Anyone who's talked with Christine Thompson, former Executive Director of PEPartnership, Inc., for even as little as 15 minutes knows that she's an avid -- one might even say an addicted -- reader. The listing below is her current "top ten" (though it won't always be exactly ten) listing of books, articles, and resources on this general field of poverty, economy, society, and faith.

  • Being Consumed: Economics and Christian desire. William T. Cavanaugh, 2008. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdman Publishing. ISBN 978-0-8028-4561-0. OCLC BR 115 .E3C38 2008. 
    From the back cover: "Many Christians vaguely sense that all is not well with their relation to consumer society, but find it difficult to name just what ails them. In Being Consumed William Cavanaugh offers the clearest, most helpful diagnosis I have ever seen. No liberal guilt-tripping here, just some serious theological reflection on matters like God, desire, justice, pluralism, and the nature of human freedom. I especially like Cavanaugh's concrete examples of economic practices consistent with life in the body of Christ...." Joseph Mangina, Wycliffe College, Toronto. 
  • Just Generosity: A new vision for overcoming poverty in America. Ronald J. Sider, 2007 (2nd edition). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books. ISBN 978-0-8010-6613-9. OCLC HC 110.P6S524 2007. 
    From the back cover: "Ron Sider... calls believers to care as much about the poor as Jesus did. Sider's first edition was cited as a Christianity Today Book Award winner and as one of the Top Ten Books in Religion by Booklist. Here he updates his comprehensive yet accessible agenda of ways to reduce poverty in the United States. Using poignant stories to engage the heart and well-documented facts to convince the mind, Sider presents a nonpartisan corrective to poverty in the United States. These concrete suggestions will be an invalauble help to those who wish to understand and join political debates over poverty. 
  • The Living Economy. Paul Ekins, copyright 1986. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-03937-1. OCLC HB 171 .L76 1986. 
    The Living Economy is the first expression of a coherent, consistent economic framework which incorporates the collective wisdom of those who, like E.F. Schmacher, have perceived modern industrial development to be humanly unsatisfying and environmentally unsustainable.  The book is based on the first two years' work of The Other Economic Summit (TOES) and draws on the insights and experience of over forty expert contributors, the pioneers of this new kind of economic thinking, including Herman Daly, Johan Galtung, Susan George, Hazel Henderson and James Robertson.  The papers have been edited into a flowing, clearly organized narrative, from which the New Economics emerges as a substantial body of positive and viable economic theory, policy and practice for wealth and well-being now and in the future.  
  • Stations of the Banquet. Cathy C. Campbell, 2003. Collegeville, MN: Luturgical Press. ISBN 0-8146-2938-5. OCLC BR 115.N87 C36 2003. 
    From the back cover: "Stations of the Banquet, a Scripture-based exploration of the Christian story of salvation as a food story, provides nourishment for those engaged in living out the food and justice challenges of the Gospel. It highlights the power of our biblical and theological traditions to name the root issues of our day, shape our hope, and define horizons for action."
  • Untamed Hospitality: Welcoming God and other strangers. Elizabeth Newman, 2007. Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos Press. ISBN 978-1-58743-176-0. OCLC BV 4647 .H67 N49 2007. 
    From the back cover: "Elizabeth Newman has rescued us from flabby and incoherent notions of tolerance that sanctify the status quo, and provided us with a theologically astute understanding of the role that the practice of hospitality should play in the life of the Christian community and of the individual believer. She does a masterful job of showing how this practice ties together politics, economics, sacraments, and the basic doctrinal and moral convictions of the church to constitute our lives as faithful disciples who can speak meaningfully in and to this time and place...." Barry Harvey, Baylor University. 

If you have suggestions for other resources that should be included here, either in Christine's "Top Ten" or in the blocks below, please send information to the This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..