USA TODAY OPINION PIECE SPOTLIGHTS CRAIG

April 29, 2008. In a thoughtful and lucid op/ed article titled “Give Them Homes,” about Seattle’s innovative approach to tackling homelessness, Laura Vanderkam cites Craig Rennebohm’s work helping homeless people find their way off the streets and into housing.

PROFILE IN THE CARLETON COLLEGE VOICE

Under the heading “Taking it to the Streets,” Laura Billings Coleman contributes an interview-based profile of Craig and his work for the Voice, the alumni magazine of Carleton College, Spring 2008.

THE JOHN McMULLEN SHOW

On June 20, 2008, Craig appeared on “The John McMullen Show,” broadcast from Palm Springs, Calif., over the stations of KNews Radio. Listen to the show.

On April 30, 2008, Craig appeared on “Sound Focus,” hosted by Dave Beck on KUOW/94.9 FM, a Seattle National Public Radio affiliate. Listen to the show.

Craig gave the keynote address at this year’s conference and policy symposium of the National Health Care for the Homeless Council held in Phoenix in July.

"For decades Rennebohm, a Protestant pastor, has walked the streets of Seattle, making contact with mentally ill homeless people and slowly drawing them into "circles of care" so they can find safe housing, receive medical and psychological help, and rejoin the human community. In this collaboration with Paul, Rennebohm interweaves themes of the Spirit working in desperate lives, the unshakable dignity of human souls and the necessity of companionship for healing as he vividly portrays the lost people he encounters. Always recognizing that medical treatment of mental illness is an essential part of the movement toward spiritual wholeness, Rennebohm is also sensitive to the vulnerability of the mentally ill to disordered religious ideas. The book's title, a response to Jonathan Edwards's famous sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," reflects Rennebohm's approach of gentle compassion toward people others reject. His call to find a better path leads him to Europe to study community-based approaches to treating mental illness and to initiate these in Seattle. As well as a guide to how others can help be healing presences to the mentally ill, this hopeful book is a meditation on faith in a broken world."

– Starred review in Publishers Weekly, March 10, 2008

"Having come from a long career in both religion and the mental health field, I was surprised and delighted to discover a perspective new to me that melds the two in an inspiring and instructive way. Rennebohm makes clear that there is a long history to the beliefs and methods he presents in this important book. ... I recommend this book particularly to professionals in the mental health field, to those who have struggled with mental/emotional problems, and to those who have mentally disturbed family members or friends. Your understanding and patience will be rewarded."

– Excerpt from the review by Dean Watt for The Center for Progressive Christianity, July 2008.

"Craig Rennebohm provides a refreshing look at compassion and caring for Seattle’s outcasts in Souls in the Hands of a Tender God ... Rennebohm, a Seattle native, describes a personal journey from struggling with depression to attending the Chicago Theological Seminary and the Pacific School of Religion, to, finally, his experience dealing with mentally ill homeless people through his Pilgrim Church parish on Capitol Hill. Through it all, he learns that understanding and helping homeless mentally ill people involves reaching out and communicating with them — that institutions are not the solution, as he had been taught. ... Rennebohm writes about the nature of self, faith as an odyssey, and everyone's need for a companion to guide them through life. I'm not convinced faith is a journey, but this work was inspiring nonetheless. "

– Excerpt from “Faith and mental illness on Seattle’s streets,”, by Louisa Gaylord, in Crosscut.com, July 15, 2008.

"I just finished an uncorrected proof of Craig Rennebohm's Souls in the Hand of a Tender God, his profound account of a life of relational mental health ministry to the homeless. I can't remember the last time I've been so moved and inspired. This is the sort of book you want to share. A book that can change lives. Perhaps the world. ... Rennebohm describes the communal process of finding wholeness. Deep listening. Nonjudgmental presence. Shared humanity. And the tender work of nurturing the path of spirit toward wellness."

– From the beginning of "Soul Tender," at Apesma’s Lament, the personal blog of Tim Harris, editor of Real Change, Seattle’s weekly street newspaper, March 5, 2008. Read the entire blog entry, which includes a moving testimony to Craig Rennebohm’s work on the streets.