In volume 2 of The Candleberry Tales, the intrepid Twelve O'Postles, a group of zany clergy members from South Georgia, are back. This time, they travel to Spain for their annual retreat, where they rent an AI-directed bus for a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. Along the way, they share twelve humorous, satirical, and fanciful tales that delve into many of the issues facing the church in twenty-first-century America. No toe is too important to step upon and no stone too great to overturn. In the end, the Twelve O'Postles find themselves in a surprise destination where a new experience of fellowship awaits them.



As in the first volume of The Candleberry Tales, the storytellers examine the variety of challenges to the practice of Christianity. Themes such as polarization, greed, fear, division, and an out-of-control golf cart with a dog in the driver's seat permeate what are, in reality, modern-day, thought-provoking parables. With humor, silliness, sarcasm, and irony, plus the occasional bittersweet ending, the reader experiences a journey of reflection and examination, led by bantering, yet usually fun-loving, people of the cloth, wandering through Spain on their way to, they hope, Santiago.

Karl D. Lehman, author of The Candleberry Tales (2025) is a graduate of the University of Maryland and Wesley Theological Seminary. For over twenty-five years he served as the CEO of Childkind, a nonprofit agency serving children with medical and developmental disabilities. Lehman received several awards for his advocacy for children with disabilities and their families. He also worked for an ecumenical publisher, for a US presidential campaign, and for banks in Washington, DC. Lehman resides in Georgia with his beloved wife and son.