The Search Committee, by Tim Owens

Yet another great Christian novel I've read on the Kindle.  This one caught my eye at the Louisville LifeWay store, and I couldn't wait to download it once I finished the book I had been reading then.  I don't read very quickly, but this one I read in about three days.

The topic of this novel is obvious from the title, but what I didn't expect was that it concerned a church in the PC(USA) denomination, which we were a part of for almost seven years in LaGrange.  A lot of the commentary and storyline seemed really familiar to me because of that, and that gave me even more kinship with the story.

The story itself reminded me somewhat of my beloved Mitford or Harmony series, with a very divergent cast of characters interacting with a church as the center of the relationships.  I don't know if Tim Owens plans for this to be a one-off book or the first in a series--it's his first published novel--but I'd buy part two if it ever came out.

Without giving anything away about the outcome of the plot, I'll just say that this book struck a real chord with me because of the real-life struggles the main characters went through:  death, reputation, adultery, childhood baggage, illness, hypocrisy and the true heart of Christ-like living were all dealt with by one character or another.  Their common cord was their working on the search committee for the local Presbyterian church, and their going out on weekend jaunts to try to find the next-best-thing as a minister.  This book was ultimately inspiring to me, in a quiet way.  I loved it and would recommend it to any Christian reader.