Have a Little Faith by Kate Bottley

In this wise and evangelistic book Kate Bottley seeks to welcome and gently explain the faith to those who have a desire for the spiritual 

Have a Little Faith - Life Lessons on Love, Death and How Lasagne Always Helps
By Kate Bottley                
Penguin Life 
ISBN 978-0-241-60566-0
Reviewed by Robert Draycott

Kate Bottley is well known from various TV and radio programmes including Songs of Praise, and as such is a media personality as well as a Church of England vicar in Nottinghamshire.

In this book I felt she demonstrated understanding of the Christian faith and of human life, and more importantly could relate one to the other.

One aspect of how this came across was through the vulnerability she described experiencing in various aspects of her life.

This led to what I felt were words of wisdom about faith, life, and being vulnerable. One example: 'for me the Bible isn't a rule book, it's much more important than that.'

Another, 'it's called faith, it's not called certainty'.

This is an evangelistic book aimed at those 'at the frayed edge of faith'. The Church of England has a much more natural way into this group through christenings (yes, I do know), weddings, and funerals, and much of the book reflects on those contacts. My impression is that Baptists now have  a reduced 'penumbra' of those who rarely, if ever, attend, but have the idea that their tenuous church connection is with Baptists. Kate Bottley certainly seeks to welcome and gently explain the faith to 'those who have a desire for the spiritual'. 

After her introduction her book has seven chapters entitled Success, Love, Strength, Conflict, Confidence, Loneliness and Grief. Each chapter concludes with 'Three good things' for example: 1 Take a breath. 2 Make amends. 3 Absolve yourself. As you might guess these came at the end of the chapter on Conflict.

The chapter on Loneliness would be well worth reading in isolation and sheds an oblique light on our ongoing denominational consultation process. The second of her 'Three good things' caught my attention: 'Try a new greeting'. Avoid the predictable - which can be painful. Instead, 'ask what their passions are, which groups they are part of, and what interests them'. 

In recommending this book, the question becomes: to whom? Those in pastoral practice would be one group. It would also serve as a gentle introduction for those who have some sort of interest in what is the best news of all, for all. 
 

Robert Draycott is a retired Baptist minister (various pastorates here and in Brazil), and a former chaplain of Eltham College