Unction.org

A letter from a reader

2011-08-11T11:40:00.000-07:00

Hi Peggy,
So, I read Messages to a Refugee Planet, and loved it. I read your introduction on not really wanting comments after preaching because perhaps people should listen to what God's Spirit is saying instead of analyzing the preach. Good comment, I thought, but then I thought, that is exactly what I'm about to do! That gave me pause for thought. So, I waited to see if the Spirit would give me anything to say back, and I waited and I waited. Finally I have had to settle for saying something which is not from God, but I think it's OK with God that I say it.

"Messages to a Refugee World is a revelation that brings us up short with the rare and astonishing truth that God thinks we are wonderful, and rejoices over our creation still. The book tells us that communities of faith can be places of restoration and Delight! That far from letting us sink in a mire of guilt and negativity, the Spirit of God urges us to speak kindness to people because kinds speaks of the deepest truth, that we are made in God's image. We are all made in God's image, not just the men, not just the whites, not just the rich or the stable, or the sorted, but everyone. When we walk guided by the Spirit of God we are unbeatable, even if we lose. With a message like this, who wouldn't choose to read this book!"

Hope all is well with you. Keep up the great work!

Phil

Phil Lane
Director, Oasis Belgium

How to order Books

2010-12-08T17:43:00.000-08:00

The simplest way to order books is to use the paypal option on the right. It will give you the opportunity to add a message where you can put your shipping address.

At the same time I encourage you to send me an e-mail at peggysengerparsons@gmail.com and confirm what you want and where you want me to send it.

You may also write a check or send cash to
Peggy Senger Parsons
710 Thompson NE
Salem, Oregon, 97301

The prices for each book is listed in the book description in the links on to the right. Please remember to include postage unless there is a special going on.
thanks
Peggy

Review - Messages to a Refugee Planet

2010-12-08T17:36:00.000-08:00

From William Ashworth is a member of South Mountain Friends Meeting in Ashland, OR, and of the Ministry and Oversight Committee of North Pacific Yearly Meeting.

Another stimulating and thought-provoking essay collection from Peggy Parsons, based this time on vocal ministry instead of blog entries.

Vocal ministry is one of the constants across all branches of the Society of Friends, from the most conservative evangelical Friends church to the most liberal unprogrammed meeting. It is why Quakers quake. True vocal ministry does not consist of the thoughts of the minister, but of pass-through from the Source of the message; the minister may tinker with the wording, but never with the content. One of the signs that you are given a message, rather than just thinking it up, is the "quaking before the Lord" described by early Friends and still felt by Friends preparing to minister today. The principal difference between a Friend who merely rises in Meeting to give a message and Peggy Parsons is that, as a recorded and released minister, she is expected to be able to hear and give voice to God's messages, in detail, at previously scheduled times and places.

Peggy spends her first chapter describing her methods of listening for ministry and of shaping its delivery to its intended recipients while attempting to avoid shaping the message itself. Most of the remainder of the book (all but the last chapter) is devoted to specific ministries she has given, written down only after the fact to avoid too much wordsmithing ahead of time, which would impose her own mind too far into the message before its audience receives it. The audience and the date are noted for each message, which helps the reader understand differences in style among them. For the most part, even when speaking to liberal Friends' groups, Peggy couches her ministry in evangelical Christian language. Do not be fooled by this. This is a book for everyone: the truths she captures are universal.

Those who know her previous books will find stories they have read elsewhere. Bear with her: they are placed in a different context here - the context of vocal ministry - and although the truths they publish are the same, the views of those truths provided here are far more subtle and complex than when she uses the same stories merely to kick off blog entries. It is difficult to read this book at one sitting. Not because it is long (it isn't) or difficult (it isn't that, either), but because there is so much meat in it that the reader needs to regularly pause and contemplate. A chapter that stopped me in my tracks was the message viewing a Quaker Meeting for Business - another constant across all flavors of Friends - through the lens of the Sermon on the Mount. Or perhaps vice versa. Other readers are likely to be grabbed at different places. But be warned: you will be grabbed.

And speaking of the Sermon on the Mount: do not miss Peggy's last chapter. It is a joyful retelling of several well-known scriptural passages, including the SOTM, in modern colloquial English. The translations are not just tossed off - Peggy has drawn carefully on her knowledge of ancient Greek and Hebrew as well as her considerable knowledge of Biblical exegesis - but neither are they stodgy. Friends often speak of the "Light within" or "holding in the Light." One of the functions of this book is to remind us that one of the meanings of "light" is "not heavy."

