![Two HDS students study in the library](/sites/g/files/omnuum5526/files/styles/hwp_21_9__1920x825/public/2026-07/051319_HDS_0756%20banner.jpg?itok=c0KdWbO3) # Harvard Divinity School Summer Reads For the HDS summer reading list, faculty and alumni offer reflections on their recently published books, showcasing the range of scholarly expertise and spiritual insight at the School. July 14, 2026 Harvard Divinity School (HDS) faculty and alumni are advancing the academic study of religion, increasing our understanding of the practice of ministry, and exploring the depths of spiritual life. Through publications spanning diverse academic disciplines, religious traditions, and contexts of faith, HDS community members' insights and wisdom are shaping the future of how religion is conceived and embodied around the world. Several HDS faculty and alumni offered reflections on their recently published books. From recounting personal journeys of faith and scholarship to novel scholarly interventions within the study of Africana religious expression in the Jim Crow south, these books exemplify the range of academic and spiritual inquiry at HDS. ## Hindu and Catholic, Scholar and Priest: A Love Story ![Francis Clooney headshot next to cover of his book](/sites/g/files/omnuum5526/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2026-07/Clooney%20book%20combined%20copy.jpg?itok=NjXtHAkM) [*Hindu and Catholic, Scholar and Priest: A Love Story*](https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/hindu-and-catholic-priest-and-scholar-9780567710253/) by [Francis X. Clooney, S.J.](https://www.hds.harvard.edu/people/francis-x-clooney), Parkman Professor of Divinity, traces Clooney's intellectual and spiritual journey from middle-class American Catholicism to a lifelong study of Hinduism. It explains how he came to fashion comparative theology as a way of learning interreligiously that is intellectual and deeply personal, lived out in the intersections of his roles as Catholic priest, theologian, and scholar of Hinduism. "Writing *Hindu and Catholic, Priest and Scholar: A Love Story* was of course very personal—after all, it was a memoir. No one pushed me to write it, but I felt it was time, over 40 years into university teaching, after the many books I’ve written, and well over 50 years as a Jesuit, to see my life in retrospect, and to explain to readers why I, a Roman Catholic, have kept learning from Hindu traditions all these years. I have been pleased by the results: more than a dozen very positive reviews, several awards, plus interviews and personal contacts with readers near and far. Now that it is available Open Access from Bloomsbury, I am hoping for more readers, particularly in India."—*Francis X. Clooney, S.J.* *Hindu and Catholic, Scholar and Priest* interview in the [*Harvard Divinity Bulletin*](https://bulletin.hds.harvard.edu/a-pedagogy-of-coming-to-see/). ## Embracing Our Time: The Sacrament of Interfaith Friendship ![Lynn Cooper headshot with book cover](/sites/g/files/omnuum5526/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2026-07/Lynn%20Cooper%20book%20combined.jpg?itok=mwsWbvk5) In [*Embracing Our Time: The Sacrament of Interfaith Friendship*](https://www.fortresspress.com/store/product/9781506499253/Embracing-Our-Time), Lynn Cooper, MDiv '07, associate director of university chaplaincy and Catholic chaplain at Tufts University, provides practical resources for interfaith engagement rooted in a Catholic perspective. Drawing on Trinitarian, sacramental, and feminist theologies, Cooper shows that interreligious collaboration is a concrete expression of the interdependence at the heart of Catholic faith. Cooper empowers lay folks to be conscientious interfaith leaders within their communities and congregations, not because they are experts in their tradition, but because the Christian call to friendship across difference is at the heart of the faith. "Writing *Embracing Our Time* was a deeply gratifying experience. It was an opportunity to share stories and make the central interreligious commitments of my tradition more accessible. I was proud to be able to shine light on the practical wisdom that multifaith chaplaincy has to offer, especially in this most divisive moment. My hope is that readers are inspired to bring a deeper awareness to their lives and embrace interfaith work as a spiritual priority."—*Lynn Cooper, MDiv '07* ## Underworld Work: Black Atlantic Religion-Making in Jim Crow New Orleans ![Ahmad Greene-Hayes headshot next to book cover](/sites/g/files/omnuum5526/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2026-07/Ahmad%20Greene%20Hayes%20underworld%20book%20combined%20copy.jpg?itok=UCi8-rH7) In [*Underworld Work: Black Atlantic Religion-Making in Jim Crow New Orleans*](https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/U/bo245100357.html), Associate Professor of African American Religious Studies [Ahmad Greene-Hayes](https://www.hds.harvard.edu/people/ahmad-greene-hayes) follows Zora Neale Hurston on a journey through the rich tapestry of Black religious expression from emancipation through Jim Crow. He looks within and beyond the church to recover the diverse leadership of migrants, healers, dissidents, and queer people who transformed their gathering places into sacred space. Greene-Hayes shows how, while enclosed within an anti-Black world, these outcasts embraced Africana esotericisms—ancestral veneration, faith healing, and more—to conjure a connection to freer worlds past and yet to come. “I hope that community organizers, advocates, and justice seekers will see themselves in the archival ancestors that speak from the pages of *Underworld Work.* Many of the people that I write about were fighting against systems of domination and working hard to establish communities of care, healing, and wholeness at a time when the state actively worked against their thriving through legal and extralegal violence. In their embrace of Africana esoteric rituals, they found ways to navigate terror and negotiate their livelihoods; one such example is Mother Catherine Seals, a Black spiritualist and survivor of intimate partner violence who founded the Temple of the Innocent Blood in New Orleans in 1920 as a haven for women and children navigating heteropatriarchal abuse.”