The Relational Soul - by Richard Plass & James Cofield (Paperback)

About the Book

We are made by and for relationship with God and others, even discovering and developing our God-given identity through relational connection. Bringing together the study of psychology and spiritual formation, The Relational Soul highlights how a conscious relationship with the Trinity can transform our self-awareness and our connection with other people.

Book Synopsis

We are made by and for relationship with God and others, even discovering and developing our God-given identity through relational connection. Bringing together the study of psychology and spiritual formation, The Relational Soul highlights how a conscious relationship with the Trinity can transform our self-awareness and our connection with other people.

Review Quotes

"Relational Soul teaches us how to be present to God and present to others--in our marriages, in our homes, in our ministries and in our entire lives. Plass and Cofield blaze a trail, not only for pastors and leaders who are beat-up and burned out, but for all followers of Christ to rediscover their first love. This book is an effective tool to help guide and direct us back to the soul-changing good news found in Jesus Christ. I'm personally thankful for these two gospel wizards, Plass and Cofield, and the gospel magic that they perform. Their fresh insights and encouragements are hope for us all."

--Daniel Montgomery, pastor, Sojourn Community Church

"Relational Soul teaches us how to be present to God and present to others-in our marriages, in our homes, in our ministries and in our entire lives. Plass and Cofield blaze a trail, not only for pastors and leaders who are beat-up and burned out, but for all followers of Christ to rediscover their first love. This book is an effective tool to help guide and direct us back to the soul-changing good news found in Jesus Christ. I'm personally thankful for these two gospel wizards, Plass and Cofield, and the gospel magic that they perform. Their fresh insights and encouragements are hope for us all."

"The Relational Soul provides real insight into why relationships are so essential, and yet often so aching. Coauthors Plass and Cofield provide practical helps for self-discovery and communion with God that will deepen your relationships with God and others. Hope and help for healing is here!"

"The Relational Soul provides real insight into why relationships are so essential, and yet often so aching. Coauthors Plass and Cofield provide practical helps for self-discovery and communion with God that will deepen your relationships with God and others. Hope and help for healing is here!"

--Mindy Caliguire, Willow Creek Association

"Blending biblical and psychological insight, Plass and Cofield offer guidance on building (or rebuilding) our relational capacities, while sharing the good news that we worship an inherently relational God."

"Blending biblical and psychological insight, Plass and Cofield offer guidance on building (or rebuilding) our relational capacities, while sharing the good news that we worship an inherently relational God."

--Christianity Today, September 2014

"I found Jim and Rich's work in The Relational Soul to be both provocative and encouraging. It elicited a deep longing to know myself better and connect in life-giving relationships with others, especially God. Jim and Rich have awakened a desire for this 'narrow way' of profound relational connection. I'm grateful!

"I found Jim and Rich's work in The Relational Soul to be both provocative and encouraging. It elicited a deep longing to know myself better and connect in life-giving relationships with others, especially God. Jim and Rich have awakened a desire for this 'narrow way' of profound relational connection. I'm grateful!

--Dave Rodriguez, senior pastor, Grace Church, Noblesville, Indiana

"In a culture where keystrokes are being confused for relationships, Jim and Rich provide an insightful look at how God created us for real connection that begins with our souls. We have been the beneficiaries of wisdom, spiritual direction and relational clarity from a long friendship with Jim and Rich and are delighted to now have their wisdom captured in this book. If you long to grow in the art of self-care, deepened relationships with others and intimacy with God, this book is for you."

"Jim Cofield and Rich Plass are a gift to the church. These men and the content in this book were God's means to save my life and ministry after severe burnout. Drawing on the riches of God's common grace and special grace, The Relational Soul provides what is lacking in much of modern spiritual formation. Your soul will be better off if you take seriously the content of these pages."

"Jim Cofield and Rich Plass are a gift to the church. These men and the content in this book were God's means to save my life and ministry after severe burnout. Drawing on the riches of God's common grace and special grace, The Relational Soul provides what is lacking in much of modern spiritual formation. Your soul will be better off if you take seriously the content of these pages."

--Harvey Turner, Living Stones Church, and network director of Acts 29 West

"Richard Plass and James Cofield's The Relational Soul is an engaging explication of the fact that as humans we are created in the image of a trinitarian God who exists in a loving, relational community. It is also a needed reminder of how people are both hurt and healed through the relational fabric of existence."

"Richard Plass and James Cofield's The Relational Soul is an engaging explication of the fact that as humans we are created in the image of a trinitarian God who exists in a loving, relational community. It is also a needed reminder of how people are both hurt and healed through the relational fabric of existence."

--Gary W. Moon, executive director of the Dallas Willard Center, Westmont College, and author of Apprenticeship with Jesus

"There are far too many books, both secular and spiritual, for 'coached' living. Finally, Plass and Cofield have penned the needed depth in who and what we are to face ourselves before God-thus allowing God's full, redemptive grace to be what it should in our relationships. The stories are real, the writing terse and piercing. My humble counsel is get it, read it, mark it up, use it and pass it on-if you can let it go-because you will want to refer to this time and time again. It's that good."

"What a joy to read this distillation of the union of two lifetimes of journeying with Christ into greater communion with God and others. Whether we are aware of it or not, we spend the early phase of our adulthood seeking to conform our worlds to the template of our earliest attachments and the self we became in those relationships. Rich and Jim have engagingly described how relational renewal in Christ can change that template, as we learn how to trust him to make us the kind of people who can receive it."

"You are holding in your hands more than a book. Richard Plass and James Cofield have given us a roadmap to help us find the way to each other and to the heart of God. Beautifully written, masterfully developed and applicable for those who want true community but have not tasted it yet, this book helps us find our way to each other in an age of isolation, loneliness and existence in silos where we survive but we do not thrive. Here's to thriving!"

About the Author

James Cofield is codirector of CrossPoint Ministry. He holds a ThM from Dallas Theological Seminary and taught communications at Tennessee Temple University and Greek at Dallas Theological Seminary. Jim served as a church planter and pastor for over fifteen years before joining CrossPoint, where he offers spiritual direction and retreat leadership.

Dr. Richard Plass is president of CrossPoint Ministry in Jeffersonville, Indiana, a ministry designed to cultivate spiritual formation in the lives of leaders. After serving in pastoral ministry for twenty-five years, he obtained a PhD from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in counseling.