Church Publishing Incorporated

In these inspiring monologues, women of the Bible speak in their own voices: the Virgin Mary, Miriam, Mary Magdalene, Elizabeth, Lydia, and others.
There are many powerful women in the Bible, but their descriptions are almost always tantalizingly brief. If they had the chance to tell their own stories in their own voices, what would they have said? Basing her interpretation of these women on extensive research, Katerina Whitley puts herself in their shoes, giving today’s listeners a fuller understanding of each of their stories.

The women explored, some well-known and others less familiar, include the Virgin Mary, Miriam, Mary Magdalene, Elizabeth, the Syrophoenician or Canaanite woman, Lydia, Ruth, Martha, Gomer, Michal, Tamar, and Peter’s wife. Each woman speaks for herself in these monologues, in a way that brings the biblical issues and questions into contemporary focus. An introduction to each woman and study questions at the end of each piece make this an ideal book for individuals and groups.

Brief extracts from the Underhill book, Fruits of the Spirit, first published in 1942, the year after Underhill's death. Each of these brief pieces is actually a meditation on some aspect of the spiritual life, and makes excellent devotional reading.

How to build resilience in local communities and evangelize the millennial generation.

Resurrection Matters is a fruitful study and action guide for any church institution that owns property and in which groups gather together to grow as disciples of Jesus Christ. It helps groups connect their faith and the assets that they steward for God’s mission, recognizing these assets as gifts for ministry with their wider community. It encourages theological reflection and practical action for renewal for the church, greater biodiversity for the planet, and relief for the poor.

As the Church considers prayer book revisions, discover new ways of bringing prayer to life.

In many liturgical churches, it seems that the prayer book confines—more than frees—the transformational potential of worship. Drawing on his experience at St. Gregory of Nyssa, Paul Fromberg encourages us to question the assumption that there is a “right way” and a “wrong way” of using prayer books. Instead, he encourages readers to pay attention to doing worship well and engaging worshippers’ desire to be transformed.

This book is for those who plan and lead worship, as well as those who are curious about the ways that worship is transformative in people’s experience. Additionally, fans of St. Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church will discover more about the ways in which this ground-breaking congregation has engaged the work of liturgical disruption and trusted in the transformative potential of the liturgy for more than forty years.

Explore how the Revised Common Lectionary enriches worship
How does this contemporary lectionary nourish Christian faith and life? Further, why does the lectionary employ metaphor, the richest form of language, in the midst of the worshiping assembly? How do the biblical readings prepare worshippers for the church’s mission? Well-known liturgist and author Gail Ramshaw opens up the logic and purpose of this widely used resource.

The basics of Episcopal and Anglican worship in North America are explored in this Little Books series, which invites parishioners and newcomers to consider both the beauty of worship and Episcopal ethical commitments.

As science and politics engage in a never-ending battle over the environment, A Life of Grace for the Whole World re-claims the theology of salvation and redemption for all creation. Using the House of Bishop’s Pastoral Teaching on the Environment -- the first statement on the environment from The Episcopal Church leadership -- as a guide, A Life of Grace engages participants in understanding how the call to care for Creation informs and deepens appreciation and love for God and God’s work in Creation, and how that finds expression in the faith life of individuals and churches.

The adult sessions use Bible study, discussion questions, reflections on sections of the Book of Common Prayer, and other activities to encourage active learning. Each week participants are asked to reflect, in different ways, on their faith communities and their own spiritual journey and how they can find a more meaningful connection with God’s active work among all creation. The youth section, which parallels the adult sessions, encourages active engagement through viewing of videos, use of technology, and a range of activities. Exploratory questions for the facilitator allow for open-ended conversation and discussion of current events around environment and faith. Connecting the five-week session is the creation of a Tree of Life, which is added to during every session.

Both an Adult Booklet and a Youth Booklet enhance the experience of A Life of Grace, both within and outside of the sessions, with additional content, activities, and journaling space.

How to break free from the personal money story developed early in life that can shape your financial future.

Family experiences can define our attitudes about money even as we mature, including how we spend it, save it, and give it away. Consequently, our childhood often determines our approach to money during our entire lives. Donald Romanik, President of the Episcopal Church Foundation, helps readers discover the consequences of that money legacy, for individuals and for the churches and other organizations to which they belong.

Fresh and imaginative ways for kids to pray using all of their senses.

Prayer does not have to involve silence, sitting still, and solemnity. It can be active and engaging, especially essential for kids, who often enjoy movement and creativity. In an easy-to-use format with illustrations, the author connects scripture and biblical characters to dynamic prayer practices such as wrestling, singing, breathing, and dancing.

Praying while using sign language, tracing a labyrinth, applying Band-Aids, planting a seed, eating something delicious, or riding a bike—these fun ideas are just some of the ways wiggly, tactile, and nonverbal kids will learn to reach out in love, gratitude, and need to God.

United Methodist Women’s Reading Group Selection

“What can I do about the environment? What has God said about the environment?” Most books about climate change only address one of these questions. Those from a religious perspective do not address what individuals can do to help society transition from fossil fuels, other than changing personal behavior. Readers know instinctively that will not suffice, and so are left feeling the situation is hopeless. In contrast, books that primarily address environmental issues fail to reach people motivated more by faith than science, leaving out many who could constitute the tipping point for full American engagement on the issue.

Borrowing an approach from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s leadership, which brought together both secular and religious arguments for ending segregation, this book addresses physical evidence of climate change while demonstrating through biblical teachings the religious imperative for preserving our inherited world. The compelling biblical case for creation care is grounded in environmental teachings Jesus knew, primarily in the Hebrew Scriptures. Topics addressed include air pollution, treatment of the land, preserving biological diversity, and treatment of animals, and each is connected to contemporary issues such as greenhouse gas emissions, care of the needy, the extinction of species, and factory farming.

