This Lenten series, based on the Parable of the Prodigal Son, provides an inspiring, intergenerational Lenten experience. Many resources are provided to make an inclusive, energizing experience for presenters and parishioners/visitors. The Children's Mission Moments, Talking Hats, give special attention to children as adults listen in. Chancel dramas give volunteer actors a chance to live out the story concepts as well as share them with others. The messages provide the pastor, deacon or layperson a starting place for customizing a message that fits their audience. My congregation has used one of Pastor Arley Fadness' Lenten series in the past, and I am excited to use this new resource in the future! - Deacon Laura Lee Campbell, Our Saviors Lutheran Church,
Spearfish, SD
Rev. Arley Fadness continues to be a consummate, faithful, creative story teller who brings life to the Scriptures and Lenten season. His dramas hold contemporary and true to life experiences that will invite remembering and open family conversations. They, along with the homilies, bring biblical stories into the light of present-day terms and situations. His wonderful and insightful use of illustrations from Nouwen to Emmylou Harris, Hank Williams, Tolstoy and beyond bring ah-ha faith moments for the reader and listener in the midst of a very human and often divided, fractured world. - Rev. Dr. Charles Berdahl, Phoenix, AZ
Pastor Arley has the greatest gift of mixing humor and fun into worship settings, all the while staying firmly grounded in God's Word. I have served with Arley in a congregation, so I have seen firsthand how his ideas work. They engage people of all ages in a way that everyone "gets it." I highly recommend The Long, Long Road Back to Love for congregations of all sizes! - Pat Eidsness. Church Planter, Rochford, SD
Arley Fadness provides a great resource for Lenten and other worship settings. "A Long, Long Road Back to Love," based on the parable of the Prodigal Son, offers a theme song, a mission minute -- 'Talking Hats,' six chancel dramas, and six biblical messages that promise to inspire worshippers of all ages to return week after week. This series is one of several great published resources, Fadness has written. Some I have used in my parishes over the years, and this will surely be a home run. - Pastor Howard Skulstad. Staff Pastor, Glen Cary Lutheran Church, Ham Lake, MN
Arley Fadness has done it again. This chancel drama series of The Prodigal Son story brings to life the lived-out experience of family, adventure, forgiveness, and grace. Fadness delivers thoughtful exegesis into the text. I loved the Hats ideas with the mission minutes. The chancel dramas provide the worshipper with a down to earth application and the day to day humor that we can all laugh at. The messages weave the time-told story together with contemporary insights into the issues we all face, thus, this is a resource that all generations will enjoy. - Pastor Randy Fett. Senior Pastor, St. Ansgars Lutheran Church, Cannon Falls, MN
