December 2024 | LISLE, IL—Library Journal, the most widely circulated publication for librarians, has named Land of My Sojourn by Mike Cosper among its list of Best Nonfiction of 2024.
Land of My Sojourn: The Landscape of a Faith Lost and Found from InterVarsity Press (IVP) was selected along with 144 titles that made the publication’s Best Books 2024 lists across ten categories.
The Library Journal announcement said, “We celebrate the wondrous activity of reading with this list of 144 titles, books that delighted LJ reviewers, columnists, and editors. These works made us put them down and think―and pick them up again at any free moment. The books on this list drove conversations at work, with friends, with the barista, the dog walker, and the dentist. They are the books that make us happy to be readers.”
Library Journal described Land of My Sojourn this way: “Evangelical pastor Cosper left active ministry after a spiritual reckoning triggered by some of his followers’ support of Donald Trump. Cast adrift, isolated, and brokenhearted, he travels to the Holy Land where he gains a renewed understanding of faith. In this memoir, he considers church disagreements and his own spiritual uncertainty and works his way to a new identity.”
Russell Moore, editor in chief of Christianity Today, said, “At some point in every Christian’s life, God intervenes to show us that what we thought to be our home isn’t―and sometimes, only a lifetime later does one see that this was actually good news. Mike Cosper is one of the sharpest thinkers in the Christian world, and also one of the most creative. This book includes cultural analysis, personal lament, and biblical reflection. If you’ve ever felt the pain of losing home―and if you want to learn how to long for something better―this is the book for you.”
Cosper writes, “In the years since leaving local church ministry, I’ve devoted an enormous amount of time and resources to examining the church’s often troubled witness, its ongoing crisis of leadership, and the epidemic of narcissism, abuse, and cover-up that has continued to emerge year after year. This book is about my journey both before and undergirding that work―the shattering of dreams and the grace that restored a broken faith in the aftermath. It’s a story about grace leading me home when I thought all was lost.
“Taken together, my encounters with Peter, Elijah, and Jesus connected to indelible images from my time in Israel and formed a new spiritual landscape in my mind, one with enough gravity to draw my feet back to solid ground. My hope is that as I tell this story you might find echoes of your own.”
Cosper is the director of podcasting for Christianity Today, where he has hosted The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill and Cultivated. He also served as one of the founding pastors at Sojourn Church in Louisville, Kentucky, from which he launched Sojourn Music, a collective of musicians writing songs for the church. He is the author of several other books, including Recapturing the Wonder and Rhythms of Grace.
For a complete list of IVP book honors visit ivpress.com/award-winners.
Contact: Krista Clayton | kclayton@ivpress.com
