Following on the Way by Karen E. Smith

A powerful and vivid portrayal of how Christian formation takes place within the community of faith; an invaluable resource which is much more than a commentary on Acts 

Following on the Way: The Acts of the Apostles as a Guide to Spiritual Formation
By Karen E. Smith 
Smyth & Helwys
ISBN: 9781641733946
Reviewed by Ian Randall

This a creative commentary on the Acts of the Apostles and is much more than a commentary. What is offered here by Karen Smith is an invitation to a remarkable journey of spiritual formation, with central and vital themes being explored. As well as giving careful attention to the text, Smith draws on and quotes from a wide range of spiritual guides across the ages. These are helpfully set out and highlighted. Each chapter ends with fresh, penetrating questions for personal reflection and/or group discussion.

This is a book which helps us to enter more deeply into the stories in Acts and to explore more fully what it means to be a follower of Jesus. Much that is done today through Christian spiritual guidance is undertaken individually. This is valuable, but it is incomplete. Here we have a powerful and vivid portrayal of how Christian formation takes place within the community of faith. The communities in Acts witnessed to a different way of living from the society around them. We will be challenged to do the same if we work through this outstanding volume.

Among the rich array of themes addressed from Acts are aligning our longings, waiting, listening, praying, life together, healing, the danger of pride, the divided self, serving, discernment, joy, intimacy, humility, the demands of discipleship, and witnessing. Valuable spiritual practices such as Lectio divina are also introduced.

At a time when some churches are looking to a business model and some Christians are giving up on the church, Karen Smith issues a thoughtful and passionate call for us to share together in authentic Christian fellowship. The way in which the book is written means we are always aware that such fellowship is worked out by real people, with real reactions and real temptations. There is no unrealistic idealism in spiritual formation.

I hope that this fresh and new approach to Acts will be widely read. Karen Smith’s precision as a scholar, her knowledge of spiritual traditions, her international background and her wide pastoral experience mean that what she has written can act as an invaluable resource for church leaders, for small group leaders and participants, and for individual Christians in very varied settings. 
 

Ian Randall is a Research Associate of the Cambridge Centre for Christianity Worldwide