—*Ahmad Greene-Hayes* *Underworld Work* reviewed in the [*Harvard Divinity Bulletin*](https://bulletin.hds.harvard.edu/descending-into-the-underworld/). ## Christianity at the Crossroads: The Global Church from the Print Revolution to the Digital Era ![David Hempton headshot next to book cover](/sites/g/files/omnuum5526/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2026-07/david%20hempton%20book%20combined%20copy.jpg?itok=UsgrdVIm) [*Christianity at the Crossroads: The Global Church from the Print Revolution to the Digital Era*](https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/christianity-at-the-crossroads/85E469C200B4C553A9ADFB1234713E8B) by [David Hempton](https://www.hds.harvard.edu/people/david-n-hempton), Alonzo L. McDonald Family Professor of Evangelical Theological Studies, explains major developments in global Christianity between two communication revolutions: print and the internet. His novel approach allows him to look beyond institutional hierarchies, traverse national and denominational boundaries, and think more deeply about the underlying conditions promoting, or resisting, adaptation and change. It also enables him to explore the crossroads where individuals and ideas encountered different traditions and from which something dynamic emerged. “Based on my 2021 Gifford Lectures in Edinburgh, *Christianity at the Crossroads* is an attempt to write what I have called a wild garden version of the history of Christianity between two communications revolutions half a millennium apart. I wanted to tell unusual, transnational, and trans-denominational stories that pay attention to networks and junction boxes beyond the conventional narratives of religious history. I hope readers will enjoy the stories and also come to appreciate the wider structural forces within which Christianity has developed since the Reformation.”—*David Hempton* *Christianity at the Crossroads* interview in the [*Harvard Divinity Bulletin*](https://bulletin.hds.harvard.edu/exploring-the-wild-gardens-of-religious-history/). ## The Holy Ordinary: A Way to God ![Mark Longhurst headshot next to book cover](/sites/g/files/omnuum5526/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2026-07/mark%20longhurst%20book%20combined%20copy.jpg?itok=ISa0qjS2) [*The Holy Ordinary: A Way to God*](https://www.monkfishpublishing.com/product/the-holy-ordinary/) by Mark Longhurst, MDiv '07, the publications manager at the Center for Action and Contemplation, is a practical, reflective guide that invites readers to awaken to the divine presence hidden within the routines of daily life. Drawing inspiration from mystics, Christian scriptures, and modern prophets, Longhurst demonstrates that experiential mysticism is accessible to everyone. The text balances contemplative practices with active living, addressing topics such as environmental stewardship, mindfulness, and finding joy in simplicity. Ultimately, it serves as an inclusive spiritual roadmap tailored for traditional Christians, former believers, and spiritual searchers alike. "I like to tell people that it took me about ten years to write my book *The Holy Ordinary*, because it is the result of reflection, spiritual quest, and slow writing over the course of years. For me, the book is an exploration and biblical-theological study of how each person can experientially access the Christian mystical tradition in a liberating way and in our everyday lives. Writing the book gave me permission to deepen that quest, and my hope for readers is that it will do the same."—*Mark Longhurst, MDiv '07* ## No One Left Alone: A Story of How Community Helps Us Heal ![Liz Walker headshot next to book cover](/sites/g/files/omnuum5526/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2026-07/Liz%20Walker%20book%20combined%20copy.jpg?itok=8CMDQzI3) [*No One Left Alone: A Story of How Community Helps Us Heal*](https://www.broadleafbooks.com/store/product/9781506496849/No-One-Left-Alone) by Rev. Liz Walker, MDiv ’05, founding director of the Can We Talk Program for Community Healing, traces the journey of one community from tragedy to collective healing. As the first Black woman to anchor the Boston-area evening news, Walker found herself in an industry that defined the neighborhood of Roxbury, Massachusetts, largely by violence. But when she became a pastor there, Walker grew close to households marked not only by trauma but by courage—including the family of Cory Johnson, a young father who was murdered. In the wake of this tragedy, the family reached out for help. As Walker’s congregation invited neighbors to gather, they created soft spaces for others’ grief to land. Out of this ministry grew a grassroots trauma-healing program, one now being replicated across the country. “As a Boston television news reporter, I found myself in an industry that defined the neighborhood of Roxbury largely by violence. But when I was called to be a Presbyterian pastor in that neighborhood, I discovered families marked not only by violence, but by courage in their determination to heal and restore their community in the midst of trauma. I wrote *No One Left Alone* to show how seeds of hope can be planted in the rockiest of soil.”—*Rev. Liz Walker, MDiv '05* *Banner photo by Kristie Welsh.* ## More on HDS Summer Experiences [ A Summer of Service and Scholarship arrow\_circle\_right ](https://www.hds.harvard.edu/news/2025/09/18/summer-service-and-scholarship-harvard-divinity-school-faculty-and-students-share) [ 2023 Summer Reading List arrow\_circle\_right ](https://www.hds.harvard.edu/news/2023/06/21/harvard-divinitys-2023-summer-reading-list) See also:- [ Alumni News and Profiles ](/discover-stories-about/alumni-news-and-profiles) - [ Faculty and Research ](/discover-stories-about/faculty-and-research) - [ Religious Literacy ](/discover-stories-about/religious-literacy) - [ Literature ](/topic-tags/literature) - [ Religious Literacy ](/topic-tags/religious-literacy)