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Reviewed by Kenneth H. Carter Jr., senior pastor of Providence United Methodist Church in Charlotte, North Carolina. This Day: A Wesleyan Way of Prayer by Lawrence Hull Stookey Lawrence Stookey, longtime professor of preaching and worship at Wesley Theological Seminary, is well known for his work in the sacraments, especially Baptism: Christ's Act In The Church and Eucharist: Christ's Feast With The Church. In This Day: A Wesleyan Way of Prayer, Stookey has brought his knowledge of the liturgy and the tradition to embrace the need for a guide to devotion. The result is a substantive volume that merits the attention and use of disciples who are growing in grace. In the preface, Stookey interestingly warns the reader about what the devotional guide is and is not. This Day is not a "brief" devotional booklet; it is also not comprehensive; and it is not individualistic. Instead, Stookey wants the reader to give more time to the devotional experience, to integrate this resource with other materials, and to see the exercise within a corporate context. For these reasons, This Day is a bit more demanding, a bit more complex, and a bit more communal than most devotional publications. The author's intent is not to steer the potential reader away from the resource, but to challenge us to stretch and strengthen..."spiritual muscles that may now lay dormant." This Day includes a daily order, based on a thirty-one day model; acts appropriate for particular days of the week and times of the year; and other occasional resources, related to specific situations. Thus, there are prayers for each day of the week, litanies for the civic and church year, resources that arise out of experiences of death, injustice, and illness, and intercessions on behalf of leaders, bishops, pastors, congregations and legislative bodies. The book also includes teaching sections on the use of the Psalter in times of terror (prompted by the events of September 11, 2001) and the guidance of children in a life of prayer. A three-year lectionary cycle of scripture readings is included, as are settings of the Lord's Prayer and a number of the creeds of the church. Stookey is both honest and helpful in clarifying the purpose of This Day. It will stretch those who want to grab an inspirational thought on the run. It will slow down the seeker who is in a hurry to find a religious idea, story or insight. And it will frustrate those who are in the market for a "user-friendly" book on Christian spirituality. This Day is none of these. Instead, This Day is for the person who wants to go deeper into the tradition. It is Wesleyan in that it strives for a balance of the inner and outer life, love of God and love of neighbor, and in this way it can be a means of grace for those on the way to sanctification. This resource would be an excellent gift for a pastor or lay leader, or for someone who is called to guide others in ministries of teaching and formation. If the reader will take the time to practice the method contained here, and to explore the resources that are included, his or her spiritual life will be nourished, and, as a by-product, the body of Christ will be strengthened as well.
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