Accidental Saints

Publisher's Summary

What if that person you've been trying to avoid is your best shot at grace today?

And what if that's the point?

In Accidental Saints, New York Times best-selling au­thor Nadia Bolz-Weber invites readers into a surprising encounter with what she calls "a religious but not-so-spiritual life." Tattooed, angry and profane, this former standup comic turned pastor stubbornly, sometimes hilariously, resists the God she feels called to serve. But God keeps showing up in the least likely of people - a church-loving agnostic, a drag queen, a felonious Bishop and a gun-toting member of the NRA.

As she lives and worships alongside these "ac­cidental saints," Nadia is swept into first-hand en­counters with grace - a gift that feels to her less like being wrapped in a warm blanket and more like being hit with a blunt instrument. But by this grace, people are trans­formed in ways they couldn't have been on their own.

In a time when many have rightly become dis­illusioned with Christianity, Accidental Saints dem­onstrates what happens when ordinary people share bread and wine, struggle with scripture together, and tell each other the truth about their real lives. This unforgettable account of their faltering steps toward wholeness will ring true for believer and skeptic alike.

Told in Nadia's trademark confessional style, Accidental Saints is the stunning next work from one of today's most important religious voices.

©2015 Nadia Bolz-Weber (P)2015 Random House Audio

Critic Reviews

"...compulsively readable...deftly explains why God's love should be the heart of every sacred (and secular) experience....[Bolz-Weber's] love for God and for humankind shines through on every page." ( Publishers Weekly)

"I always feel narcissistic when I affirm writers who think like I do. But Nadia says it--and does it--so much better, with much more humor, more living examples, and a conviction that will convict you!" (Fr. Richard Rohr, O.F.M., Center for Action and Contemplation)

Irreverent Humor/ Ordinary Grace

What did you love best about Accidental Saints?

I'm good with a little irreverence. I like authentic confessional story telling. I love people who live Monday to Monday looking for wonder and are excited when they find it.

Which scene was your favorite?

I've listened several times to the episode on speaking to the youth. I like the struggle to find what to say, the doubts about the audience, and the openness to find wisdom in an accidental encounter on a plane.

Any additional comments?

I like the underlying thread throughout Nadia's two books, the struggle with ego when we are strong and our desire to hide when we are weak.
I also like her refusal to find God in only one kind of person. We're all bad and we're all good and God draws no lines across which he will not step.
Well done!

7 of 7 people found this review helpful

Grace beyond Mercy. Get it!

Amazing amazing amazing.
Grace comes to those who don't hide brokenness in the bushes of Eden.
Moving call to owning your whole self.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Touched me deeply

God put this book in my Audible Library in just the moment to grab me and challenge me to deal with issues I have avoided for 60 years.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Almost turned me into a Christian!

I love Nadia's passion for her religion and her congregation. More people like her would make the world a much better place.
I'll be giving copies of this book as Christmas presents.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Caught off guard ,moved to tears in every chapter.

This is my first time listening to one of Pastor Nadia's books. I will be getting her other book next. I love her take on life & faith & Christianity which I desperately needed to hear.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

God knew I needed this......I was set so free

I am a Pastor and so is my husband.....I haven't been into drugs but I was seeking to find myself in Wicca and other things. I have always been looked down upon because of my tattoos, my occasional frustrated swearing episodes and the fact I do not fit what they think a pastor should be....complete with piercings and colored hair.

I have tried to live the outside of what people thought I should look like and sound like only to be miserable and my true self invisible...

I was freed with this book and have a more sincere clarity of the unapologetic person I need to continue to be.

Thank you Nadia. You allows God to use you and you freed metros outside imposed shame.

I'm in tears because I found acceptance in a book.

7 of 9 people found this review helpful

Didn't want to put down and made me think

Nadia's reading of the book is such a pleasant way to experience it. I read it as well, and really appreciated her tone/inflection that gave it even more personality. The message is clear, to not underestimate God's ability to use anyone to futher our relationship/understanding with him. And I really appreicated the perspective, especially since she seems to be a contradiction of being so non-standard from what I think of from a pastoral perspective, but so tied into the liturgy and scriptures.Warning of the language to those who take offense easily, but I think it makes the author come alive and seem that much more real and vulnerable. I appreciate the vulnerability and openess to her feelings, fears and short-comings, which allowed me to relate to her in many ways and that forced me to look at my feelings and thoughts about things/challenge my perspective. Overall, excellent book to challenge understandings I have grown up with or learned and challenge me to look deeper and challenge myself.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

"Jesus is running my (butt) down"

"Confessional Style" is the phrase I should have noticed in the blurb.

This book is too much about the author for me. Everything is about how God affects her, her faith journey, and to some extent people around her, but it's so centered on her. I expected something more outreachy or more universal, I guess. Bolz-Weber sees grace in how a congregant was really moved by finding her church before he died, despite the fact that she avoided him and was a bit of a jerk to him. She meets a outsider, possibly suicidal, kid on a plane on her way to give a speech to some kids, and the speech was really successful because she was channeling the outsider and God is using her, or something.

The author narrates, and while she's charismatic and conversational, her conversational styles include insistent? grating? upspeak? and earnest sympathetic child psychologist. I'm not usually bothered by upspeak, but OMG?

I would recommend Greg Boyle's Tattoos on the Heart several times over before Accidental Saints. Bole manages to be a jerk sometimes but inspirational, and he shows more than tells the effects of grace and love, letting his flock take center stage more than he.

6 of 11 people found this review helpful

Beautiful, Honest and full of Hope!

This is so good. It touched my heart and made me want to believe. This is what good spiritual teaching looks like!

I wish ALL Christians would read this!

Resonated with me and my guilt-driven Christian upbringing! Pastor Nadia “get’s it,” you should too!