A landmark series of studies devoted to the revision of the Book of Common Prayer — Volume One concerns the core liturgy of the Church: Communion, Confession and the Eucharist.

The creation of the landmark 1979 American Book of Common Prayer was the fruit of nearly four decades of discussion within the Episcopal Church. Prayer Book Studies is a series of official reports by the Church’s Standing Liturgical Commission that were published irregularly over the course of that period, representing the work of the committees deliberating over and drafting the materials that would eventually become the 1979 revision. These reports provide an extraordinary window into the work of leading liturgical scholars during an age characterized by huge transformation in the fields of liturgy. Long out of print and unavailable, these reports, collected in nine volumes, are an invaluable resource for liturgical scholars and clergy. 

The studies included in Volume One were published between 1950 and 1953, and address Christian Initiation, the Epistles and Gospels for reading at Holy Communion, Confession, and the Holy Eucharist.

“Grafius uses his extensive knowledge of horror films to tease out horror tropes from the Bible . . . this book is thought-provoking.” –Library Journal

You may know the Bible as a testament of faith. But within this sacred book are also the world’s first horror stories.

Conventional wisdom has it that the origins of the horror genre are found in the nineteenth century, in works like Frankenstein, Dracula, and The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. In this paradigm-shaking new book, Bible scholar and cultural historian Brandon Grafius argues that the Bible is, among other things, the world’s first work of horror literature. 
 
The tropes and themes that we find in slasher movies, body horror, folk horror and zombie apocalypses were kickstarted by the Bible. Before Godzilla, there were the monsters arising from the sea in the book of Daniel. Before The Wicker Man, there was the folk horror violence of the book of Judges. And before The Fly, Leviticus and Paul understood that our bodies are untrustworthy. Sometimes, the Bible has decided that the best way to help us understand the world in new ways is to scare us.
 
Grafius’s book is a revelatory work of biblical scholarship as well as a cultural analysis of the contemporary horror genre. It is a book that will make readers revise how they see the Bible and impact how they consume horror literature and cinema. It is guaranteed to make them wiser consumers of both.
 

The Book of Comic Prayer takes a fresh look at prayer from an unexpected perspective: comic art, humor, and their relevance to today’s image-driven youth. Part explanation, part instruction, it explores the role of prayer and faith in mainstream and underground comics, and provides resources for incorporating comics and cartooning into curricula for children and youth. The Appendix includes an illustrated booklet created by one group of young people as a supplement to traditional forms of prayer and offers tips and tricks for creating books of comic prayer. The church has always used visual arts for prayer, worship, and education, and religious themes and figures still permeate popular culture. Comics, with their larger-than-life stories of villainy, morality, and heroism, have religious undertones ranging from explicit to metaphorical, offering opportunities to explore what post-modern prayer and faith look like and why they matter. Comics are inexpensive, accessible, and adaptable to church school, youth groups, Bible studies, prayer groups, camps, and VBS. There have been illustrated comic Bibles and religious books, but no single resource dealing with prayer’s individual and communal aspects as they relate to the comic art form. This is that book!

Advent is a time of preparation, of patience, of remembering what grounds and sustains us. Advent reminds us who God is and who we are meant to be. This book offers a new look at Advent by seeing the four weeks through the lens of morning, mid-day, late afternoon and evening, and night. Photographs, stories, and perspectives enrich our travel and invite us to other dimensions of experiencing Advent, as a season and as a resource in our daily living. The book can serve as a devotional for individuals and small-group study for the Advent season, with a particular focus on the Year C Gospel readings from Luke.

• Advent devotion for individuals or small groups, with an Advent poster-calendar sold separately
• Photographs and stories from daily life, for daily Christian living
• Study guide included

A medida que las congregaciones latinas continúan aumentando en la Iglesia Episcopal, le acompaña una gran necesidad de desarrollar más recursos de formación en español para todos los grupos y edades.

Las maravillosas vistas, sonidos, y aromas de la liturgia anglicana pueden captar la imaginación hasta de los niños más pequeños y lanzarles a participar de manera muy entusiasta en la vida litúrgica de la Iglesia. Pero todo también puede parecer ser muy confuso. A través de juegos interactivos y los crucigramas, este muy divertido libro de actividades puede ayudar a los niños de 4 a 7 años de edad a comprender mejor la vida litúrgica en la Iglesia Anglicana. De tener conocimiento sobre los que participan en la procesión de entrada, y colorear las vestimentas de los sacerdotes y diáconos, hasta identificar las nociones maravillosas que sus sentidos captan sobre la Eucaristía, este libro es un tesoro oculto tanto para los niños como adultos.

Con cuarenta y una páginas de actividades seguidas de una guía de cuatro páginas para asistir a los padres a adiestrar desde las bancas, este libro ofrece consejos a los padres y a otros educadores utilizando estas actividades con los niños. El libro también extiende permiso a las iglesias y escuelas para libremente fotocopiar las páginas e utilizarlas para enseñar.

As Latino congregations continue to grow in the Episcopal Church, there is a concomitant need for good Spanish-language formation resources for all age groups.

The wonderful sights, sounds, and smells of the Anglican liturgy can engage the imagination of young children and draw them into enthusiastic worship. But it can all be a bit confusing, too. Through the interactive games and puzzles in this fun-filled activity book, children ages 4-7 can grow to a deeper understanding of Anglican worship life. From learning about the participants in the entry processional, to coloring the vestments of the priest and deacon, to identifying the amazing things their senses tell them about the Eucharist, this book is a treasure trove for kids and adults.

Forty-one pages of activities are followed by a four-page parent guide designed to promote parenting in the pews and offer tips for parents and other educators using these activities with children. Permission to copy the pages for use in church or school is included in the book.

