Loneliness, a condition linked to serious mental and physical health risks, remains in the spotlight nearly two years after former U.S. surgeon general Vivek Murthy declared it a public health emergency in May 2023. A recent Gallup poll indicated that one in every five Americans feels lonely, and religion publishers are addressing the crisis with a wave of new books. Each title explores the role spirituality can play in easing isolation and fostering connections.
Isolation is “the great soul wound of our time,” writes Michael Adam Beck, a Methodist pastor based in Ocala, Fla., in his book Never Alone: Sharing the Gift of Community in a Lonely World (Herald, Feb. 18). Examining biblical teachings about peace and wholeness, Beck encourages Christians to view evangelism as “a gift of communal life in Jesus,” not only an effort to get others into heaven, according to the publisher. Acting as a spiritual guide and sharing the gospel, Beck writes, can help heal the wounds and enrich the lives of others who are lonely, isolated, and struggling.
The book centers on “how we can cultivate Christ-centered communities of healing and love,” according to Sara Versluis, acquisitions editor at Herald Press. “This is the work of the church—to share life together in relationship with one another and with God,” Versluis said. “As Michael writes, this communal life can and must spring up beyond the church sanctuary.”
At Concordia, the publishing arm of the Lutheran Church, senior editor Peggy Keuthe is also looking for books that take on “the agony of loneliness,” she said. “Many of our authors are counselors, pastors, and other church workers involved in interpersonal settings—in the field with front-line workers,” Kuethe added. “In conversations with our authors, we hear about the need for materials to help a hurting world, and we’re intentionally addressing this through devotionals, Christian living titles, and Bible studies.”
This month, Concordia is publishing My Peace I Leave You: Christ’s Comfort in the Storms of Life by Kristian Kincaid, in which the pastor of 27 years argues for how “spiritual treasures” are greater than earthly troubles such as fear, doubt, guilt, and loneliness. Each chapter features a contemporary portrait of a specific issue, including greed, despair, and anger, followed by an example of how the same trouble is portrayed in the Bible. Kincaid then demonstrates how Jesus’s “gifts of mercy, grace, and forgiveness” can be found despite every hardship. Among Kindcaid’s writings on loneliness are words of encouragement: “Take heart; you are never alone or abandoned by Christ. His love for you never fades or falters.”
Less screen time, more face-to-face
Decreases in both the quantity and quality of relationships are linked to such cultural shifts as increasing work demands, smaller family units, and fewer people attending church. Looking specifically at how a greater reliance on technology has impacted relationships, The New Loneliness: Nurturing Meaningful Connections When You Feel Isolated by Cindi McMenamin (Harvest, out now) urges readers to prioritize “faces over screens” and avoid shallow online connections that threaten to replace deeper in-person friendships, according to the publisher.
McMenamin, who has nearly 20 backlist women’s books with Harvest House, argues that community and closeness require a strong relationship with God. “When you better understand who you are and why you were created, you will be more equipped to resolve whatever is causing your feelings of loneliness,” she writes in the book.
Clinical psychologist Robert J. Wicks addresses feelings of loneliness with a combination of psychological concepts and spiritual practices in The Art of Kindness: Relating More Deeply with Self, Others, and God (Paulist, Mar. 4). Wicks explores how self-awareness and self-care can help readers both connect with others and find comfort. The book also looks at situations that create a sense of disconnection, according to Paul McMahon, president and publisher at Paulist Press.
“The author stresses that sometimes our actions and the way we relate to the world can lead to a lonely existence,” McMahon said. “It is important to recognize those actions, perceptions, and sentiments—cutting off friends and family, being self-righteous in our dealings with others, knowing how we deal with negativity, or understanding the difference between resignation and acceptance, etc.—that can influence how we feel and relate to others.”
Congregations are designed to provide opportunities for people to gather, but church attendance has been on a downward trajectory for decades. Colorado-based pastor Brad Edwards posits reasons for the decline and attests to the strong interpersonal connections available within religious groups in The Reason for Church: Why the Body of Christ Still Matters in an Age of Anxiety, Division, and Radical Individualism, (Zondervan, Apr.).
Edwards faults such factors as consumerism, culture wars, performative politics, and social media for driving people away from the church. In turn, he argues, levels of anxiety, stress, and loneliness are on the rise, while peoples’ sense of social duty and willingness to belong has declined.
“Our obsessive pursuit of ever-greater freedom has been far more successful than we realize,” Edwards writes. “Behind our loneliness crisis is a kind of cultural amnesia. We’ve achieved enough autonomy in life that we’ve forgotten that all friendships need healthy, reciprocal obligation potent enough to occasionally supersede individual desires.”
Find balm by opening up to others
Two new titles focus specifically on the link between emotional pain and loneliness. In the first, No One Left Alone: A Story of How Community Helps Us Heal (Broadleaf, Apr.), retired Presbyterian minister and former journalist Liz Walker details the aftermath of a tragedy in her neighborhood and what she witnessed as the transformational benefits of story-sharing groups.
Walker, who was the first Black woman to coanchor a Boston area news program and has won two Emmy awards, tells the story of Cory Johnson, a young father who was murdered, and how his family helped spark a trauma-healing ministry. Walker writes that today’s overlapping mental health, addiction, and loneliness crises are creating “an era of mass grief,” and No One Left Alone highlights the healing that can happen when pain is shared.
Toni Collier, founder of a ministry for women called Broken Crayons Still Color, explores feelings of isolation caused by emotional difficulties in Don't Try This Alone: How to Build Deep Community When You Want to Hide from Your Pain (Thomas Nelson, Aug.). The author describes personal experiences with betrayal, heartbreak, and divorce as well as suffering caused by shame. Her goal is to promote how being vulnerable and opening up to others can help heal painful emotional wounds.
Collier splits the book into three sections. The first examines obstacles such as shame that blocks people from healing their pain, the second looks at how to build a community, and the third section focuses on sustaining a community. “The way forward,” Collier writes, “is always with God and his people.”
Looking ahead, publishers say that even more titles centered on the value of community and other balms for loneliness are on the horizon.
“We are living in a time of acute loneliness exacerbated by a multitude of factors, including the coronavirus pandemic, polarization, and the drug overdose epidemic,” Concordia’s Versluis said. “I believe that books and other resources rooted in the life and teachings of Jesus will look to assure readers in coming generations that they are never alone.”
