The Search Committee
Tim Owens
Tyndale House Publishers, 2012, 258 pages
I’m still on the fence about this book. In some ways it felt like I was reading two books at once. It took some time to keep the characters all straight as the author switched between the story as it related to the committee’s search for the new pastor and the story as it related to the development and interaction of the committee members themselves. I also suspected pretty early on the direction that the committee was going to take in the end. (No, I’m not going to give that away!)
The parts of the story that dealt with the search process were witty in their presentation. Perhaps because I was a pastor for many years, and served as an interim, I found much that was relatable. It was also interesting to learn about the search process in a different denomination.
The portions of the book that dealt with the committee members discovering themselves seemed very dark at times. The relatable part was the diversity of personalities on the committee. Sometimes I don’t think we recognize the vast difference of persons that make up the church. To the author’s credit, he created characters that were both easy to like and dislike—I found myself feeling something about each of them.
It’s an ok book. I thought I would like it more.
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Pot of Manna 