Virginia books and authors

By: | Times-Dispatch
Published: July 12, 2009

Spirituality comes in many forms and fills many roles. Three new books look at the topic from various perspectives.

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Religion has played an important role in American society -- from the Mayflower's passengers seeking the freedom to worship as they chose, to the rise of the religious right in the 1970s.

In With God on All Sides: Leadership in a Devout and Diverse America (228 pages, Oxford University Press, $27.95), Douglas A. Hicks offers the nation's leaders -- political, educational and corporate, among others -- guidance in incorporating their faiths and the faiths of others to bring people together to achieve something in common. He recommends an inclusive nation, not a Christian one.

Hicks, a Christian minister, is associate professor of leadership studies in the Jepson School of Leadership and the executive director of the Bonner Center for Civic Engagement at the University of Richmond.

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Virginia is known for its historic churches -- perhaps most notably St. John's Episcopal Church on Richmond's Church Hill, where Patrick Henry gave his famous "give me liberty, or give me death!" speech.

But others have roots and distinctions, too, and one of them is another St. John's Episcopal Church, this one in Hampton.

In How Firm a Foundation: The 400-Year History of Hampton Virginia's St. John's Episcopal Church, the Oldest Anglican Parish in the Americas (186 pages, The Dietz Press, $19.95), Hampton author James Tormey recounts the church's stormy history. Founded in 1610, it has gone through many physical transformations. Among those was its ruin during the War of 1812 when the British sacked Hampton, its restoration, its burning during the Civil War and its subsequent rebuilding.

With more than 50 black-and-white photos and appendices that list the church's ministers, "How Firm a Foundation" gives the full story of a storied church.

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Life in tough times means new challenges, and Edward G. Kardos offers insights in Zen Master Next Door: Parables for Enlightened Everyday Living (235 pages, Humanics Publishing Group, $29.95).

Kardos, who lives in Richmond with his wife and four children, says the inspiration for these short stories comes from his view of spirituality, friendship and our connection to one another and our world.

Kardos is director of development for the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Dentistry. -- Jay Strafford