Love Big, Be Well

October 30, 2017
Collier sets up a ripe premise for theological exploration but undermines it with a cast of underdeveloped characters. Weary of wading through stacks of applications for their new pastor, Granby Presbyterian’s search committee sends an open letter to applicants candidly describing their desire for a pastor, rather than “a church manager.” Jonas McAnn, an insurance salesman looking for a change of pace, has an epistolary back-and-forth with the church, and his forthright letters—“I won’t strap on the clerical collar just to play a role”—convince the church he is the right match. After McAnn is hired, his experience writing letters to Granby inspires him to begin directly writing to the congregation. McAnn’s letters, an obvious homage to the apostle Paul’s, cover Advent and Christmastide, anger, conviction, and blessing, among other topics, offering McAnn the occasion to wax theologically about the creeds or Sabbath, or to quote from scripture and from philosophers such as Jurgen Habermas. Although the framing device works, the novel lacks character development; McAnn and the members of his congregation never truly come to life. The novel succeeds as a rumination on commonly covered Christian topics, but readers looking for anything beyond theological speculation will be disappointed.