The Devil in Pew Number Seven

The Devil in Pew Number Seven Review

As a husband, daddy, and pastor what would I do if a powerful man in the community was terrorizing my family? That is the question that I was confronted with as I read through The Devil in Pew Number Seven.

I received this book free from Tyndale Publishers in return for a review. Sometimes that is a happy exchange and other times I plod along through a book to provide a review. This particular experience was painful--though not because of the writing. This books message is painful, yet ends with hope and a grace-soaked called to forgive.

Unfortunately this is a true story written by a woman that "never felt safe as a child". She never felt safe because a man "obsessed with controlling the church and determined to get rid of anyone who stood in his way" terrorized their family for years. The man hated her daddy, the pastor. This was not confined to threatening phone calls, nasty stairs, or rumors being spread (though these were present). We're talking dynamite outside the newborns room, bullets through your daughters room, dynamite during church service, followed by laughing at the destruction.

Some may believe that the story progresses a little slow and that the writing is a little too cutesy at times. As for me, I think it builds tension and stirs the emotions. I found myself picturing the gruesome scenes as the story climaxes. My own heart was breaking as I picture my own family going through such an ordeal. Perhaps, as a pastor I can relate a little deeper. The ending was sweet and affecting. If Rebecca Nichols Alonzo had the goal of telling her story to encourage forgiveness then she succeeds.

After reading this I'm still not sure what I would do if I were in this pastors shoes. Part of me would want to fight back and pursue this devil. Part of me would want to pack my bags and get my family speedily to safety. And part of me would probably do the same thing this pastor did--stay the course and choose the path of love even if it meant death.

The Devil in Pew Number Seven Overview

Rebecca never felt safe as a child. In 1969, her father, Robert Nichols, moved to Sellerstown, North Carolina, to serve as a pastor. There he found a small community eager to welcome him—with one exception. Glaring at him from pew number seven was a man obsessed with controlling the church. Determined to get rid of anyone who stood in his way, he unleashed a plan of terror that was more devastating and violent than the Nichols family could have ever imagined. Refusing to be driven away by acts of intimidation, Rebecca’s father stood his ground until one night when an armed man walked into the family’s kitchen . . . and Rebecca’s life was shattered. If anyone had a reason to harbor hatred and seek personal revenge, it would be Rebecca. Yet The Devil in Pew Number Seven tells a different story. It is the amazing true saga of relentless persecution, one family’s faith and courage in the face of it, and a daughter whose parents taught her the power of forgiveness.

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