Joy Together: Spiritual Practices for Your Congregation

by Lynne M. Baab

Although interest in spiritual practices has grown in recent years, most of the books available address individuals who wish to try Christian disciplines such as fasting or fixed-hour prayer. This book, by contrast, offers guidance and examples to Christian leaders as they seek ways to involve their congregations or small groups in spiritual practices. In Joy Together , Lynne M. Baab describes six spiritual practices that congregations can attempt thankfulness, fasting, contemplative prayer, lectio divina, hospitality, and Sabbath keeping. She goes on to explore how these practices can help with congregational life and discernment and provides practical instructions for communicating with group members. Discussion questions are included at the end of each chapter so groups can delve into the topics more fully.

214 pages, Paperback

First published September 13, 2012

About the author

I was born in Washington, DC, and moved at 18 months to Athens, Greece. That would be the first of 12 moves in my first 15 years. My dad was in the military. Two of the few constants in my life were church attendance and reading.

As a kid I loved Nancy Drew, the Little House on the Prairie books, and the Moomin books by Tove Jansson. Probably my most favorite were the Betsy-Tacy books by Maud Hart Lovelace. Betsy was so sure she would be a writer when she grew up, and I thought I'd like to do that too.

My writing career began in earnest at midlife. I've read a lot of biographies of writers, and they seem either to start young (like Georgette Heyer who wrote her first book as a teenager) or at midlife. I did write a couple magazine articles in my twenties and a couple more in my thirties, but I started focusing on writing in my late thirties.

It took me a year to write my first short story ("A Garden of Living Water," the title story in my collection of short stories published for kindle). in my late thirties, I wrote a handful of short stories, mostly focused on themes of "what am I going to be after being a stay at home mom"). In my early forties, I wrote four novels. I have recently published two of them for kindle ("Dead Sea" and "Deadly Murmurs").

I was 45 when I got my first book contract (for "Personality Type in Congregations"). More books followed every year or two after that. Every one of them is precious to me. Equally precious are the three Bible study guides I wrote, for which my husband, Dave, did the background research into each biblical passage. It was fun to work with him. My Bible study guides are "Sabbath," "Prayers of the New Testament," and "Prayers of the Old Testament."

My strongest selling books are "Sabbath Keeping" (which has been chosen to be a "book of the day" at the Urbana Conference December 2018), "Fasting," and "Personality Type in Congregation." My latest book focuses on Christian care, "Nurturing Hope." It's the first book I've ever been asked to write, and it's the "anchor volume" for a series of books on pastoral care.

Dave and I live in Seattle, and our two sons live here, too. One of them is married and the father of our beloved granddaughter. Our other son is a journalist with the Huffington Post, writing long and interesting articles using the pen name Michael Hobbes. It's easy to find his articles online because they are read by millions of readers. It is a thrill to have a writer son with such a big audience.

The topics of my books continue to be very real in my own life. I keep a weekly Sabbath, and I engage in a variety of Christian spiritual practices. I try to care for the people God puts in my path.

Thanks for reading my books. I am deeply aware of the privilege of being a writer, and writers depend on readers. Please visit my website where I blog every week: lynnebaab.com.

Reviews

[Steve Simon · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a pastor, I am always looking for ways to help my people experience more of God’s love and grace. Dr. Baab’s latest book, Joy Together, is a valuable pastoral tool for doing that.
Most often spiritual disciplines are presented for practice by individuals. However, Dr. Baab examines six spiritual disciplines (thankfulness, fasting, contemplative prayer, contemplative approaches to Scripture, hospitality, and Sabbath) and discusses what happens when they are practiced within a Christian community. We can certainly engage in each of these disciplines as individuals, but there are distinct advantages when we enter into them as groups of Christians. As she explains in the first chapter, “[S]piritual practices are richer—and usually easier—when we engage in them with others” (p. 3).
Dr. Baab examines what the Bible teaches about these six disciplines, but the strength of Joy Together is the breadth of her anecdotal research. She draws on interviews with dozens of people who have actually implemented these disciplines, and she also incorporates insights from many other faith traditions besides her own (Presbyterian). For example, I was quite fascinated by her reflections on the Eastern Orthodox approach to fasting (p. 49ff.). In addition, Dr. Baab also reflects on her own extensive experience to provide many practical suggestions for how one might facilitate these disciplines in other ways or in other contexts. Discussion questions at the end of each chapter can also be used to explore these disciplines more deeply.
I also greatly appreciate the personal nature of Dr. Baab’s writing. She lets us see into her own life, including her relationships with her husband and two sons, to show how she has worked to implement these disciplines over the years. We see her struggles as well as her successes. That provides a good reminder that, even when we fail to implement these disciplines perfectly, God can still use them to draw us – and our congregations – closer to himself.
Dr. Baab notes that spiritual disciplines such as the ones discussed in her book will influence the culture of a congregation, because they train us to listen to God and to follow his priorities. That is a worthy goal for those of us who are involved in Christian leadership, and her book can certainly help us make big strides towards that.

[Ian · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very good addition to the growing discussion on Spiritual Practices. While there is little that was fresh in the actual description of the practices the gift that Dr Baab offers is to show how and why spiritual practices can be used in congregational settings.

The highlight of the book comes towards the end when Baab engages the criticism of William Willimon to the widespread interest in Spiritual Practices - it seems that Willimon is concerned that the practices can become an end in themselves and another way of showing God that we are good. And while there is danger in this the point that Baab makes so well is that practices practiced correctly are a response to the grace of God and help us be in a place of receptivity to God the Spirit.

If we are to be transformed by the renewing of our minds then it seems logical to me that there are things we can do to assist this process - we need to be disciplined about making space for God: Spiritual practices surely help this process for individuals and build unity and receptivity within congregations.

Thank you Lynne for a very helpful book.

[April Yamasaki · Rating 4 out of 5]

A helpful discussion of six spiritual disciplines that congregations can do together: thankfulness, fasting, contemplative prayer, contemplative approaches to Scripture, hospitality, sabbath--including benefits and cautions, and how such disciplines can contribute to congregational discernment. A wealth of examples drawn from different congregations throughout the book, and each chapter ends with questions for reflection/discussion/journaling plus resources for further reading.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

All too often books about the spiritual life focus solely on the individual but this book instead concentrates on the beauty of corporate spirituality

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Many practical suggestions. I imagine returning to this book again and again.