The Reverend Stirling Mc Cutcheon is a Scottish Presbyterian minister who has been called to serve as senior pastor at Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church in Albany, New York.
As one who has placed in juxtaposition Dostoyevsky's notion that there is nothing lovelier than the Savior alongside Grunewald's grotesque portrayal of the Crucified Christ, Mc Cutcheon defines his own identity as a devotee of fractured beauty, an identity that rivets him to the beauty of his parishioners fractured by misfortune and tragedy.
A variety of crosses--icons that come to him in various ways--represents the suffering of his people, each cross possessing its unique story.
In addition to dealing with the age-old question of a loving God that allows inexplicable suffering in his beautiful world, Mc Cutcheon wrestles with the unnerving query of whether God is expendable.
Mc Cutcheon's predecessor apparently hanged himself in front of his congregation during a Good Friday dramatic presentation of Paul Claudel's Death of Judas.
Was it an accident, or did his disillusionment cause him to identify too closely with Judas? In contrast to his predecessor, Mc Cutcheon holds fast to his ordination vows as a shepherd of his flock, even at his own personal expense and that of his family.
Most pastors will not have experienced the dramatic adventures of fictional pastor Stirling Mc Cutcheon.
However, some may relate to the problems of dealing with a former pastor's widow or coping with a divorce during one's ministry.
Still, the events in Mc Cutcheon's ministry are real.
Wilson tells a story about what is always secretly present in every congregation because he has been there Running beneath the story, nonetheless, is that deep current of amazing grace.
Morgan Roberts, Pastor, Shadyside Presbyterian Church, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Born to trouble as surely as eagles fly upwards, human life soars from sweet heights to bitter depths.
This sweep is powerfully presented by Coolidge Wilson when t.
141.00 Lei