Archbishop Michael Ramsey was one of the church's most remarkable twentieth-century saints--wise and humble, humorous and compassionate. These introductory lectures on Anglicanism reveal the breadth of Ramsey's theological understanding, his ecumenism, and his vision of the church and the Christian life. Informal and conversational in style, the lectures offer an overview of Anglican theology, spirituality, and history.

Ramsey begins with Anglicanism's enduring characteristics, including its dependence on Scripture, tradition--the ancient writers of the church who guide us in interpreting the Bible--and reason, our God-given capacity for divine revelation. Next Ramsey explores its teachings on theology and the sacraments, Tractarianism and the Oxford Movement, the renaissance of Anglican religious communities, and the evolving doctrines of creation, incarnation, and the Holy Spirit. The final section presents Ramsey's theology of the church and Anglicanism's relationship to Rome and the Orthodox churches.

This vital resource explores the essential considerations of pastoral work with those with intellectual disabilities.

Drawing on the vast experience of the L’Arche community that fully includes and centers those with intellectual disabilities, this practical guide offers ideas for imaginative worship to engage people with all abilities. It gives suggestions for enabling participation and building familiarity while keeping worship fresh and varied, with ready-to-use themed service outlines that are appropriate throughout the Christian year. It includes a compendium of resources for creating your own acts of worship, including prayers, blessings, stories, quotes, a directory of online resources, ideas for what to keep in a “liturgy box,” ideas or seasonal decoration of the worship space, and many more resources from L’Arche.

This book is rooted in the belief that each human being is on a spiritual quest to find meaning in their life, and while each person’s path is uniquely their own, we share the journey together. The important thing is to encourage each other’s personal development, and celebrate the gifts and talents that emerge within and for the whole community.

Written in accessible language and sensitive to those who have little or no experience in reading the Bible, each book in the Conversations with Scripture series focuses on exploring the historical and critical background of the biblical texts, while illustrating how these centuries-old writings still speak to us today. Countryman brings his considerable biblical studies erudition as well as his skills as a popular writer and published poet to bear on the Psalms. Though an accomplished scholar of the New Testament, Countryman illumines the Psalms with insight and creativity. Readers will experience this most beloved part of the scriptural canon in a fresh and exciting way.

Step-by-step instructions for painting icons, from original drawings through finished product.

For more than a thousand years, Eastern Christians have used their hands and hearts to create icons, proclaiming God’s reality in a visible–and breathtakingly beautiful–way. This ancient art is enjoying a renewed interest in the West, as people of faith create icons and use them to meditate on mysteries for which there are no words.

A Brush with God is a guide to painting icons and using them in prayer. Written with warmth and energy, it describes the history of icons and examines why they’ve been a spiritual tool for so many centuries. Written from a uniquely Western perspective, the book guides artists–from novices to professionals–through the process of icon painting, using traditional techniques but employing contemporary materials. Included are eight full-color plates of the artist’s icons.

• Popular author and HuffPost blogger
• Good for use by individuals or groups

A practical guide to planning spiritual retreats.

Step-by-step retreat designs, accompanying meditation exercises, and leader’s guidelines based on the bestseller Listening Hearts, are presented in this unique resource. Songs, from the Listening Hearts Songbook, specially-planned Eucharists, Scripture readings, meaningful projects, and meditation options are arranged to result in a Spirit-filled community bonding.

Retreats designed to

• Create an atmosphere that will develop a sense of the meaning and value of spiritual community.
• Present a variety of opportunities to reflect on God’s call to each participant.
• Allow retreatants time to present centered in God.

Retreat Designs and Meditation Exercises can be used with other Listening Hearts series books: Listening Hearts, Grounded in God (Revised Edition), and the Manual for Discussion Leaders.

A resource for Episcopal families who want to pass on Anglican prayers and traditions to their children and teach faith in everyday settings.

A parent as well as an educator, Anne Kitch introduces these Anglican prayers and practices with stories from her own life, as well as brief information about the history and use of the prayers.

The perfect resource for families, especially those who may be new to the Episcopal Church, as well as church school teachers, youth ministers, and clergy, The Anglican Family Prayer Book helps parents and children pray together. Prayers for morning and evening, blessings, nighttime prayers, prayers for ordinary and special occasions, intercessory prayers, prayers of the Eucharist, and prayers for use during the special seasons of the Church year make this book one that families will use every day.

In a revised and expanded edition, this simple pamphlet continues to guide us in dealing with death and arranging in advance for funerals.

These booklets are often purchased in bulk by institutions to distribute to people of all ages to help them plan final arrangements, or to families of the deceased immediately after a death. The original edition was prompted by the death of the author's father: upon his passing and pending funeral, no one knew his plans or directives. Since then, scores of clergy, funeral directors, and parishioners have used this guide to address what needs to be done.

A unique perspective on one of the greatest religious figures of recent history.

An in-depth portrait of Oscar Romero, the Fourth Archbishop of San Salvador, based on research of his diaries and sermons and on interviews with most of his surviving relatives, friends, and co-workers. This biography provides a unique insider/outsider perspective on both Romero and the plight and struggle of Central American immigrants and other migrant and impoverished populations.

Torres takes readers into Romero’s early life, his seminary formation, and his active ministry, including conflicts with the ruling elites and hierarchy that led to his ultimate martyrdom. The book concludes with his canonization and the pursuit of justice against his murderers.

Here is Barbara Crafton at her best—funny, warm, direct, honest, and vulnerable—on aging.
“I think growing older is both funny and sad, but mostly it just makes me grateful to be alive and able to reflect. I have been an Episcopal priest for 33 years and have had extensive experience in ministering with the elderly. Now, I am growing old myself. I hate it when people are ashamed of being old. We should be proud!” she proclaims. Join her in this celebration of life!