December Special

2010-12-06T13:24:00.000-08:00

Free Shipping!

Reduced Prices!

Limited Time Offer.

So There I Was ... ($20)
So There I Was in Africa ... ($15)
Messages to a Refugee Planet. ($10)
I will be shipping all three books until December 20th.

Free First Class Mail for Single book orders
at full price.

Ten Dollars off Three Book Set - $35 -
this month only. Free Media Mail.

Paypal Accepted.

Gift orders with Gift Card Available
.

All Books in Stock

2010-09-18T14:34:00.000-07:00

I am again taking orders for all three books.

If you want to read about this summer's African Adventure

travel on over to

Sillypoorgospel.blogspot.com

.

Messages to a Refugee Planet

2010-06-01T11:59:00.000-07:00

Now Taking Orders!

Messages to a Refugee Planet is a collection of Gospel Ministry given to Peggy between 1996-2004. It consists of nine messages, an essay on preaching, and a selection of Peggy's work with scripture translation and paraphrase. The messages cover Genesis to Apocalypse, and represent a generous, free, post-modern exegesis. As quick and uplifting a trip through the Bible as you are ever likely to take!

110 pages,$10 plus $2 postage.
please add $1 per copy for paypal orders.
for e-book options please see unction.org

Only available from the Author at this time

What grace looks like when provoked ...

2010-05-15T20:57:00.000-07:00

By Kody Hersh - an edited version of this review appeared in Friends Journal.

So There I Was...
By Peggy Senger Parsons, self-published, 2009. 267 pages. $20.00/paperback.

The summer of 2006 saw me, an 18-year-old Quaker boy in the honeymoon period of a call to ministry, wandering the west coast of the United States. I started out in Seattle and, with an ultimate destination of San Francisco, somehow developed an itinerary that included Vancouver, Los Angeles, and Iowa. I've never been very good at geography.

About a week into my trip, I ended up at Peggy Senger Parsons' house for a couple days. We'd never met, but I'd been reading her blog, where she was steadily publishing the essays that are collected in her new book, So There I Was.... I wanted to hang out with Peggy because I needed accompaniment as I figured out how to be faithful in life and ministry. It turns out that spiritual accompaniment is a gift Peggy has not just in person, but also as a writer. It is equal parts wisdom, humor, pastoral care, and prophetic challenge.

Peggy describes herself as a "freelance provocateur of grace," and in So There I Was..., she tells stories that illustrate what grace looks like when provoked. She rescues a pig-tailed runaway on a tricycle, avoids calamity by following the instructions of mysterious strangers, and plants small, subversive seeds of feminist thought in the minds of children. Her essays on 21st-century spiritual practice include things like "the Discipline of Spiritual Adventure," and her biblical exegesis is heavy on motorcycle metaphors.

So There I Was... could easily be gimmicky, if it weren't for the authenticity and depth of the author's underlying message. Peggy has been a pastoral counselor for a couple decades. She has done trauma healing work with survivors of genocide. When she writes about healing and grace, truth-telling and mythology, it is with palpable conviction and depth of understanding.

Peggy's colorful, creative facility with language often comes at the expense of grammatical convention. Also, she makes more than one oatmeal joke. A single oatmeal joke, in a single publication, might be a forgivable offense-- but two? Potential readers will need to exercise discretion in this matter.

As a whole, this wide-ranging collection of essays maintains a lively energy while presenting meaningful, substantive content. Friends and others with both a deep yearning to be faithful and an irreverent streak will find So There I Was... a valuable resource, a challenge and a comfort. I believe and hope that, in addition to serving these individuals well, Peggy's book may prove a significant contribution to Quakerism as a whole. We need more thoughtful voices speaking from beyond our binary perceptions of liberal vs. evangelical Quaker thought. We need more passion, and we need more public Friends embodying anachronism so that we may begin to face our preconceptions with fresh eyes.

Peggy, as a passionate and compassionate narrative essayist, does all of these things.

Kody Gabriel Hersh is a member of Miami Monthly Meeting (Southeastern YM), currently living in Philadelphia. He has been active with the FGC Youth Ministries Committee and Friends for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Concerns.

