Breathing Space

I'm reading a very good book right now. Breathing Space: A Spiritual Journey in the South Bronx is a personal reflection by Pastor Heidi Neumark. I've heard Pastor Neumark speak before, and I've been impressed with her presentations. This book chronicles her personal journey alongside the journey of Tranfiguration Lutheran Church in the Bronx, her first call. She came to the Bronx at a time when it only held the dregs of society. Her church remained a faithful witness in the face of a lot of violence, oppression, and little support from the New York City administration.

Pastor Neumark is no longer at Tranfiguration. I've visited her current congregation, Trinity Lutheran Church in Uptown Manhattan. The congregation conducts services in both Spanish and English. Their latest project has been to open a small GLBT youth homeless shelter. Pastor Neumark is a very thoughtful person, and her thoughtfulness is reflected in her book.

There are a few books out there about pastors in their first calls. I've heard of many of them, but have not actually read them. This book appeals to me because it appeals to my interest in urban spirituality. It takes elements of the city and shows them to be the holy relics they are. I'm going to need to go more into urban spirituality (in fact, it probably wasn't fair for me to bring it up here and not do into depth). I'll try to write my next post about it.

The point of this post is to recommend Breathing Space: A Spiritual Journey in the South Bronx, by Heidi Neumark.