Wages in the Kingdom: 3 things the cover design says about my book
A lot has happened since I last posted about my upcoming book, Wages in the Kingdom. In March I blogged about the contents of my author questionnaire. In July I blogged about the importance of a foreword. Now it is time to describe why I love the cover of my book. The full cover reveal will happen in a few days, but before I post the cover here, I thought it would be interesting to provide a glimpse and to talk about the cover elements that highlight what is found in the book.
What is the book about?
Wages in the Kingdom explores New Testament and early church texts, arguing that Christian pastors and leaders worked with their hands (i.e., as artisans, trades people, etc.) as a means of self-support, rather than relying on the generosity of their church communities. The book concludes with practical suggestions to help pastors and churches shift toward a shared approach to leadership through embracing bi-, multi-, and co-vocational ministry.
Describing the Cover
The Wages in the Kingdom cover brings together three powerful narratives from my book:
First, the gold and copper colours give the appearance of coins and money. My books highlights the importance of trades work and labour as a means of support. Jesus and his disciples, including the Apostle Paul, would have worked for money and used it to provide for their basic necessities, including food and shelter.
Second, the book cover picture appearing behind the gold and copper quadrilateral shapes depicts the disciples fishing. I have a whole section in my first chapter where I show how important fishing would have been to the disciples and their families. I also argue that the disciples continued to fish as a way of making a living, even after they became disciples of Jesus. The centre of the gold and copper prongs point to the fish and the fishermen, showing that their trades work was central to their kingdom ministry.
Third, the gold and copper spokes give the appearance of a large tent with the scene unfolding below. This points to the work of the Apostle Paul, who is another main character in my book. I devote three chapters to his life, his ministry context, and his writings. By working as a tent maker, Paul was following in the footsteps of his Lord, Jesus Christ, and the other disciples, who all maintained their work while preaching and teaching the Good News. The tent design overlaying the fishing scene is a nod to tent making, a term that has become synonymous with bi-vocational ministry. It is a reminder that we are all called to work co-, bi-, and multi-vocationally and as a team as part of the Christian church.
How much input did I have in the cover design process?
For Wages in the Kingdom, I provided ideas and sample book covers that I liked and IVP‘s designer created two images. I was invited to choose one of the two. The current cover happens to be an upgrade (which I’m thrilled about!) from one of the two designs. It turned out that the original artwork design under the gold and copper shapes was unavailable. As can be seen, the new one has mainly blue undertones while the original one was more red. The blue is far more visually stunning.
