Rev. Lovett Weems, Jr., author and distinguished professor of church leadership at Wesley Theological Seminary, wrote:
This is a fine book by an incisive thinker and skilled practitioner. Every page is a tutorial on Wesleyan theology. West captures the power of the Eucharist for Wesleyans, and its implications for the most contemporary challenges the church and world face today.
Rev. Steve Harper, author and former seminary professor at Asbury Seminary and blogger at Oboedire, wrote:
For some time, I have believed that the increase of divisiveness in The United Methodist Church (and the larger Christian community) is, in part, due to a decrease in our theology and practice of Holy Comnunion. When we stop coming to the Table together, we open the door to separatism that can too easily turn toxic.
And worse, when some divide so severely that they are willing to speak and write about excluding people from the Table, they have reversed the intention of Jesus for the holy meal to bring us together, counterfitting Communion, making it exclusionary, and using it to legitimize and widen the divide.
Conversely, I also believe that the renewal of the United Methodist Church (and the larger Christian community) must include a recovered theology of the Lord's Supper and a revived partaking of it. I believe the new awakening is eucharistic.
What I have only discovered recently is that Steve West not only believes this, he has written a book about it--a book which weaves together multiple threads of sacramental theology to offer us a eucharistic coat of many colors, complete with a winsome invitation to put it on. I have not seen a book that combines the various elements of sacramental theology the way his does.
Rooted in the Bible and in the Wesleys' words and hymns, West offers insights as ancient as Macarius the Egyptian and modern as John Pavlovitz. Along the way, his own pastoral experience with the sacrament puts flesh on the conceptual bones, sometimes in surprising and moving ways--the first story in the book serving that purpose in spades.
West's title, 'Something Happens Here' sums it up. And after you read his book, you will find yourself saying, "It is something that needs to happen again, here and now." And more, you will find yourself drawn into a mission to make it so.
United Methodist Insight interviewed the author and published a review of the book by Cynthia Astle. You can find it here.
Bishop Will Willimon, retired United Methodist bishop, wrote additional words that were not included on the endorsement on the back cover. He wrote:
"West skillfully interweaves history, Wesleyan theology, and hymnody into a warm, pastoral, accessible presentation that calls us Methodists to focus on the heart of who we are. He makes me proud to be a Wesleyan Christian by leading us to the Lord's Table and showing how this sacrament has important things to say to the church in the present age."
