Looking for Lydia: Encounters that shape the Church

by Sally Mann

This book is what the world needs now, from a voice we need to hear. Sally Mann is the fourth of five generations living and ministering in one East End community, with a PhD and five lifetimes of stories. Her experiences will make you laugh, cry and, if you pay attention, help you see how much-needed change can happen...Sally brilliantly connects Biblical characters with contemporary people and shows how these individuals have helped shape over 150 years of her family’s ministry in one East London neighbourhood.' Ash BarkerExecutive Director Red Letter Christians UKSally and Dave love their community. They have a jealous passion to see it thrive. They have resilience which comes from long-term commitment; knowing their dreams of what God might do will take more than a few years of committed service, but decades, and perhaps generations, to achieve. They seek deep transformation in the places they serve – bringing structural changes like good education, just governance, and improving the health and well-being of all their neighbours. Alongside this they have built lively, inclusive, Christian congregations. We should listen to their story.Steve ChalkeFounder & Leader Oasis GlobalIn all the window dressing around how to fix the church or make it more connected to our massively disruptive times Looking for Lydia changes the conversation. It turns most of our pretensions on their head as it brings us back to the God who radically meets us in the other. The story in this book is grounded in the practiced life of a community of God's people. I can't recommend it more highly. It's the disruptive Spirit calling us to God's future. Alan J RoxburghJournal of Missional Practice & The Missional Network

Genres: Religion

82 pages, Paperback

Published December 5, 2018

About the author

Sally Mann (b. Lexington, VA, 1951) is one of America's most renowned photographers. She has received numerous awards, including NEA, NEH, and Guggenheim Foundation grants, and her work is held by major institutions internationally. Her many books include At Twelve (1988), Immediate Family (1992), Still Time (1994), What Remains (2003), Deep South (2005), Proud Flesh (2009), The Flesh and the Spirit (2010) and Remembered Light (2016).

In 2001 Mann was named “America’s Best Photographer” by Time magazine. A 1994 documentary about her work, Blood Ties, was nominated for an Academy Award and the 2006 feature film What Remains was nominated for an Emmy Award in 2008. Her bestselling memoir, Hold Still (Little, Brown, 2015), received universal critical acclaim, and was named a finalist for the National Book Award. In 2016 Hold Still won the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction. Premiering in March 2018, Sally Mann: A Thousand Crossings, opened at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. This comprehensive exploration of Mann’s relationship with the South traveled internationally until 2020. In 2021 Mann received the Prix Pictet, the global award in photography and sustainability for her series Blackwater (2008-2012). In 2022 she was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Mann is represented by Gagosian Gallery, New York. She lives in Virginia.