A marriage is a reflection about your love and your faith in God. This practical workbook helps couples to express their commitment while simplifying the many details of the wedding ceremony.

Planning Your Marriage Service is the ideal take-along resource for couples to reflect on the choices they need to make. Here are the guidelines concerning the service, music, the entrance and presentation, readings, prayers, communion, and dismissal. A wide selection of Old Testament, New Testament, Gospel readings are included, as well as supplemental readings by great Christian writers and literary figures, such as John Donne, Simone Weil, Julian of Norwich, Frederick Buechner, Martin Luther King Jr, Madeleine L’Engle, and Saint Augustine. A brief commentary follows each reading, discussing the text’s meaning in the framework of a Christian marriage.

This valuable guide gives couples a better understanding of all the elements of their wedding ceremony so they can experience their special day in all the richness of its Christian significance.

How do we develop the resilience that empowers us to be ourselves in the face of change?

How do we learn to be courageous when days are difficult? How do we build our capacity for healing and growth when we can no longer do the things we once did that gave our lives satisfaction, meaning, and purpose?

Building Resilience offers a path toward creativity in responding to change in your life, regaining some control over your circumstances, and overcoming feelings of helplessness. Whether you’re 17 or 75, if life has thrown you a curve ball, this book can help you get on track toward being yourself in your new normal. With a foreword by Stephanie Spellers.

Distinguished Anglican theologian Jane Shaw presents four of the early 20th century Anglican innovators in spirituality and assesses how they might help us develop a renewed Anglican spirituality for our own “spiritual but not religious” age. These four Anglicans—Percy Deamer, Evelyn Underhill, Somerset Ward, and Rose Macaulay—are people who revived spirituality at a time, like our own, when people were questioning institutional religion.

The dinner table may be the only time that today's busy families sit down together and pray together. This book meets families where they are, offering prayers of thanks for macaroni and cheese, fast-food meals, and, yes, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Includes rhyming prayers for little kids, dinner-table prayers for special family occasions, and prayers marking the movement of the church year.

“I would like to think that there are things in my own life that might attract the interest of others–even if only to spark in them a recollection of similar escapades and experiences of their own.”
—Herbert O'Driscoll

Beloved preacher and author, Herbert O’Driscoll, offers his life story in his own words. The first section includes memories from his childhood and student years lived mainly in the south of Ireland. The second section tells stories from his years of active ministry in Canada, the United States, and other parts of the world church. The last portion recalls experiences from his retirement years and his facilitation of pilgrimages to the Middle East, Ireland, and Great Britain.

“One could say it has been a relatively unadventurous life, but it is one in which I have been given gifts of love and friendship, and opportunities to learn and grow, far beyond my counting or deserving . . . These pages allow me to revisit in memory the times when, and places where, I was given something of lasting, permanent value—an image, an idea, an insight—and the people who gave them to me or in whose company I shared them.”

While this one-volume guide is especially useful for Christian educators, showing them how to teach week by week according to the ethos and tradition of the Episcopal Church, it also provides a valuable and useful reference tool for all church leaders and members in connecting Christian faith to daily life.

This new guide to Christian education and formation is based on the Book of Common Prayer, the cornerstone of Anglican liturgy and theology. Keyed to the Revised Common Lectionary, all activities and lessons are structured on the seasons and lessons for Years A, B, and C. The guide stresses the major themes of baptismal theology and shows how teachers, parents, and children can live the liturgical cycle in Christian formation ministries at church and at home.

With contributions from eight noted theologians, this book builds on popular videos from the Day 1 radio.
Science or faith? The battle rages, from millennials and GenXers questioning the relevance of religion to older adults who doubt the validity of science (and vice versa), but these two are not mutually exclusive. They can, in fact, be mutually enriching and complimentary, once their proper domains are understood and respected. The Episcopal Church, with its tradition of the “via media,” offers an ideal setting for conversations seeking to bridge the often antagonistic perspectives on both sides. Faith and Science in the 21st Century presents a way to start that conversation.

Built on existing videos produced by the popular Day 1 program with assistance from a John Templeton Foundation grant, this series features notable faith leaders across the denominational spectrum in 3 to 5 minute video presentations on scientific topics in which they are experts. Intended for use in a variety of settings, including congregations, schools, and campus ministries, it can be presented as an eight-session series of studies, but each session can also stand on its own for a one-time formation offering. A single video download will offer all video presentations. This Leader Guide enables facilitators to foster fruitful discussions of each session topic. It includes an introduction about the program and how it can be used, and eight detailed session plans to utilize with a downloadable video sold separately on the Day 1 website.

This Leader Guide offers five session plans designed to bring the process described in Kit Carlson’s book, Speaking Our Faith, to small groups of adults in a congregational or school chaplaincy setting, in order to help them learn how to speak and share their faith. Guidance for the leader in how to facilitate each conversation is given, noting issues that tend to arise in each of the sessions. Homework assignments continue the work from week to week and are provided as well. The time to speak, to share our faith, is now. Through the sessions provided, participants will learn how to put words to their own experiences of God, create their own statements of belief, and begin to have compassionate, caring conversations with other people about spirituality, belief, and Jesus Christ.

America’s unique and often fractious relationship between church and state is, if anything, more relevant to who we are as a nation than when Diana Butler Bass’ examination of it in Broken We Kneel was first published 16 years ago. This second edition contains a new foreword and introduction, as well as a new conclusion outlining her vision for the future.

