Misfits The Church’s Hidden Strength by Barbara Wendland

In her Introduction, Barbara Wendland ask that the church hear the cries from the so-called misfits, stop driving them off, and find ways to tap this vast wealth of human talent. Without using this source of hidden strength, the church stands to lose its role as a force in modern day society. Grappling with the issues of today and accepting the ongoing changes in biblical scholarship we will be closer to following the greatest of all misfits—Jesus of Nazareth.

Many church misfits have strengths that the church and the world desperately need. Wendland takes her readers on the personal journey that made her realize that, in some ways, following Jesus requires not fitting in.

On February 22, 2016, the Westar Institute was pleased to announce that Barbara Wendland was one of two recipients of the 2016 Advocate for Public Religious Literacy (APRL) award, a national award that seeks to recognize the courage, commitment, and contribution of members of the public who go to extraordinary lengths to cultivate thoughtful discussion and disseminate learning about religion in their communities.

As a lifelong lay member of the United Methodist Church and a member of Southern Methodist University’s School of Theology Executive Board, Barbara was nominated by her colleague, David Dykes, based on her years of work as the publisher of the Connections newsletter, which aims “to increase the religious literacy of the many churchgoers who are largely uninformed about religion, theology, the Bible, and church history and operations.”  The full announcement can be viewed here.

Barbara Wendland is one of those Christians who has taken a long, hard look behind the proverbial curtain of faith and now wants to have a conversation about what she has found.
–Gretta Vosper,  author of With or Without God

At last, Barbara Wendland has written the book for which we have all been waiting!
–Dr. Val Webb, theologian and author