Ian Morgan Cron

Dear Readers,

When I was first presented with Chasing Francis by Ian Morgan Cron I was a bit leery of it, as a fiction reader/buyer I worry about a book that has an agenda.  This book obviously has one and it is not hard to find.  Ian is an “emergent church” guy and that comes through very clearly.  I like some of what he had to say and some of it got a bit old.  Intermixed with his “preaching” there is a really good story, one I appreciated and found myself wishing for more.

I got caught up in Chase’s story and the people he meets, living and dead.  I really would have like that to be the focus of the book instead of what Ian wanted to teach us. That is the great thing about fiction stories, we can learn wonderful things while enjoying a great tale.  I just ask not to be hit over the head with the writer’s opinion and let me make my own decisions.

Chase has a crisis of faith in front of his congregation.  It is not pretty and it is not something that the elders of the church tolerate well.  They ask him to take a leave of absence and to see if he can find his faith back.  Chase is not sure that will happen, but he decides to head off to Italy.  He meets up with the black sheep of the family, ‘Uncle’ Kenny.  He left the Baptist church to become Catholic and not only that, but he became a Franciscan priest.

Kenny takes Chase on a pilgrimage following Saint Francis around.  Chase has a chance to experience faith in a totally different way than what he is used to.  This faith seems to have feet and hands. At one point he is working in a soup kitchen in the grotto in Rome and the people he meets he realizes he has not nor would he ever meet while working at his church.  He knows that something has been missing and maybe now he can change enough to make a difference.

I want to repeat, I really like Chase’s story.   He seems like a very likeable guy, a very normal guy, who experiences something that a lot of us to struggle with.  He needs to step away from his church and his life for a while to find out what he really believes and who he believes in.  Saint Francis is able to point him back in the right direction and he comes back with fresh ideas and ready to go to work again and yes our faith is about working.  Belief is what saves us, working is what we do.

The main problem I had with this book is that Ian seems to see it as a chance to give us all a sermon or two or three throughout the book on what he believes church should be.  He makes sure that he represents those who don’t think that same way as him as grumpy and angry.  I have a problem with that and that is where I lose a bit of interests in the book.  Ian needs to decide if he wants to write a fiction book or a non-fiction book, this mixed together just doesn’t flow.

Happy Reading.