Biography: Forrest Church (1948-2009) served almost three decades as senior minister and was Minister of Public Theology of All Souls, a Unitarian Universalist congregation in New York City. He was educated at Stanford University, Harvard Divinity School, and Harvard University, where he received his Ph.D. in early church history. He wrote or edited twenty-five books, including Life Lines, Lifecraft, The American Creed, Freedom from Fear, So Help Me God, Love & Death, and The Cathedral of the World.
During Church’s tenure at the congregation, All Souls flourished and its membership more than tripled. With almost 1,500 members, All Souls is one of the largest congregations in the Unitarian Universalist Association today. As All Souls grew, so too did Church’s prominence as a public voice for Unitarian Universalism and for social justice. He was a strong proponent of both religious and political liberalism. In 1985, he led All Souls in learning about AIDS and providing direct services to AIDS sufferers. New York reporter Bernice Kanner wrote that year, “The mobilization of All Souls was among the first religious responses to the disease.”
Church died on September 24, 2009, following a three-year battle with esophageal cancer, at the age of sixty-one. The staff of Beacon Press mourns the passing of an acclaimed author, a dear friend, and a long-time supporter of our work.
"I read Love and Death as soon as it came out. The greatest gift I could give every one of you is to just tell you to go read this book." —President Bill Clinton
"Forrest Church is one of our great prophetic intellectuals and compassionate voices. His poignant and wise words on the two ultimate realities of our journey—love and death—reveal his grand courage and vision." —Cornel West
"Forrest Church is a perfect guide through the oceans of belief." —Diane Ackerman
"Forrest Church, a leading pastor and American religious historian, is also the leading Unitarian Universalist theologian of our time." —Gary Dorrien
Also by Forrest Church
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Authors: John A. Buehrens, Forrest Church Binding Information: Paperback
Trade Code: 00P
Price:$16.00 In stock.
In this edition of the classic introductory text on Unitarian Universalism, which includes a revealing, entertaining foreword by best-selling author Robert Fulghum (All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten, It Was on Fire When I Lay Down on It), a new preface by UU moderator Denise Davidoff, and two new chapters by the authors, John Buehrens and Forrest Church explore the many sources of the living tradition of their chosen faith.
Author: Forrest Church Binding Information: Cloth
Trade Code: 00C
Price:$22.00 In stock.
On a February day in 2008, Forrest Church sent a letter to the members of his congregation, informing them that he had terminal cancer; his life would now be measured in months, not years. In that remarkable letter, he wrote: "In more than one respect, I feel very lucky." He went on to promise that he would sum up his thoughts on the topics that had been so pervasive in his work—love and death—in a final book.
Author: Forrest Church Binding Information: Paperback
Trade Code: 00P
Price:$15.00 In stock.
On February 4, 2008, Forrest Church sent a letter to the members of his congregation, informing them that he had terminal cancer but promising to sum up his thoughts on the topics that had been so pervasive in his work-love and death-in a final book. We are proud to offer that book here. The goal of life, Reverend Church tells us, "is to live in such a way that our lives will prove worth dying for." This last book in his impressive oeuvre is imbued with ideas and exemplars for achieving that goal.
Read by: Forrest Church Binding Information: Audio
Trade Code: 00A
Price:$29.95 In stock.
On February 4, 2008, Forrest Church sent a letter to the members of his congregation, informing them that he had terminal cancer; his life would now likely be measured in months not years. In that remarkable letter, he wrote: "In more than one respect, I feel very lucky"; he went on to promise that he would sum up his thoughts on the topics that had been so pervasive in his work—love and death—in a final book.
Author: Forrest Church Binding Information: Cloth
Trade Code: 00C
Price:$24.95 In stock.
Forrest Church has drawn from the entire span of his life's work to hammer out a clear statement of his universalist theology and liberal faith. Recasting public addresses, adapted book chapters, articles, and several previously unpublished pieces into a single argument, The Cathedral of the World is Church's answer to the divisive global trend toward competing fundamentalisms.
A new reissue of the acclaimed document that most succinctly reveals the true spiritual life of Thomas Jefferson
"Religion in America [gained] something unique from Jefferson. . . . His Jesus was a figure fitted for the Enlightenment, rational but not divine."
—Gustav Niebuhr, New York Times
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