Book Review

2010-01-16T17:09:00.000-08:00

So There I Was ... in Africa

This review was written by Derek Lamson, of West Hills Friends Church in Portland Oregon. He is a good friend of mine and we were in Burundi at the same time for two months in 2007, but I did not solicit this review.

This is the original, a version of this appears in this month's Western Friend. WF is a fine Quaker publication.

Derek goes a bit over the top here. But that's just his charism.

So There I Was… In Africa, by Peggy Senger Parsons, is an introduction to several fascinating subjects. One is Burundi, a tiny overpopulated African appalachia so far off of our maps – literal and otherwise – that it might as well be Oz, for all we know. Peg’s twenty-eight pungent sketches, compiled from ministry trips from 2003 to 2007, are vivid correctives, detailing the strength, beauty, humor, and profound spirituality of this people and land. Like the Burundians, Peg looks squarely at the genocide, the nagging confusing civil wars, ongoing deforestation, poverty. Like the Burundians she also witnesses to the country’s youthful energy, hope, and eagerness to do better. You will like it that she never condescends to them.

David Niyonzima is central to this collection, as he should be. Peg and David partnered in bringing simple effective PTSD therapies to help lay the ghosts of Burundi’s violent recent past. It was why she went in the first place. Do read about David’s pilgrimage in his book, (Unlocking Horns, Forgiveness and Reconciliation in Burundi, Barclay Press). Get more of the man’s walk with God, his work and ministry, his incredible church, and cool family, from Peg’s book.

Finally, these articles are great introductions to Peg herself. I probably should take this opportunity to scotch a little rumor going around: sorry, there is no Peggy Senger Parsons action figure doll. I know, I’ve heard it too, all about the motorcycle accessory, matching leathers, etc., but there’s no truth in it. The simple truth is that the woman is courage in boots, and she is all about encouraging others. The essence of her irresistibly fun energy is that she is grounded in Christ. I believe she is one of the most important Quaker ministers at work today. Read this book and see why.

E-Book Option

2009-12-26T13:25:00.003-08:00

I have done a trial run of sending my final manuscript to someone with a Kindle. The table of Contents loses a bit of formatting, but is otherwise intact. Other readers should work as well.

I am not interested in learning to do encrypting, nor in paying someone to do it for me.

But I am willing to do this:

IF, I know you,
AND you are will affirm your willingness to forsake piracy and the desire to edit.

I will send you a pdf copy of any of my books for Ten dollars USD. Paypal or check will work

Send a message to my personal e-mail or facebook account with the following affirmation. E-books will not be sent as gifts to third parties.

"I, _________ will not copy Peggy's book in any form. I will also not change or edit the text. I will not share the book except to let some one look at my copy on my machine."

This is actually more restrictive than the paper books, which you can share, pass on, re-gift or sell to your local used book store. But these are my conditions for letting the text be out there in such a vulnerable form.

Thanks for understanding.

.

Also Available

2009-12-18T11:59:00.000-08:00

Unction.org

Your one-stop shop for the things that your soul craves.

This is Alivia Biko's first CD.
Mostly original music.

Alivia's voice has been proven to calm colicky babies and folks who are going through withdrawal.

$10 plus $2 shipping.
e-mail for quantity discounts.

So There I Was ... In Africa

2009-12-05T15:11:00.000-08:00

Columns written while on assignment in Central Africa on Love, Freedom and Invincibility.

Volume two of the So There I Was ... series. Many of the stories in this book started as UPI columns, but some were blog posts from the field, and some have been written up just for this book because I have told them so many times that people who know me can refer to them by title. This book chronicles my first two trips to Burundi, Rwanda and the Congo. There is comedy, tragedy and adventure galore!

28 stories, 147 pages. $15 plus $2 postage any where in the US. Shipping to Canada and the UK available, ask for details. Multiple copy discount $12 plus $2 postage per copy.

So There I Was

2009-12-05T14:54:00.000-08:00

Sixty columns about God, freedom, motorcycles, invincibility, love, lies, Quakers and a female preacher

Volume one of a series of newspaper-length columns written between 2006-2008 while Peggy was a weekly columnist on United Press International's Religion and Spirituality page.

60 columns - 271 pages.
Twenty dollars plus 3 for postage anywhere in the US. Shipping to Canada and the UK available. Multiple copy discount $15 each plus $3 postage per copy.