Australian Christian Book of the Year 2013 shortlist announced

The story of a mother badly burned while protecting her children in the Ash Wednesday fires and a book challenging charities to hold fast to their original purpose are among titles shortlisted for the Australian Christian Book of the Year

The shortlist was announced tonight by SPCKA on the Australian Christian Literature Awards Facebook page, while the winners will be presented St Alfred’s Anglican Church, Blackburn North, Victoria, on August 8, 7.30pm.

The shortlist features:
  • A Faith to Live By - Roland Ashby | Mosaic Books 
  • Driven by Purpose: Charities that make the difference - Stephen Judd, Anne Robinson, Felicity Errington | HammondPress 
  • Fearfully and Wonderfully Made: Ethics and the beginning of human life - Dr Megan Best | Matthias Media 
  • Forged with Flames: A true story of courage and survival - Ann Fogarty and Anne Crawford | Wild Dingo Press 
  • Paul: A Pastor's Heart in Second Corinthians - Paul Barnett | Aquila Press 
  • Preach like a Train Driver - Tim Hawkins | Hawkins Ministry Resources 
  • Preachers, Prophets and Heretics: Anglican women's ministry - Elaine Lindsay and Janet Scarfe (eds.) | Newsouth Publishing 
Forged with Flames is bushfire survivor Ann Fogarty's stirring story of how she held on to life and faith despite horrific burns to much of her body in Victoria's Ash Wednesday fires.

And while the first chapter, which features her retelling of the night the fire caught her, the book is bigger and broader, and revealse a life like any other but touched with unusual suffering and amazing courage. See our previous review.

Driven by Purpose (click on cover above to purchase) is a call-out to Australian charities not to just become de facto arms of government funding, but to retain their identity, uniqueness and purpose in pursuing their mission. Written by a trio of leading Christian thinkers and practitioners, it is a timelt message to charities and organisations around the world.

Dr Megan Best is palliative care doctor and ethicist who in this book, Fearfully and Wonderfully Made, addresses some of the deep a compelling questions of our age surrounding the beginnings of human life.

A Faith To Live By (click cover above to purchase) is a compilation of interviews with 25 of the world's leading Christian authors, scholars and spiritual teachers, all in conversation with award-winning journalist Roland Ashby

Tim Hawkins (Preach like a Train Driver) is a prolific and popular Christian writer committed to equipping emerging generations of Christian leaders while Paul Barnett (Paul - A Pastor's Heart) is one of Australia's most enduring and respected Bible scholars and writers.

The shortlist is completed by Preachers, Prophets and Heretics edited by Elaine Lindsay and Janet Scarfe, addressing the sometimes controversial but rich and diverse topic of Anglican women's ministry.

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