Review: Practicing Hospitality

Review of: Practicing Hospitality by Pat Ennis and Lisa Tatlock

I saw this book sitting out when I visited Mars Hill Albuquerque with my brother. I saw it and thought, “Great, a book on hospitality being promoted by these Acts 29 types.” And following that thought, I immediately formed some ideas about what the book would be like, in it’s theology, it’s practicality, and so on.


Ennis and Tatlock collaborated to provide, in one book, a biblical basis for hospitality, insight into various aspects of hospitality, and some very practical tips such as recipes and ideas for gatherings. It is organized in a topical manner, each chapter addressing “Hospitality and…”. Though not the systematic, expositional treatment of hospitality that I was hoping for when I first saw the book, there is some valuable and helpful content to be had.


This book addresses the Biblical mandate to be hospitable, and the manner in which our hospitality reflects the character of God. Chapter 2, Hospitality and Strangers, describes how our love for strangers displays the love of God in a very practical and tangible way. We are to pursue it as if we are chasing it down, not just tack it on to our lives. Ennis and Tatlock provide some much needed guidance for those who desire to be hospitable, in reminding readers not to neglect family in the midst of company, and including singles, widows, and the needy who are easily over looked. The book is full of examples, and even recipes to use, but these are paired with an emphasis on the attitudes and motives of biblical hospitality. It is both a “how to” and “how come” book. Scripture is cited through out the book, build up and fleshing out the material. This book is also the Type A personality’s dream in that it includes charts, tables, and the instructions for how to make a personal hospitality notebook. Each chapter concludes with questions to help the reader apply the information in the chapter.


There are two critiques of the book that I would offer. The first is that this book, which contains Biblical substance and wisdom, is not organized in a way that best displays what it has to offer. For example, the first chapter contains a “word collage” that also happens to be an acrostic, which also happens to contain another acrostic within the first acrostic. Triple woman cliché. For this reader, that’s the equivalent of having a bunch of flower shaped confetti come showering out of the pages. It might look nice, but it’s messy, and distracting. Second, while there is an emphasis explicitly placed on defining hospitality outside of dinner parties and good table decorations, this standard still lingers in the background. The examples provided, and even some of the content, hold up the slightly formal, aesthetic, image of hospitality. Being the wife of a grad school student, I would have appreciated some more “war time” hospitality examples.


I would recommend this book for someone who understands biblical hospitality and wants to read a book that will reinforce that idea and provoke thought as to how to make that happen.