In The House Of The Lord (texas Tradition Series) [Paperback]

Robert Flynns second novel tracks a day in the life of Pat Shahan, minister of a Protestant church in a large city. Young, devout, and honest, Shahan seeks revelation?and is offered a revolving neon cross for the church steeple; he seeks vision?and gets a pep talk from the church treasurer. Striving to serve the Lord, he is dragged into a ?Great Crusade which is nothing more than a publicity stunt that ends disastrously. Shahans day sees him ministering to the sick and dying, pacifying angry parishioners and counseling troubled ones, seeking inspiration for a sermon, trying to calm his mother by phone, and losing patience with his family. Pat Shahan is a thoroughly human minister.

Throughout his day?and by extension his ministry?he struggles to balance his faith in Christianity with his doubts about himself and his church. His story gives a pulpit-eye view of organized religion, a view that is occasionally humorous, sometimes affectionate, always open-minded, and ultimately affirmative. ?There is darkness in the world, says Shahan, ?but there is also light.