Booklist

Leaving Ruin by Jeff Berryman
If you've been reading my blog lately, you know that I've been reading this book. It's one of those books that I've had to comment on as I go along. I finally finished it last night. Here are my impressions.
The story revolves around Cyrus Manning, a pastor in West Texas who faces imminent dismissal from the church. I will not give details about his struggles but he does have them. Cyrus is the most human pastor I've ever read in a book. He may be the most human pastor I've ever encountered in my life. It's too bad he exists only on paper. In the real world, pastors don't get dismissed from churches, they don't struggle with foul language or lust, and they certainly don't haunt seedy bars sipping frozen margaritas. Of course, I'm being sarcastic. The struggles of Cyrus Manning in the world of ministry have been my struggles. The simple fact that churches will not allow their ministerial staff to be human, to have flaws, to struggle with sin, and to be open about it...well...ministers are supposed to be Gospel supermen with all the answers all the time. Frankly, it's exhausting and I'm glad to be out of it.
Anyway, I'm not sure how to really "review" this book. It's a great book, no doubt about it. Get a copy and read it for yourself. I don't know how Jeff tapped into how ministers feel while serving in a church that is pretty much hell on earth, but he did and he did it beautifully. Jeff also has a one man play version of this story and that's what I saw first. When it was over, I was convinced that Jeff was a former pastor just telling his story. Not so. He's just taken the shared experience of many ministers and rolled it all up into Cyrus. It seemed so real at times, I could feel the anger rising because I could remember how it felt to be in Cyrus's place.
I could talk for a while about this book but I'll stop here. I'm not articulate enough to really communicate how important I think this story is. If I could, I'd make every person in every church in the USA read it or I would have them book Jeff to perform the play. Maybe they'd learn something.
For more info on Jeff, the book or the play, go here.