Born in the tumultuous aftermath of 9/11 and now a spiritual classic, the book draws on both her personal experience and her knowledge of religious history. Bass looks at Christian identity, patriotism, citizenship, and congregational life in an attempt to answer the central question that so many are struggling with today: “To whom do Christians owe deepest allegiance? God or country?” In writing both impassioned and historically informed, Bass reflects on current events, personal experiences, and political questions that have sharpened the tensions between serious faith and national imperatives. The book incorporates the author’s own experience of faith, as writer, teacher, wife, mother, and churchgoer into a larger conversation about Christian practice and contemporary political issues. Broken We Kneel is a call to remember that the core of Christian identity is not always compatible with national political policies.

There remains a constant need for new perspectives on the liturgical church seasons in order to keep them spiritually fresh and to bring them to life in new ways. This book enables Christian readers to experience a new depth in their faith journey as they celebrate the season of Advent.

This is a short book of spiritual meditations for the Advent season on the four "Middle Eastern" songs sung around the birth of Jesus: canticles that play an important role in the liturgical worship of the church over the centuries. These canticles include: the Song of Mary (Magnificat), Song of Zechariah (Benedictus), Song of the Angels (Gloria), and Song of Simeon (Nunc Dimittis). The devotions emphasize the Middle Eastern cultural elements of these songs.

This collection of short, informal pieces that are both theologically substantial and genuinely popular is aimed at helping us get our bearings in the life of the spirit today. These essays reveal the staleness and oppressive nature of many of our spiritual practices at a time when, more than ever, we need to stand back and let the fresh winds of the Spirit blow through our lives and surprise us.

Whether about the spirituality of shopping or social justice, discernment or channel-surfing, these pieces will delight you and make you think. Ideal for retreats and as a source for sermon ideas, the book can be read in one day, or spread over a month or more.

Provides an abundance of ideas that will equip families to celebrate the Annunciation, Advent, Our Lady of Guadalupe, Las Posadas, Christmas, and Epiphany.

Many of our experiences in life happen when several generations are together – at church, at home, in our communities. Holidays and family events are times for celebration, learning, rituals, food, and fun. This edition of Faithful Celebrations focuses on Advent, the Annunciation, Our Lady of Guadalupe, Los Posadas, Christmas and Epiphany. It includes plenty of activities to learn more about each of these sacred seasons or days in a church setting, at home, camp, or anywhere in-between. These abundance of ideas allow you to create meaningful celebrations within a faith context throughout the months of December, January, and February.

Each event to be celebrated includes key ideas, a cluster of activities to experience the key ideas, materials needed, full instructions for implementation, background history and information, music, art, recipes, and prayer resources to use in a small, intimate or large multi-generational group. For children, youth, adults, or any combination of ages any of these activities can take place in any setting. While these celebrations are popular in our secular culture, all ages will reconnect with the sacred roots and traditions practiced by past generations. All can experience new celebrations that have traditionally been intergenerational events in Spanish speaking communities.

For the 75th anniversary of The Protestant Hour and Day1 ministry, host Peter Wallace has gathered dozens of inspiring excerpts from the most powerful sermons.

Some of the most effective preachers of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries are featured, representing the historic mainline Protestant churches and a diverse variety of voices. Diana Butler Bass, Michael Curry, Walter Brueggemann, Barbara Brown Taylor, Juan Carlos Huertas, and many more offer their perspectives on topics such as peace, justice, prayer, love, and community. Clergy and parishioners from across the theological spectrum will appreciate the scope and accessibility of this curated collection.

This book is a superb companion for personal meditation and devotion, or thoughtful gift-giving for weddings, birthdays, sympathy, and other life occasions. Questions for discussion and meditation are included with each topic, making this inspirational collection ideal for use by small groups or for personal study.

A brief guide on how this spiritual practice can enrich your life.
By reading and reflecting on scripture, especially the life and teachings of Jesus, we draw near to God and God's word dwells in us. When we open our minds and hearts to scripture, we learn to see God's story and God's activity in everyday life. There is a prayer in the Book of Common Prayer (Proper 38, page 236) that asks, “Grant us so to hear, read, mark, learn and inwardly digest” the Holy Scriptures. Again we state, “I will with God’s help” when asked in our Baptismal Covenant, “Will you continue in the apostles’ teaching?” This is what it means to learn about God: read, study, discuss, and engage in the story of God and God’s people, including the life of Christ.

This series of seven Little Books of Guidance are designed for you to discover how following certain practices can help you follow Jesus more fully in your daily life.

Porter Taylor, known for his wonderful preaching, always has something unusual and thoughtful to say. "Forgive us our weeds as we forgive the weediness of others," he writes in one sermon on the parable of the wheat and the weeds. In another he reflects on why the book of Ecclesiastes shouldn't be read by anyone who isn't at least 35. "At their best," Taylor writes, "sermons are about things that matter."

To Dream as God Dreams is about those things that matter: finding our home in a storm, the roots and wings we need as people of faith, contagious love, and more. These sermons about the importance of community, the need for conversion, and the power of hopefulness make wonderful devotional reading, and are an inspirational source for others who preach.

Best-selling author Kathleen Norris provides a unique viewpoint of “what matters most,” including:

• Belief Matters: Why does belief matter? To what do we give our hearts? What is the core message of what we believe—creeds or commitment? To what extent is to believe also “to belove”?
• The Bible Matters: The Bible is our collective story. How is that story reflected in our daily lives? What is it about the Bible that always seems to address our present moment?
• Community Matters: In community, individualism and imperfection meet grace and acceptance. What is our part in the Body of Christ?
• Place Matters: In what ways is faith set within the physical space of home, church, land and people?
• We Matter: What it means to remain in God’s image and to counter our selfishness by embracing the world and its needs?

Ideal for adult and young-adult small groups, Christian educators, clergy, chaplains and campus ministries.

SOLD SEPARATELY. Also available is the Embracing a Life of Meaning Small-Group DVD. Each of the five DVD sessions begins with a 10-15 minute video presentation by Kathleen Norris followed by filmed interaction with a diverse small group of adults.

