One of Us

by Diane Glancy

Overview

Many towns have their murderers, but are they also members of a church, a Boy Scout leader, or president of the congregation? Could they be trusted to bring a covered dish faithfully to church suppers? This novel takes the BTK murders in Wichita, Kansas, as inspiration to question issues of evil. How could a man commit murder and yet sit in church all those years until he was caught? What is a Christian? What is Christianity? Can a Christian murderer go to heaven? Mark Cabot and Ralph Gheary, minister and assistant minister of the church to which murderer Thomas Fout belonged, disagree as they face the shame, quandary, and confusion Fout leaves in his wake. How could they not have known? How can they face their congregation, the news reporters, fellow pastors, and the public? How long does it take to recover from the shock? Both men's wives, Grace Cabot and Zelda Gheary, are also left reeling in the upheaval. The questions remain: Can a man be good without God? Can a man be good with God? ""In 2005 the killer of ten persons was arrested in Wichita, Kansas. It had been 25 years since the tenth murder. The killer called himself BTK: Bind, Torture, Kill. He was a well- respected president of his Lutheran congregation, worshiping there every Sunday, a leader in the community. That much is fact. Novelist Diane Glancy explores the complex emotions of how a Christian community deals with and survives age-old issues of good and evil by creating four voices, two pastors and their spouses, as they work through their differing emotions and convictions. This is not a novel for the faint-hearted, but for those who stay the course the rewards in insight and compassion are well worth it."" --Eugene H. Peterson, Professor of Spiritual Theology, Regent College, Vancouver, BC ""One of Us is a book of questions. How is it evil dwells among us? How does a church respond when murder reveals the lurking horrors of resentment, self-righteousness, judgment, and naivete? Through the meditations of church leaders and the murderer himself Diane Glancy uncovers the tension between the incomplete experience of salvation and the wholeness of a promised redemption."" --John Leax, author of Recluse Freedom Diane Glancy was a 2012-14 Visiting Professor at Azusa Pacific University. She now lives in Kansas and Texas. Her latest book, Fort Marion Prisoners and the Trauma of Native Education, and other works can be found online at www.dianeglancy.com and www.dianeglancy.org.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781625647047
Publisher:	Wipf & Stock Publishers
Publication date:	02/09/2015
Pages:	236
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Diane Glancy was a 2012-14 Visiting Professor at Azusa Pacific University. She now lives in Kansas and Texas. Her latest book, Fort Marion Prisoners and the Trauma of Native Education, and other works can be found online at www.dianeglancy.com and www.dianeglancy.org.

