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Where Goodness Still Grows
Summary
Where Goodness Still Grows challenges evangelical culture and rediscovers a faith deeply rooted in a return to Jesus Christ’s life and ministry.
The evangelical church in America has reached a crossroads. Social media and recent political events have exposed the fault lines that exist within our country and our spiritual communities. Millennials are leaving the church, citing hypocrisy, partisanship, and unkindness as reasons they can’t stay.
In this book, Amy Peterson laments the corruption and blind spots of the evangelical church and the departure of so many from the faith. But she refuses to give up hope.
Where Goodness Still Grows dissects the moral code of American evangelicalism and puts it back together in a new way. Amy writes as someone intimately familiar with, fond of, and also deeply critical of the world of conservative evangelicalism. She writes as a woman and a mother, as someone invested in the future of humanity, and as someone who just needs to know how to teach her kids what it means to be good. She reimagines virtue as a tool, not a weapon; as wild, not tame; as embodied, not written. Reimagining specific virtues, such as kindness, purity, modesty, hospitality, and hope, Amy finds that if we listen harder and farther, we will find the places where goodness still grows.
Narrator Charity Spencer brings an honest and thought-provoking audiobook to life. Weaving conviction and a constant thrum of energy into each sentence, she keeps listeners engaged throughout this short but powerful audiobook. Peterson challenges evangelical culture and the rationale behind many Christian traditions that have been held—often unquestioned—for centuries. Spencer ensures that the author's words are delivered at a steady pace and weighted with just the right amount of candor. Her pristine delivery offers a compelling listening experience.
Critic reviews
"In this poignant, honest book, Amy Peterson confronts her disappointment with the evangelical leaders who handed her The Book of Virtues then happily ignored them for the sake of political power. But instead of just walking away, Peterson rewrites the script, giving us an alternative book of virtues needed in this moment. And it's no mistake that it ends with hope." (James K. A. Smith, author, You Are What You Love, and editor-in- chief, Image journal)
"Amy Peterson reflects the best of the church's next generation. With biblical faithfulness and wisdom, Where Goodness Still Grows gently critiques the shortcomings of the generation who came before her, then lovingly points the way toward a more holistic and virtuous future for all who claim the name of Christ." (Karen Swallow Prior, author, On Reading Well and Fierce Convictions)
"Amy Peterson's reflective, impassioned book is for anyone who, like me, both loves the evangelical Christian movement in which you were raised and also grieves its compromises and inconsistencies. It is one of the most genuinely hopeful books I've ever read: clear-eyed about Christian complicity in evil, resolute in its determination to recover the good in spite of the church's failures, and visionary in its attempt to imagine a better future." (Wesley Hill, author, Spiritual Friendship)