The bishop walked to his truck, his step a little less springy than it had been a few minutes before. "Somehow," he muttered, "that didn't go as well as I had hoped." He hit his steering wheel a resounding thump.

"Lord, help me to be patient," he prayed. "I'm not nearly as good at this as I thought I was."

Jim Shepherd is as surprised as anyone by the call to serve as bishop of the newly formed Fairhaven Ward. He's somehow pictured bishops as spiritual giants and inspired administrators, not as ordinary grocers with a pretty wife and three normal but rambunctious kids.

Bishop Shepherd's immediate challenge is to bring together the diverse memberships of two wards that are being combined. In his new flock are Ida Lou Reams, the uncertain but warm-hearted relief Society president; Tashia Jones, an eleven-year-old black girl who comes alone to sacrament meeting; Roscoe Bainbridge, an older man dying of inoperable cancer; Ralph and Linda Jernigan, whose behavior would be humorous if it weren't so bizarre; and an assortment of other unforgettable characters, who all manage to find a place in Bishop Shepherd's heart.

A book as hospitable and inviting as its Southern setting, A Fresh Start in Fairhaven depicts the joys and sorrows of a close-knit ward family blessed to have a humble and caring shepherd to guide them through life's inevitable struggles.