A Thousand Resurrections

Maria Garriott accounts for her twenty-five years of multiethnic urban ministry in Baltimore--but she also does much more. A Thousand Resurrections reveals a kind of honest faith that is refreshingly witty and delighful. I would highly reccomend this book and can't wait to share it with my mother-in-law who works with urban Chicago ministries.

This is an inspiring, wise, and often humorous account by the wife of a pastor of the founding and growth of an inner-city multi-racial congregation over a 25 year period. The book is a must-read for anyone praying and working to make a difference in a high-poverty neighborhood within urban America. The book is also sure to be a favorite of those who like Jan Karon's Mitford series. Of course, the characters in this book are real not fictional, but they just as endearing as those in the Mitford series and the portrait of the rewards and challenges of ministry, relationships, and family is similar even though inner-city Baltimore is so different than Mitford.

Maria Garriott's A Thousand Resurrections is the story of the Garriott family's ministry work in a poverty-stricken community. Garriott's struggle to balance the interests of her family's Pen Lucy ministry, along with her marriage and children, is evident in this touching and inspiring account. With a realistic, heartfelt, and even humorous style, Garriott draws her readers into the very heart of her trials and triumphs. As a wife, mother, college graduate, and woman who seeks to do God's work through helping those in need, Maria Garriott has written a truly unique and candid retelling of her experiences in urban Baltimore. Maria Garriott never sugarcoats the details of her story. From dealing with a drunken lay leader to protecting her children from the harsh realities of poor urban life, or trying to, Garriott provides a wonderful resource for people considering urban ministry. I wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone curious about the realities of urban life and ministry, or ready for a dose of reality about the life of the urban poor. A Thousand Resurrections is a treasure written by a highly educated woman who has "been there, done that," and has now told all about it. Maria Garriott is an author worth remembering, and her church planting story not to be missed. - Meg D. R. Tepfer, Christian Book Previews.com

Maria presents an honest account of what it's like to minister in an urban setting. This book is an encouragement. It validates what so many of us feel as we try to reach out to our cities. Her story demonstrates God's faithfulness to a church, a neighborhood, a family, an individual. It shows how God uses weak people who are simply available for Him to use. Thanks, Maria, for writing your story. It will help us to pray more intelligently for neighborhoods, because now we know some of the hard truths of urban life. It will help us to pray more intelligently for urban pastors and their families too.

Maria's work is a page-turner, gripping the reader with the honesty in which she relates joys, sorrows, triumphs, downfalls and everything in between. With a sense of both humor and rationality, she shares her story of a life of urban ministry. Although her book presents many harsh realities, she also presents hope. While reading her book I took time to cry, laugh and dream of a brighter future for our cities.