Feuerherd, Peter

PERSONAL:

Male.

ADDRESSES:

Home—NY.

CAREER:

Freelance writer; Catholic Press, New York, NY, communications staff; American Bible Society, New York, NY, editor.

WRITINGS:

Holy Land USA: A Catholic Ride through America's Evangelical Landscape, Crossroad (New York, NY), 2006.

Contributor to periodicals, including Company.

SIDELIGHTS:

Peter Feuerherd, a liberal journalist who worked for many years for the the Catholic Press before becoming an editor for the American Bible Society, stepped into a position that gave him a deeper understanding of evangelicalism. The main title of his Holy Land USA: A Catholic Ride through America's Evangelical Landscape is a reference to a Florida amusement park called the Holy Land Experience, where religion is portrayed in scenes set against a backdrop of ancient Jerusalem and which offers tours of biblical representations.

Feuerherd writes of megachurches like Willow Creek in suburban Chicago and of his growing understanding of, and appreciation for, the evangelical commitment to faith. His own daughter joined an evangelical church, which he writes has given him a new perspective. He notes that Catholics and evangelicals are coming closer together on many of the issues that have historically divided them. He points out that while the Catholic religion focuses on mystery and tradition, evangelical churches appeal to the present, particularly in their approach to ministering to young people. Music and emotional sermons inspire church members who are looking for comfort from their everyday problems, and half a million Latinos leave the Catholic Church in favor of evangelical/Pentecostal denominations each year.

A Publishers Weekly contributor called Feuerherd's writing "light and often humorous, which helps defuse many of the Catholic/evangelical tensions he encounters." National Catholic Reporter reviewer Arlene Montevecchio described the volume as being "a worthwhile excursion and worthwhile read."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Library Journal, October 1, 2006, George Westerlund, review of Holy Land USA: A Catholic Ride through America's Evangelical Landscape, p. 77.

National Catholic Reporter, February 9, 2007, Arlene Montevecchio, review of Holy Land USA, p. 7.

Publishers Weekly, August 14, 2006, review of Holy Land USA, p. 202.