Name
The Devil in Pew Number 7 Rebecca Nichols Alonzo

Prayer Category
Forgiveness and Reconciliation

Bob Demoss is listed as the Contributor on this book, mentioned after the Author. This is a Tyndale House Publishers book.Copywright 2010,2012.

Review

I have to admit that the title of this book intrigued me. Then the story drew me in. My 20 years as a Pastor’s wife and the “understanding” of what the family in this book went through seemed familiar to me. I was wrong. Well, actually, not entirely wrong, but not entirely right either. “The Devil in Pew Number Seven” is an account of the unimaginable events that happened to the Nichols family while serving in the rural community of Sellerstown, North Carolina in the 1970’s. To quote from the Book Publishers website,” She (Becky Nichols Alonzo) never felt safe as a child!”
Chapter 1 is entitled, “Walking, Crawling, Dead or Alive” and after reading this first chapter I was hooked. This chapter describes the first of many freightening events that occures while the Nichols family live in rural Sellerstown, NC. Then, the author (Rebecca Nichols Alonzo) and contributor (Bob Demoss) begin to tell the story in Chapter 2, by going back to the beginning and the meeting and courtship of her parents and then bring it to the current year of 1969 and the call of Robert Nichols to pastor the Free Welcome Holiness Church.Then continues the story and takes us to the tragic events and then to the courtroom. Rebecca Nichols Alonzo explains on the “Authors Note” page why she wrote this book. She explained “you and I have no choice but to forgive others…even if they are the monsters next door”!

To be honest, I am still processing all the insights and realizations and quite a few misconceptions I had before reading this book. I read the book in 3 hours and could not put it down until I was finished. There is alot that this book has to offer. For those in ministry: It helps us to appreciate that the things that we had to endure in the ministry was bad, but not as bad as what the Nichols family endured. It brings up the issue of forgiveness and why it is important to forgive those that have wronged us. It also talks about the need for reconciliation and the healing that can be done afterwards. For those lay members: It allows the lay member to see inside the minds and hearts of this ministerial family. It helps the lay member to identify with the church members in this church and the helplessness they felt at the hands of an outsider. To me personally, it helped me appreciate where I have been, the “monsters” that treated me badly over the years, and why I need to forgive them so that my healing can begin. One misconception that I had concerned the lack of action by lay members in the church. However, the author showed me that the fear that the church members must have felt during this 10 years ordeal had effected them too. I whole-heartedly recommend this book. It should be a ministry standard, read by everyone called to ministry! Vblessed
Added by vblessed on August 7, 2012