This Participant’s Workbook then helps your own local small group “join the conversation.” This book includes all study materials need by participants and those who lead. Each participant will need one copy.

A Christian social thinker writing on the relationship between race and power in Britain and the United States. Kenneth Leech combines history, politics, and theology to portray the dynamics of racism here and abroad, and points a way forward for the church.

"Race does not exist. Yet in this extraordinary book Ken Leech exposes how racism grips the imaginations of Christian and non-Christian alike, shaping our relations with one another and having disastrous results not only in neighborhoods but in foreign policies. Pauline-like, Leech helps us see that race is a power all the more perverse because it is not acknowledged as such.

In conversation with the best work in science, social theory, and theology, Leech challenges the presumption that we have somehow gotten beyond racialized thinking. Moreover, drawing on his extraordinary pastoral experience, he helps us see a way beyond race. This book should be read in both England and America as both countries, in quite different ways continue to be dominated by racialized practice.

And finally, and perhaps most important, Leech draws on Christian convictions to challenge Christians, not only how to think differently about race but hopefully how to practice our faith in a manner that we may be an alternative for the world."

--Stanley M. Hauerwas, Gilbert T. Rowe professor of Theological Ethics, Duke Divinity School; named "America's Best Theologian" by Time Magazine in 2001

• Add meaning to family celebrations and create new ones
• Multiple resources for church, home, and community celebrations
• Multi-generational Holidays and family events are times for celebration, learning, rituals, food, and fun.

Jesus was quite clear that we must lose our life before we find it. This book gives a hopeful and realistic look at what losing our life entails, articulating how “growth” in the Christian life is not our ascent to God but the process by which our eyes are opened to the beauty God has already given to us. It is a book about descending into God, and into our own inner depths, about the deep waters of the Christian faith. “Put out into the deep and let your nets down for a catch.” (Luke 5:4)

We live in a world that values productivity and success, and we vainly imagine that God expects us to be spiritually productive and successful, too. It doesn’t matter how much we talk about grace, our conversation is often narrowly focused on what we need to do for God—so much so that we often block the work God longs to do in us. This book does not articulate God’s work as a process by which we become spiritually strong, but rather as the process by which we embrace our weakness as the place where we most fully experience God’s perfect strength (2 Corinthians 12:9).

Brings theological insights together with cutting-edge thinking on organizational innovation to help churches flourish in a time of profound uncertainty and spiritual opportunity.

In today’s dynamic cultural environment, churches have to be more than faithful—they have to be agile. That means embracing processes of trial, failure, and adaptation as they form Christian community with new neighbors. And that means a whole new way of being church.

Taking one page from the Bible and another from Silicon Valley, priest and scholar Dwight Zscheile brings theological insights together with cutting-edge thinking on organizational innovation to help churches flourish in a time of profound uncertainty and spiritual opportunity. Picking up where his bestseller, People of the Way left off, Zscheile answers urgent and practical questions around how churches become agile and adaptive to meet cultural change.

The presiding bishop’s advisors lay out a step-by-step way to nurture a profound friendship with God in Christ.

Walking the Way of Love is organized according to seven practices (Turn, Learn, Pray, Worship, Bless, Go, and Rest) and three ways of being (We Seek Love; We Seek Freedom; and We Seek Abundant Life). The wisdom in this book allows people to move from the first tentative stages of wanting an experiential relationship with Jesus to having a real relationship that grows deeper every year. The seven simple practices spelled out in this book-- by highly experienced teachers and practitioners-- will enhance the reader's spiritual growth and open up love, freedom, and abundant life.

The stories and wisdom of these advisors will be helpful not just to seekers of faith, but also supportive to faith leaders who are guiding others in their development across the church.

Proceeds support The Way of Love Scholarship Fund.

2015 marks the 30th anniversary of Lee Mitchell’s great standard work on the 1979 Book of Common Prayer. As his student, protégée, and colleague, Ruth Meyers takes this classic work and updates it for the Church in its current era and for the future.

Recovering Benedict encourages us to nourish our physical and spiritual lives using the Rule of Benedict and the twelve-step recovery principles of Alcoholics Anonymous.

As the “father of Western monasticism,” Benedict pulled together various strands of monastic spirituality into a single handbook for holiness. Alcoholics Anonymous presented an equally innovative way to address alcoholism based on twelve steps drawn from numerous spiritual sources. While it took a sixth-century Italian collating various sources to produce a handbook for spiritual life, it likewise took a twentieth-century American to pull together the spiritual principles to recover one’s physical life. John E. Crean, Jr. brings both traditions together in one handbook for living: daily meditations are inspired by the down-to-earth wisdom of the Rule of Benedict, and AA’s template for sobriety and humbleness.

A thoughtful daily devotional for all who wish for deeper healing, for personal use, or group study.

Shame severs our relationship from God. It is so powerful that it often results in denial, apathy, and even a self-defensive wrath toward neighbor. At the same time, shame may drive us to discover the true source of our dignity beyond our isolated and broken self. The arc of the biblical narrative takes us from the fig leaves of Adam and Eve, who desire to hide from God and each other, to the liberation from self-consciousness that Jesus displays at the Last Supper, which can be seen as “undoing” the shame of Adam and Eve. Shame is the experience that can bring us close to the experience of the Cross, the place of simultaneous condemnation and liberation. By examining the biblical stories of shame and some personal and public stories of shame and of being shamed, Hirschfeld delves into this emotional and spiritual phenomenon to mine what shame has to teach. Shame cannot be erased, but God does not want us to be stuck in it. Working through our shame can lead us to a deeper sense of joy and freedom so we can, as the Proper Preface for Advent says, “without shame or fear rejoice to behold [Christ’s] appearing?”

