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Community Corner

LOCAL PASTOR PENS BOOK ON GRANDPARENTING

Local contact:  Louise Faucher
South Congregational Church
sochurch@comcast.net
508-775-8332
Dr. Epperly's cell 508-240-4355
drbruceepperly@aol.com

Centerville, MA -- Bruce Epperly, pastor of South Congregational Church in Centerville will be giving a book talk and book signing on his latest book, Letters to My Grandson, Sunday, September 22, at 4:00 p.m.  In Letters to My Grandson:  Looking at Life from a Fresh Perspective, Dr. Epperly presents 52 letters written to his grandson during the boy's first year.  The book focuses on spiritual wisdom from a grandfather passed on to his grandson, but more importantly, it provides wisdom learned through spending time with that different perspective.  It's not just about teaching; it's about learning and embarking on an adventure of the spirit in companionship with a young child.

In this text, Epperly describes what a healthy relationship with a baby can teach us.  Virtues like patience, focus, openness, prayer, meditation, and living in the present moment emerge in living with a lively young child.  Although Epperly is a Christian minister, spiritual guide, and theologian, the truths revealed in this book provide insights for persons of all faiths and no religious commitment at all.

Letters to My Grandson received a good deal of advance praise.  Sharon Rhodes Wickett, Senior Pastor of Claremont United Methodist Church, Claremont, CA, states:  "Bruce's weekly letters to his grandson Jack delightfully capture the experience of watching and engaging with your first grandchild in the first year.  As a relatively new grandmother, I could feel the joy, love, concern, pain and hope in his reflections.  There is a strong sense of constancy and consistency of relationship through the generations that gives us grounding in life.  I especially love how Bruce reflects on his own son's early years, Jack's father.  Just as strong is the lure to grow, to be curious, to relish life in all its fullness and possibility.  It beckons the reader from settled-ness of life to newness and energy of life.  The perspective of a grandparent affords space to theologize about God's creative nature and the intentionality needed to nurture a fresh new human being.  The insights in this book transcend grandparenting and certainly apply to many relationships, but if you are looking for a gift for a new grandparent, this is it!"

Riess Potterveld, President of the Graduate Theological Union, an interfaith and ecumenical consortium of schools in Berkeley, CA, adds:  "Many of Bruce Epperly's books weave together perspective theological reflection, practical advice, and sage wisdom.  This book of letters to his first grandson creates just such an opportunity to reflect on 'big ideas' while offering wholesome advice on the spiritual practice of grandparenting.  At 70 years of age, I find myself also fully invested in nurturing my children's children and thinking 'this is one of the great seasons of life.'  Bruce is a person who attends carefully to each moment and his writing can crack open and ordinary moment into an expansive probing of the meaning of life - its limitations and pathos or its mysterious wonders and delight."  Suzanne Adele Schmidt, Pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ, Manchester, MD, concurs:  "He blends the best of many spiritual and religious traditions.  It's Epperly at his best...reflective, humorous, practical, and insightful. This small but powerful book makes a great morning meditation read.  Consider giving it as a gift to a grandparent, a parent, or anyone who values the lessons that deep loving relationships teach us."

An ordained minister in the United Church of Christ and Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Dr. Epperly is the author of twenty-six books on spirituality, ministerial excellence and wellbeing, contemporary theology, scripture, and healing and wholeness, including Tending to the Holy, which was selected as Book of the Year by the Academy of Parish Clergy.  Over the past thirty years, Epperly has served as an administrator, university chaplain, and professor at schools such as Georgetown University, Claremont School of Theology and Claremont Lincoln University (CA), Wesley Theological Seminary (Washington, DC), and Lancaster Theological Seminary (PA).  He has also served as a congregational pastor and interim minister in United Church of Christ, Disciples of Christ, and Presbyterian congregations.

As a result of Dr. Epperly's commitment "to seek justice and well-being for grandchildren everywhere," the proceeds from the book signing will be contributed to the Habitat for Humanity of Cape Cod, which along with International Habitat for Humanity, seeks to provide decent, safe, and affordable housing for every child.  South Congregational Church is located at 565 Main Street, Centerville.  For more information, contact 508-775-8332.






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