Love Let Go: Radical Generosity for the Real World

In 2014, LaSalle Street Church on the near north side of Chicago received money from the sale of investment property and, at the time, many asked “What did the church do with the $1.6 million?” Truax and Campbell, senior pastor at LaSalle and member of the church’s leadership council, respectively, answer that question as a jumping-off point, but also address much more in this well-wrought book. At the time of the sale, LaSalle had budgetary needs of its own; however, the church also has a reputation for generosity amid the scarcity of its poor neighborhood. “Generosity frees us to be our truest selves,” the authors write. First, not without dissension, the church gave $500 to each member “to do good in the world”; the spending included paying for an African woman’s surgery and simply passing out $20 bills. 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. (Mar.)