Somebody's going to have to help me out on this, but I think that the author of a small book I used to own, called Danger, Saints at Work, was Tom Rees. While we're sorting the bibliographic details out, I'm glad to acknowledge its robust contribution to my Christian growth. It put its finger on some of the failings that beset Evangelicals, and did it with grace and a lot of humour. My copy has long since disappeared, but I remember it with affection. I hope I learned from it as its author intended.
Its comments on evangelical jargon, in particular, were joyfully received by those of us youngsters who had for years collected gems from the pulpit like: 'We pray for those who are sick of this church' (I think Mr Rees's version was 'We pray for those who are laid aside on beds of sickness' - equally good value for whiling away a slow service, if you were not very old but were old enough to spot a howler when you saw one). My church was particularly good at this kind of thing. Who could ever forget the report of the youth group singing hymns at the local hospital - where 'Every bed was almost full'? Or the moving account of the crematorium gardens ('I have rarely seen gardens so beautifully laid out' - well, you have to have a northern England upbringing to get the full flavour of it ...)?
Joy or sorrow?
Death was always spoken of discreetly, sometimes leading to real confusion: 'We've been praying for Mrs. X for some time: she has been very gravely ill in hospital. Yesterday, she went home' - leaving the congregation not altogether sure whether joy or sorrow was appropriate.
