Light Through a Rusty Roof

by Roy Terry

What happens when the reality you face doesn't align with the narratives of "truth" you've trusted up to this point? What if the destination you thought you were headed toward is not manifesting the way you hoped? Is it possible to change course without disrupting the life you have built? Maybe the life you've built isn't what you feel calling you, but it's the life you know and makes you feel safe. Light Through a Rusty Roof is a captivating novel about life's wonderfully complex journey. Follow along as one man must wrestle with his identity as he experiences doubt, struggle, and growth. Can love conquer fear when it requires a leap of faith?

In this unfolding adventure, Rev. Peter's life is turned upside down. A Southern pastor in midlife, he finds himself facing a daily struggle with fatigue, disillusionment, doubt, and cynicism. His hopes shrink, relationships contract, dreams fall apart, and transformative faith shrivels into a small, old box of institutionalism. As he encounters "the Others", his experiences with them are...unexpected. And their reality is challenging everything he knows to be "true". The journey may save his faith—if it doesn't destroy him first! Can he find the courage to abandon his sense of stability, embrace new friends, and choose a new beginning?

Audible Audio

Published August 5, 2022

Reviews

[Courtnee Turner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Light Through a Rusty Roof by Roy Terry is a story about a miraculous conversion. Reverend Michael Peters is stuck in a congregation that meets all of societies markers for greatness and a family that seems fine from the outside but is withering on the inside. After a trip to the hospital, a “gray” man, John Dough, approaches Reverend Peters and asks him to follow him on a journey. The reverend reluctantly agrees, and he experiences periods of doubt and acceptance as he meets a diverse group of colorful characters who have a similar message of love and hope for the future to share with him. As he begins to understand and believe in the focus of the group, known as the “Others”, he sees many people in his community achieve their own enlightenment and make choices about their future in the mildly futuristic world.
Roy Terry has painted a picture of a revolution of love, and his characters realistically choose their sides of the divide it creates. Some of the characters in the story seemed to take a step back from Jesus, especially John Dough, but the experiences embody Jesus’s mantra when the religious figure asked his disciples to drop everything and follow him. Among the other parallels to Jesus and his disciples, I noticed that Dough changed Michael’s name to “Pete”, much in the same way Jesus changed Simon’s name to “Peter” when he joined him. The book moves along at a medium pace, with periods of reflection to indicate the main character’s spiritual and emotional growth, and I’d recommend Light Through a Rusty Roof to readers who enjoy stories about spiritual awakening and new beginnings.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Roy Terry creates space in this story for people to explore the possibilities of faith beyond the established routine, outside the structures already set. The main character, Rev. Michael Peters, goes on an epic journey and personal transformation over the course of just a couple days. The people he meets and his inner reflections push readers to consider our own interactions and perceptions.

This book will especially resonate with pastors and other people of faith who are feeling the stress of the pandemic, underlying burnout, and disillusionment with the gap between the words of faith and the actions of the faithful. And for folks who live outside the established church structure and have some disillusionment with how they see it operate, this book creates a hopeful possibility that lives more into the practice of welcome, justice, inclusion, and love.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

I met Roy Terry around 40 years ago when we were HS students. I was in a church youth group whose Youth Minister held the same position at Roy's church just a few years prior. Fast forward about 30 years, and we reconnected through Facebook, where I learned that he had become a pastor himself. I was pleasantly surprised a few years later to learn he had written a book. It took me a few years to get a hold of Light Through a Rusty Roof, but the wait was worth it. I found myself wishing that certain parts of the story were expounded on, but that's not a critique - but rather a good reaction to how characters and parts of the story just led you to want more, despite the story being well fleshed out. A strong story detailing a pastor's wild journey from burnout to rebirth, I recommend it if you can find a copy in the wild.

[Tim Otto · Rating 5 out of 5]

As the world limps and jerks from crisis to crisis, Roy Terry’s Light Through a Rusty Roof is a welcome vision of what healing could look like. The main character, a pastor stuck in maintaining a church possessed by the usual institutional demons, gets jolted into a movement that moves outdoors beyond walls. It is a movement attentive to the poor and outcast rather than the major donors. Those involved trust “the breath” and lean into the adventure she invites rather than the dictates of a committee-hatched five-year plan. In a time when we’re aware of all that is wrong, Light Through a Rusty Roof imagines a beautiful alternative that inspires and encourages us to risk stepping out of all that is fossilized and dead and into the Creative One’s goodness.

[Barbara Kinney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Light Through a Rusty Roof

An eclectic book about humanity dealing with true good and not so good with our roots of behavior. Through Rev. Michael, the main character, the reader gets the picture with a different slant. Take it, or leave it, a wonderful read! I hope you read it!

[Magrey Devega · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a wonderful novelization of what hope-filled, generous Christian orthodoxy can look like. I wish I had read this book earlier in my life and ministry, rather than books like "Left Behind" and "This Present Darkness."

[Judith Forgoston · Rating 3 out of 5]

An important message and great idea... but didn't pull me in and though I tried twice I couldn't get myself to finish reading. Can't put my finger exactly on it but the story just didn't flow and too much of the storytelling was somewhat awkward.