in the New York City Metro area). Only about a quarter of the churches were west of the Mississippi. The reader slowly becomes aware that Ms. Shea prefers her Christianity on the liberal side. One Seattle church that promotes traditonal "man + woman" marriage is criticized for "hammering out hate". The very next Sunday, President Obama's former church in Chicago equates shopping at Walmart as the moral equivalent of prostitution... earning an extra donation from the author. Shea also has a strange urge to mention the race or ethnicity of the people she encounters at most churches, which seems like an odd way to evaluate a given congregation.

Overall, I'm glad I read this book. The author does her homework, and I did learn a few things along the way. Many evangelicals and fundamentalists would argue with Shea's Christian outlook, however she never claims to be completely objective in her observations. The writer and I might see God in different lights, but I do appreciate that she took time to personally experience multiple dimensions of American Christianity and share them with the rest of us.

What a fun book, and the author writes in such a way that the reader feels as if they are in the church being discussed. I could almost see the visuals, and hear the sounds.

And such fun learning how wee small churches like the Quaker of Sabbathday Lake in Shaker Village New Gloucester Maine worship as well as mega churches like Lakewood in Houston TX with Joel Osteen, or Saddleback in Lake Forest CA with well known pastor and author Rick Warren.

Then I loved the Colorado Springs Cowboy Church in Colorado because I attend a cowboy church here in Calaveras County California. And the author also visited Maranatha Baptist in Plains Georgia where President Jimmy Carter attends and teaches at.

Virually all Sunday worship churches or denominations are covered, from all areas of the United States.

No matter how many times I go, (and I've gone for twenty years!) I have never joined my church. Things bother me, just enough things to think I shouldn't join, things like women not being allowed to be ministers or deacons, the literal meaning applied to so many passages in the Bible. The wonderful hugs keep me coming back each week, somehow.

So it was nice to travel with Shea this week to fifty plus churches across the USA. Catholic, Pentecostal, Methodist, Jehovah's Witnesses, Episcopal, churches with celebrity pastors, churches with celebrity members, enormous churches, and tiny churches...Shea tries them all. I loved this book. It made me want to go on a yearlong quest of my own. I might do it. I just might do it.

Having had the opportunity to have visited some of the churches described in the book, I enjoyed the travel journey approach. I am not sure how universally appealing the content is for the average reader.

I am a fan of Ms. Strempek Shea, so I read anything that she writes. This was a very interesting account of her soul search for a worship service that would fill a void. It also gives a glimpse into Sunday worship in America in a way that we all are curious to know but would not undertake in such a personal way. From the mega church to the storefront church, she visits many styles of worship. Sadly, I think she yearns for the faith of her youth, that no longer exists in today's world.