547 days to home...

Hello everyone,

It is Carl, your intrepid Lane Library cataloger, with another book and collection to talk about.  This time I read a brand new book from the Wisconsin's Own Library (WOL) collection.  This wonderful collection is located in the South Reading Room of Lane Library and focuses on authors from, and topics about Wisconsin.  There is no other library collection anything like WOL on the planet.  It will probably come as a shock to some that Lane Library doesn't own the WOL collection.  It is here on semi-permanent loan through the General Federation of Women's Clubs of Wisconsin.

The book I read is titled 547 days to home : the resurrection of a pastor and a small town church / by Daniel L. Bohlman.  I highly recommend this book.  It is the heartwarming story of a despondent pastor named Ed who has been successively fired from his previous churches.  He is given one last chance by his district bishop to fill out his last 547 days and then retire with a full church pension.  Grudgingly, Pastor Ed agrees to give it one last try.  The congregation he is sent to serve is on its last legs.  They have only a few members left and are not bringing in enough offerings to sustain their congregation much longer.  The congregants are set in their ways and don't like change.  On top of this, there is a local mega-church that is looking to force all of the other churches in the area to close.  Pastor Ed has a huge task ahead of him, should he choose to accept it.  He is faced with a choice to fill out his days at Guernsey Community Church and retire, or make a real difference in the lives of those around him.  How he accepts this challenge covers a range of emotions and lends life and humor to this heartwarming story.  Can this once star pastor save a dying small-town congregation?  Can the people of this congregation save him?  Read 547 day to home to find out.  I'm very happy I read it, and I suspect you will be too.  If you do read it, let me know what you think of it.

This is Carl Ziebell signing off.