Overview

The Candleberry Tales is a collection of humorous and often fanciful modern-day parables told by a group of pastors heading to a Georgia mountain retreat center. In the tales readers will meet a mouse who is a theologian, a sect that communicates with outsiders by quoting the King James Bible, a brave young girl who challenges her town's leaders, and other memorable characters. These tales illustrate important themes from the Gospels and will challenge various aspects of the modern practice of Christianity using humor instead of polemical critiques. The men, women, children, and mice in The Candleberry Tales are family members, employees, clergy, churchgoers, and academics--they engage their faith not in isolation but among the people they encounter. Likewise, Gospel parables are never about ""lone rangers."" They are about messy encounters between people. And in the case of The Candleberry Tales, encounters can be very messy, indeed. Whether readers are new to faith, a longtime pilgrim, or have become wholly disengaged, this book can offer a fresh look at the Gospels and make audiences laugh at the same time.

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Reviews

""Lehman, a friend and colleague, has always been a thoughtful lay theologian. In The Candleberry Tales, he provides us with thoughtful, hilarious, and at times frustrating as well as challenging stories of Christian daily-life interactions. Humanizing and humorizing the situations of Christian leaders and congregations, Lehman dares the readers to think about God, sources of authority, congregational structures and community, institutional despair and hope, and the mystery of God in stories. English is not my native language, but I was able to follow the stories--their humor and challenges--and enjoy a time of theological reflection in an inter-cultural mode of thinking. I will certainly include some of these stories in my undergraduate classes as examples of story-telling theological reflections taking our emotions from laughter to intrigue and curiosity."" --Carlos F. Cardoza Orlandi, Frederick E. Roach Chair in World Christianity Studies, Baylor University ""The Candleberry Tales has something of Chaucer's wit and satire, poking fun at the eccentricities of those who presume to represent Christianity in our day. As with Chaucer, Lehman invites us to consider the varieties of religious experience in the church--or, rather, the churches--with their manifest foibles and eccentricities on full display. In these updated tales we meet the twelve 'Early County O'Postles' on the road in a dilapidated old church bus, bound not for glory but for Camp Candleberry. As they share their tales, we discover their pieties and proclivities with their often delightful--if not also absurd--consequences. Along the way Lehman leaves no one unscathed, rendering every member of this ecumenical troupe with a suitable levity. These Tales serve as a reminder--if we needed one--that those who take up the mantle of ministry are no different than those who endure their sermons week by week, all of us--depending on your point of view--as delightful as we are ridiculous. Together, they exemplify the truth that the ongoing existence of the church and its ministers, on fulsome display here, is reason enough to believe in God's patience or humor--and probably both."" --Mark S. Burrows, author of Meister Eckhart's Book of Darkness and Light: Meditations on the Path of the Wayless Way ""Karl Lehman in The Candleberry Tales using his keen humor invites us to look at the Gospel in a fresh way. We are reminded that while our religious experiences may be messy and may look different for each of us, it continues to be an important part of one's life. He also reminds us, as we read the journey of each character, that not only is it okay to have a sense of humor as we travel our own religious journey, a sense of humor may be necessary."" --Juanita Stedman, Executive Director, Together Georgia ""In his book, The Candleberry Tales, Karl Lehman weaves a captivating story about the annual journey of eleven rural pastors traveling on a wobbly school bus through rural Georgia, who each take turns sharing outlandish and highly humorous stories themed by a scriptural reference. I highly recommend that you join them on their journey as they reveal not only their eclectic theological beliefs, but a refreshing critique on the future of the twenty-first-century church."" --Tom Hagood, Pastor, Columbia Presbyterian Church, Decatur, Georgia

Author Information

Karl D. Lehman is a graduate of the University of Maryland and Wesley Theological Seminary. For over twenty-five years he served as the CEO of Childkind, a nonprofit agency serving children with medical and developmental disabilities. Lehman received several awards for his advocacy for children with disabilities and their families. He also worked for an ecumenical publisher, for a US presidential campaign, and for banks in Washington, DC. Lehman resides in Georgia with his beloved wife and son.

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