Gray Sabbath

Timothy Miller, University of Kansas:
Jesus People USA was decades ahead of its time, embodying a committed Christian faith that was biblical and deeply committed to works of mercy. Today's new monasticism and emerging churches reflect JPUSA's pioneering thrust, and Young shows how it all came about.

David W. Stowe, author of No Sympathy for the Devil: Christian Pop Music and the Transformation of American Evangelicalism:
Shawn Young's book drills deep into a remarkable patch of the Jesus Movement recently mapped by Larry Eskridge. The Jesus People USA commune is sui generis for many reasons, not least for managing to survive in inner-city Chicago since the year George McGovern ran for president. Deeply researched and theoretically sophisticated, this ambitious study will hold interest for students of the Jesus Movement, Christian popular music, American evangelicalism, and intentional communities.

Larry Eskridge, author of God's Forever Family: The Jesus People Movement in America:
Shawn David Young's book Gray Sabbath explores the rocky evolution of Jesus People USA (JPUSA) from fundamentalist Jesus freak commune to artsy urban ministry colony in one of Chicago's poorest neighborhoods. Using JPUSA's influential Cornerstone Music Festival as a lens, Young illumines the community's struggles and--ultimately--changes in the larger evangelical subculture. Gray Sabbath is absolutely essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the cultural and political complexities of contemporary American evangelicalism.

Jay Howard, Butler University:
A compelling story of the evolution of both an intentional Christian commune and of a generation of Christians who have become increasingly disenchanted with the religious right's subservience to the Republican Party. As such, Jesus People USA presents a possible model of what the theological and political future of evangelicalism could become.