In her newest book, Dawn, a theologian and educator with Christians Equipped for Ministry in Vancouver, Wash., applies the concepts of her earlier book, Keeping the Sabbath Wholly
, to the ministry of clergy and church leaders. While using the same Sabbath practices as in her first book (resting, ceasing, feasting and embracing the Kingdom), Dawn focuses more on God's call to ministry that reclaims, revitalizes and renews, "and thus reigns through us before others, on behalf of others, sometimes in spite of others, and always with others." The book's mission—to spiritually rejuvenate those who are often burned out from unending service—is essential and long overdue. But despite the promising concept, the blend of the themes of the first book with these new themes is sometimes unfocused and rambling. Dawn quotes other scholars, sometimes at great length, on almost every page, so there's little that's new. Dawn's repeated insistence that she's "such a beginner" with these ideas and practices, her frequent references to her own health problems, added to her overreliance on other scholars' work, leaves the impression that this particular book may not be the best guide to exploring a Sabbath way of living. (Mar.)
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