Preachin' and Plowin'

1. Ellen F. Davis, Scripture, Culture, and Agriculture: An Agrarian Reading of the Bible, (Cambridge University Press, 2008)

2. Lawrence W. Farris, Dynamics of Small Town Ministry, Alban Institute, 2000, ISBN: 1566992281

3. Mark E. Graham, Sustainable Agriculture: A Christian Ethic of Gratitude, Pilgrim Press, 2005, ISBN: 0829816062

4. L. Shannon Jung (ed.), Rural Ministry: The Shape of the Renewal to Come, Abingdon Press, 1998, ISBN: 0687016061  

5. Richard Lischer, Open Secrets: A Memoir of Faith and Discovery

6. Nick Reding, Methland: The Death and Life of an American Small Town, Bloomsbury, 2009

And perhaps one or more of the following:

Norman Wirzba, Food and Faith: A Theology of Eating

Ragan Sufferfield, Farming As a Spiritual Discipline 

Elizabeth S. D. Engelhardt, A Mess of Greens: Southern Gender and Southern Food,

Kevin Ruffcorn, Rural Evangelism: Catching the Vision

Shannon O’Dell, Transforming Church in Rural America.

I'm still looking for a good book on Southern rural spirituality.  Perhaps someday a student from this class will take up the challenge of writing such a book.  Meanwhile, the class itself this fall will be visiting a number of rural communities to talk with farmers, other workers in the rural economy, and rural pastors.