About Us

Trailer video by the talented young film-maker Sophia Muston
(who also made this longer documentary about Englewood Christian Church)

Launched in 2008, The Englewood Review of Books is a weekly online book review published by Englewood Christian Church on the Near Eastside of Indianapolis. We focus on covering books related to the themes of community, mission, imagination, and reconciliation, and hope to cultivate a vision of Reading for the Common Good, a way of reading that is driven primarily not by one’s personal desires but by an attentiveness to the communities in which we are embedded: church, family, neighborhood, workplace. The books we review are not necessarily books from the “Christian market,” but we hope that they will be vital to fostering Christian faithfulness in our increasingly Post-Christian age.

For almost a decade (from the fall of 2010 to the spring of 2020), The ERB also published a quarterly print magazine.
 

[ Want to see your book covered by the ERB? ]

 

Staff:

C. Christopher Smith, Founding Editor.
In addition to editing the ERB, Chris is the author of numerous books, including the award-winning Slow Church (2014, co-authored with John Pattison) and his most recent, How the Body of Christ Talks: Recovering the Practice of Conversation in the Church (2019). All of his work — reading, writing, speaking — focuses on helping congregations cultivate a deeper life together by reading, thinking, imagining, and most importantly, by talking together. He regularly teaches these interwoven practices in congregational, academic, denominational, and ecumenical settings.
 
Katie Selby, Associate Editor.
Katie is a graduate of Manhattan Christian College (BA, Cross-cultural Ministry) and Emmanuel Christian Seminary at Milligan University (MDiv). Prior to settling in Indianapolis in 2020 with her husband and three kids, Katie served various churches and non-profit organizations in Nebraska, Kansas, India, East Tennessee, and Ethiopia. She loves gardening, mending, traveling, reading, exploring nature, and spending time with her family.
 
Jen Pollock Michel, Contributing Editor
Jen Pollock Michel is the award-winning author of Teach Us to WantKeeping Place, and Surprised by Paradox, and other books. She holds a B.A. in French from Wheaton College and an M.A. in Literature from Northwestern University.  You can follow Jen on Twitter @jenpmichel and also subscribe to her monthly letter at jenpollockmichel.com.
 
Joel Wentz, Contributing Editor and Podcast Engineer.
Joel is currently the Executive Pastor at Missio Dei Church in Portland, Maine. He previously served in college campus ministry with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. In addition to reading and writing, his passions include tabletop gaming, music, and coffee. His favorite book genres are epic fantasy and epic theology. He lives in Portland, Maine with his wife and son, and his personal writing and podcast are at: joelwentz.com
 
John Wilson, Contributing Editor.
Formerly the senior editor of the celebrated, but now sadly defunct magazine, Books & Culture, John has served as contributing editor since the summer of 2018. He and his wife, Wendy, live in Wheaton, Illinois, where they are members of Faith Evangelical Covenant Church.


 
RFTCG
FREE EBOOK!
Reading for the Common Good
From ERB Editor Christopher Smith


"This book will inspire, motivate and challenge anyone who cares a whit about the written word, the world of ideas, the shape of our communities and the life of the church."
-Karen Swallow Prior


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