Sacred Stories of Ordinary Families: Living the Faith in Daily Life

Garland, chair for the School of Social Work Department at Baylor University, poses an interesting bevy of questions as she explores the relationship between faith and family. In the course of her research to seek and locate the broadest range of participants, Garland interviewed over 110 families individually and conducted 32 congregational surveys from four regions in the United States. Garland purposefully selected contributors from the Southern Baptist, National Baptist, United Methodist, and Presbyterian denominations in her quest to discover how families interact with one another in times of celebration as well as through stretches of hardship and trial. Garland's interviewees were presented with thoughtful, reflective questions to gauge how faith informs family dynamics: How does the family live out its faith? When was God perceived as close? What Bible story best reflects the family's own experience? Given that Garland revisits each family's stories chapter by chapter, this text might have developed into a reader's nightmare in an attempt to follow each family's journey, yet Garland does an excellent job meshing new topics with ongoing conversations. Interested readers will find her gentle probing both fascinating and insightful as she draws the deeper life lessons from those she interviewed. However, religion professionals, clergy and educators will likely appreciate her findings more than the typical lay reader.