This easy-to-use guide can be used as a confirmation resource, in a new member class, or adult study groups.

Ian Markham, Dean and President of Virginia Theological Seminary, introduces both the Christian faith and The Episcopal Church to the seeker and Episcopal laity in this indispensable manual. Each page in Faith Rules is Episcopal wisdom set in concise, straightforward language for anyone in the 21st century.

This lively blend of theory, story, and practical resources and checklists is designed for churches committed to welcoming and nurturing children, and those who care for them. Written for clergy, religious educators, Christian Education superintendents and planners -- from the local to the national level -- it shows how to work effectively with children in educational, liturgical, and pastoral settings.

• Faith formation resource for young adults on human sexuality
• For use in congregational and campus ministry settings

• Holiness
• Intimacy
• Covenant
• Love
• Biology
• Communication
• What is Sacred?
• Power and Parity
• Mind, Body, and Soul
• Brokenness and Shame
• Our Bodies: Currency and Creators

This fresh collection of group readings and simple dramas based on stories from Scripture, together with meditations, story-telling methodology and an instructed Eucharist, will help church leaders design liturgy for children and grownups who worship together.

The best of therapy and spiritual direction begins with telling stories that describe where we have been and where we are going. Luke is neither a psychologist nor a spiritual director, but intuitively he understands the importance of storytelling as the key to human growth, change, and healing. Speaking to the crisis of faith faced by his church, Luke retells the story of Jesus birth, ministry, death, and resurrection as a means of addressing the spiritual struggles that resurface generation after generation.

Touching on issues of belonging, authority, tradition, behavior, and hope, Schmidt offers a reading of Luke's gospel that speaks to today's reader.

She Flies On is not really a critique of organized religion, but rather Carter Heyward’s effort to think theologically, politically, socially, and autobiographically about the world and the church in which she has lived and worked. A Christian feminist “theologian of liberation,” Episcopal priest, lesbian, Southerner, and socialist Democrat, Heyward writes about the church, but more about the people—and creatures—of God going about their lives and attempting to love one another.

A wonderful resource to guide admirers of the humblest of saints what it means to live out the Christian life with a Franciscan accent.

In a little town in Italy, nearly 800 years ago, Francis of Assisi renounced everything he owned to follow Christ with passionate and single-minded abandon. Even today, centuries later, this simple saint draws people around the world to his story of living in humility, love, and joy.

Here in Following Francis, Susan Pitchford tells her own story of the Franciscan life, as a member of the Third Order, founded by Francis himself so that people from all walks of life can follow the saint's ideal, without leaving their homes or occupations. Pitchford learned that the Franciscan tradition isn't the exclusive possession of monks cloistered in a monastery, but a spiritual path for ordinary people living in the 21st century.

Celtic traditions point to God in the natural elements in this refreshing take on how to pray.

Where is God when we pray? Artist and priest Ruth Pattison looks to the legacy of Celtic spirituality to say God is in all of creation that surrounds us—earth, fire, water, air—and not up in the clouds. She invites the reader into a grounded spirituality rooted deep in Celtic tradition that sees everything as infused with the Spirit—including humanity.

The material will deepen the experience of worship with creative hands-on spiritual practices for the context of liturgy. It can also be used for creating the structure and substance of retreats, spiritual formation classes, and for helping parents who want to learn to pray with children.

Christ-centered support for healing from loss.

Based on Walking the Mourners Path, an eight-week support program designed to accompany people in their grief, 30 Days toward Healing Your Grief differs from other support resources by using a proven methodology that does not leave people in their pain but gently leads them forward from “that my loved one died” to “how my loved one lived” and finally to “how I must live to honor his or her memory.”
30 Days offers, for individuals and small groups, a personal, print version of the successful program on which it’s based. Published in workbook form (thirty daily reflections/studies), this book addresses many of the issues that develop with those struggling with grief. Questions—as well as inspirational stories from the author’s nearly fifteen years of group work—help readers understand that they are not alone in their pain. This book will assist mourners as they walk through pain, remember their loved one, honor the relationship, honestly address the complications of grief, and find the courage to turn their pain into joyful living once again. Those who thought God had abandoned them will once again feel his presence through a renewed spiritual relationship with our Lord.

Marriage Rites for the Whole: Liturgical Resources 2 includes the marriage rites newly authorized for trial use and essays of pastoral, liturgical, and theological significance to the topic.

This resource incorporates "The Witnessing and Blessing of a Marriage," "The Celebration and Blessing of a Marriage 2," "The Blessing of a Civil Marriage 2," and "An Order for Marriage 2" as authorized for trial use by the 79th General Convention.

This classic guide helps servers to perform with confidence and reverence, allowing the liturgy to unfold in a smooth and prayerful manner. A glossary of words and objects accompanies illustrations of vessels, linens, altar preparation, vestments, posture symbols, and examples of processions. Also contains easy-to-draw symbols that servers can use to make a diagram of their sanctuary's layout for study and practice.

Spanning all 3 years of the lectionary cycle, this book provides a welcome tool for the renewal of preaching from the gospel readings. In a concise, uniform, and simple format, the authors provide a thematic summary of the gospel, list several possible points for preaching, and offer a humorous story for the week that illumines the deeper meaning of the biblical text. Lectionary Levity also functions as a practical manual on how to use humor in preaching and allows the reader to view the gospel in a different light so as to enliven the worship experience. A treasure trove of biblical insights, homiletical helps, and just good humor!

Proactive and self-affirming book provides new hope for those who feel that it is impossible to be both gay or lesbian, as well as Christian.

