Displays the amazing power of generosity to transform people and communities When LaSalle Street Church in Chicago received an unexpected windfall, its leaders made the wild, counterintuitive decision
Displays the amazing power of generosity to transform people and communities
When LaSalle Street Church in Chicago received an unexpected windfall, its leaders made the wild, counterintuitive decision to give it away. Each church member received a check for $500 with the instruction to go out and do good in God's world.
In Love Let Go readers witness how a church community was transformed by the startling truth that money can buy happiness—when we give it away. Laura Sumner Truax and Amalya Campbell show how this radical generosity shaped their community, exploring the reverberating impact of each act of generosity, and ultimately revealing how LaSalle's faith-filled risk snowballed into a movement beyond itself.
Throughout the book Truax and Campbell probe the connection of human flourishing to generosity and offer tools to help us reclaim our giver identities and live generously—to love and let go.
Brian D. McLaren
—author of The Great Spiritual Migration
"Our culture brainwashes us to think that greed is the motivation that drives us, but this book offers a powerful alternative message—the transformative power of generosity. This message could literally change the world, beginning with your life and mine."
Soong-Chan Rah
—author of The Next Evangelicalism and Prophetic Lament
"More and more churches understand that in order to effectively preach the gospel, we must also live the gospel. In contrast to the societal value of gaining and collecting power, privilege, and wealth, this book documents the story of a church that opted to give away their possessions. Their example reminds us that the New Testament church is alive and well and that there could be the possibility of a movement of generous churches."
Publishers Weekly
"Along with the modern stories of LaSalle, the authors effectively interlace ancient stories from the Bible and advice from outside resources, financial and religious. They write as much about the grinding, rewarding process of discernment—praying, meeting, listening inside and out—as about dispersal of funds. Part story of LaSalle's decision of how to handle their investment, part testament to the powers of generosity, this book will be of interest to anyone interested in community building or philanthropy."
Chicago Tribune
"Inserts itself into our culture of consumption as a no-holds-barred call for grace-filled giving. . . . At once a meditation on generosity and a spur to action, it stands a mighty chance of shaking loose your acquisitive grip and beckoning your most generous self. . . . A soul stirring work that squarely illuminates the compound interest of giving. When love is let go, the world can't help but open its heart."
Martin E. Marty on Sightings
"Cheering and practical. . . . I could profane the plot by writing a true but merely practical summary: 'radical generosity works.' But Truax and Campbell sacralize the story by rooting it in the trust and faith they demonstrate, as did their members."
Christian Market
"The story of the La Salle Street Church holds to potential to become a modern-era In His Steps."
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Laura Sumner Truax is senior pastor at LaSalle Street Church in downtown Chicago, a teaching pastor at the University of Chicago, and the author of Undone: When Coming Apart Puts You Back Together. She frequently speaks around the country on the topics of faith and justice—and generosity.
Amalya Campbell is a marketing consultant in Wilmette, Illinois, with an MBA from Harvard Business School. She has led stewardship classes at LaSalle Street Church for more than a dozen years.
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