Table of Contents

Introduction xi

1 Mark Cabot: Senior Pastor, Christ Church 1

2 Ralph Gheary: Assistant Pastor 4

3 Zelda Gheary: The Interruption 6

4 Ralph Gheary: It Ran Together 8

5 Zelda Gheary: Alone 9

6 Mark Cabot: A Christian Manual of War 11

7 Zelda Gheary: Flannel Graph 13

8 Ralph Gheary: Unbelievable 14

9 Zelda Gheary: The Yellow Christ 15

10 Mark Cabot: A Call 16

11 Ralph Gheary: The Day We Sat Stunned 18

12 Mark Cabot: A Meeting with Thomas Fout 20

13 Zelda Gheary: Flannel Graph Again 24

14 Thomas Fout: Requiem 25

15 Zelda Gheary: The Hearing 26

16 Mark Cabot: The Saiths' Cabin 28

17 Ralph Gheary: Confrontation 34

18 Mark Cabot: The Sermon 35

19 Zelda Gheary: The Drawing 38

20 Mark Cabot: In Those Desperate Days 40

21 Zelda Gheary: Subworld 41

22 Ralph Gheary: Holding Back the Flood 43

23 Zelda Gheary: I Had to Have Something to Do 44

24 The Demons: The Gloat 46

25 Zelda Gheary: Another Hearing 47

26 Ralph Gheary: Tire Tin Man 49

27 Zelda Gheary: History of Art 50

28 Ralph Gheary: So Much for the Poverty in the World 55

29 Zelda Gheary: The Stunned Christ 58

30 Mark Cabot: There Would Be No Escape 61

31 Zelda Gheary: Where Do You Go When the Vultures Fly? 67

32 Mark Cabot: Mephistopheles Himself 72

33 Zelda Gheary. A Prayer for Ruth Fout 76

34 Mark Cabot: Rhododendrons 78

35 Zelda Gheary: The Ceiling 81

36 Mark Cabot: The Ministry 82

37 Ralph Gheary: A Visit with Thomas Fout 85

38 Zelda Gheary: Upper Room 88

39 Grace Cabot: The Pastor's Wife 89

40 Zelda Gheary: Zelda Leads Women's Prayer 90

41 Mark Cabot: A Snake at the Saiths' Cabin 92

42 Ralph Gheary: Anger 97

43 Zelda Gheary: The E-mails 99

44 Ralph Gheary: Another Trip to Jail 101

45 Zelda Gheary: Forth Worth Museum 102

46 Grace Cabot: Church Supper 105

47 Mark Cabol: The Struggle with Sin in

48 Ralph Gheary: Free Will 114

49 Mark Cabot: Several Visits 115

50 Ralph Gheary: The Sentencing 117

51 Mark Cabot: A Prayer to Wash the Church 118

52 Zelda Gheary: Swallow a Camel 120

53 Mark Cabot: District Meeting of Ministers j 121

54 Zelda Gheary: A Recurring Dream 126

55 Grace Cabot: Daughters 127

56 Mark Cabot: The Saiths' 130

57 Ralph Gheary: Get Him off My Mind 132

58 Mark Cabot: The Church Election 134

59 Grace Cabot: A Consideration 136

60 Mark Cabot: Grace Cabot's Breakdown 137

61 Grace Cabot: McPhers on 141

62 Zelda Gheary: Now the Drawings Have Voices 143

63 Mark Cabot: Separation 144

64 Zelda Gheary: Covered Dishes 147

65 Grace Cabot: Tessa 148

66 Mark Cabot: I Woke Trembling One Morning j 151

67 Zelda Gheary: Soot 154

68 Mark Cabot: Mark Retrieves His Wife and Daughter 156

69 Ralph Gheary: His Sermon 158

70 Mark Cabot: Trouble Within 161

71 Ralph Gheary: A Call 163

72 Mark Cabot: Exorcism 164

73 Ralph Gheary: The Unpardonable Sin 167

74 Zelda Gheary: The Installation 170

75 Mark Cabot: There Were Other Murders in Kansas 171

76 Grace Cahot: A Visit with Ruth Fout 176

77 Mark Cabot: The Saiths' Cabin by Themselves 178

78 Zelda Gheary: What a Little Box 181

79 Mark Cabot: four 182

80 Zelda Gheary: The Lock 188

81 Mark Cabot: The Bookshelf 189

82 Ralph Gheary: Bicycle 194

83 Mark Cabot: The Struggle with Sin 195

84 Grace Cabot: A Reminder 197

85 Mark Cabot: A Little Wind Blows in Kansas 198

86 Ralph Gheary: Whats in the Locked Room? 201

87 Zelda Gheary: Aftermath 203

88 Mark Cabot: Night Was the Worst 204

89 Zelda Gheary: Places We Should Not Go 208

90 Ralph Gheary: Calculation 209

91 Mark Cabot: Reconciliation 210

92 Thomas Fout Save Me, O God 215

93 Mark Cabot: Tessa Again 217

94 Zelda Gheary: City of Refuge 219

95 Mark Cabot: But for the Accident 221

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"In 2005 the killer of ten persons was arrested in Wichita, Kansas. It had been 25 years since the tenth murder. The killer called himself BTK: Bind, Torture, Kill. He was a well- respected president of his Lutheran congregation, worshiping there every Sunday, a leader in the community. That much is fact. Novelist Diane Glancy explores the complex emotions of how a Christian community deals with and survives age-old issues of good and evil by creating four voices, two pastors and their spouses, as they work through their differing emotions and convictions. This is not a novel for the faint-hearted, but for those who stay the course the rewards in insight and compassion are well worth it."
—Eugene H. Peterson, Professor of Spiritual Theology, Regent College, Vancouver, BC

"One of Us is a book of questions. How is it evil dwells among us? How does a church respond when murder reveals the lurking horrors of resentment, self-righteousness, judgment, and naivete? Through the meditations of church leaders and the murderer himself Diane Glancy uncovers the tension between the incomplete experience of salvation and the wholeness of a promised redemption."
—John Leax, author of Recluse Freedom

Editorial Reviews

"In 2005 the killer of ten persons was arrested in Wichita, Kansas. It had been 25 years since the tenth murder. The killer called himself BTK: Bind, Torture, Kill. He was a well- respected president of his Lutheran congregation, worshiping there every Sunday, a leader in the community. That much is fact. Novelist Diane Glancy explores the complex emotions of how a Christian community deals with and survives age-old issues of good and evil by creating four voices, two pastors and their spouses, as they work through their differing emotions and convictions. This is not a novel for the faint-hearted, but for those who stay the course the rewards in insight and compassion are well worth it."
—Eugene H. Peterson, Professor of Spiritual Theology, Regent College, Vancouver, BC

"One of Us is a book of questions. How is it evil dwells among us? How does a church respond when murder reveals the lurking horrors of resentment, self-righteousness, judgment, and naivete? Through the meditations of church leaders and the murderer himself Diane Glancy uncovers the tension between the incomplete experience of salvation and the wholeness of a promised redemption."
—John Leax, author of Recluse Freedom

From the Publisher