RESTORING FAITH: America's Religious Leaders Answer Terror with Hope

This compilation of sermons and talks by religious leaders around the country following the events of September 11 provides an extraordinary look at a less visible aftermath of the tragedy. Major faiths are represented here, from a congregational church in Connecticut to a mosque in Harlem (Church, who edited this collection, is a minister at New York City's All Souls Unitarian Church); the connection between the various sermons is heartening. Predictably, the most poignant words are from people who had some intimate connection to the events—those living in Manhattan or Washington, D.C., those who knew a passenger, etc. Their responses, too, are not surprising: disbelief, rage and then attempts to find an explanation. The immediacy (many of these comments were recorded within days and weeks of September 11) makes them even more moving. The spontaneity, the laughter and clapping of the congregations, the pauses and tears are genuine and strangely comforting. Simultaneous release with the Walker paperback. (Dec. 2001)