Gay and lesbian Christians are in the awkward position of trying to explain themselves to two mutually hostile audiences. On the one side, the gay-lesbian community is often deeply suspicious of anyone connected with Christianity. On the other side sits the church, which often wishes that gays and lesbians would go away, or at least disappear into the woodwork quietly. But the gay and lesbian community has a unique vocation in today’s church, one of challenging the church’s to be inclusive of all God’s children—the central message of the Gospel.

Based on retreats they have presented to churches and seminaries, authors L. William Countryman and M. R. Ritley explore what it means to affirm, not merely accept, being gay and lesbian, as well as being Christian. This pro-active and self-affirming book provides new hope for the LGBT community, their families, and confidently appropriating and retelling the Biblical story of this unique and gifted minority’s spiritual journey.

“[A] powerful Magna Carta for gay and lesbian Christians and a compelling call to the church not to stand in the way of Jesus’s unconditional love.”—Malcolm Boyd, author of Are You Running with Me, Jesus?

Light to the Darkness is a fresh interpretation of the well-loved Advent tradition of Lessons and Carols. Replacing the usual scriptural readings from the old and new testaments will be first-person dramatic monologues based on these, and other, passages of scripture. Special emphasis will be given to the role of the prophets not only in pointing the way to the Messiah and in offering guidance to the Hebrew people, but in offering very contemporary guidance in the 21st century.

With a reading for each day of Advent, churches can choose pieces for their own services of Lessons and Carols, while individuals can use the book for their own private devotions. Suggestions for music for these services will also be included; these will encompass a broad range music to accommodate parishes' musical needs and abilities.

Offers insight into the issue of vocation and ministry for a large number of prospective clergy
Along with the United Church of Christ, the Episcopal Church has been in the vanguard in opening up the option of ordination to holy orders for partnered gay and lesbian people. As a result, many gays and lesbians are considering an option, which just a decade ago, would have been impossible. The question then becomes, “Does God want me—in my full integrity as a gay “out” person—as a priest in the church?” This is the first book to look at the issue of discernment in the Episcopal Church while simultaneously taking seriously the dynamics for a gay person seeking to discern his or her future in the church.

A modern interpretation the Rule of St. Benedict to infuse Christian spirituality to all aspects of our daily lives

These simple and inviting reflections on the Rule of St. Benedict take as their starting point our search for wholeness in a world that is fragmented and increasingly polarized. Many people today struggle to balance the demands of professional and personal lives, and find little satisfaction or peacefulness in either. Yet the ancient wisdom of St. Benedict offers a clear and helpful pathway that leads directly to healing, transformation and new life.

Written in de Waal's inimitable style, this book is for old friends of the Rule of St. Benedict and novices alike. Holding up segments of the Rule, de Waal's meditations on Benedict's words illuminate the wisdom of the Rule not only for those of Benedict's time, but for all of us today as well.

Addresses “belonging before believing” and other new patterns for remaking congregations

As we move beyond the “emergent” or “missional” church paradigm, pastors and other church leaders are discovering a new reality: people (especially younger generations) are coming to church not as believers, but to find a place to belong—with or without faith. This book describes the dilemma and the distractions that currently prevent congregations from being the place where that sense of belonging can unfold and guide newcomers in the discovery of faith.

The authors argue that despite elaborate talk of change, spirituality, transformation, and conflict resolution, congregations are still mired in old patterns of belonging. Using broad-based career experiences, surveys of religious life, historical precedent, and insights from social psychology about what it means to belong today, the book suggests new and effective approaches to help churches make vital connections.

In a conversation about his teaching and preaching style, Michael Curry notes with a laugh that hymns and songs of faith were always a part of the mix. “I learned what I believed in the songs I heard my family—especially my grandmother—sing. We sang our faith every day.”

Out of that strong foundation, Bishop Curry shares the music of his childhood—the songs that have grown with him to shape an adult and vibrant faith.

This unique collection of writings by Verna Dozier, eloquent prophet and teacher of the Bible, features selections from all her available work, including The Authority of the Laity, Equipping the Saints, her unfinished manuscript on the Bible, sermons, and interviews. Many of these materials, designed to give the unique flavor of Verna Dozier's wit and wisdom, have never appeared before in print.

Beginning with a short biography of Verna's life in order to place the writings in context, the book consists of six chapters organized both autobiographically and thematically. Beginning chapters cover her early life and family--her parents and sister, growing up African-American and Baptist in the segregated city of Washington DC, the influence of Howard Thurman and other theologians at Howard University, and her dual career, shaped by one set of values, teaching English literature and teaching the Bible. Subsequent chapters cover her approach and method of studying Scripture, teaching on Bible stories, her challenge to the church, and questions of ambiguity, morality, and faith.

"In Passionate for Justice, we find a compass that points us to the future, where we can each give voice and action to justice, equity, and life-giving community. Ida Wells would have had it no other way."
—From the Foreword by Stacey Abrams, 2018 Democratic Nominee for Governor of Georgia

Ida B. Wells was a powerful churchwoman and witness for justice and equity from 1878 to 1931. Born enslaved, her witness flowed through the struggles for justice in her lifetime, especially in the intersections of African Americans, women, and those who were poor. Her life is a profound witness for faith-based work of visionary power, resistance, and resilience for today’s world, when the forces of injustice stand in opposition to progress.

These are exciting and dangerous times. Boundaries that previously seemed impenetrable are now being crossed. This book is a guide for the current state of affairs in American culture, enlivened by the historical perspective of Wells’ search for justice.

The authors are an African-American woman and a child of white supremacy. Both have dedicated themselves to working, writing, and developing ministries oriented toward justice, equity, and mercy. This book can be used in all settings, but most especially in churches (pastors and other church leaders, study groups), seminaries, and universities.

Easy to read; short book on a key topic for seekers.
In an age where people increasingly spend their weekends anywhere but in a place of worship, it is important to ask why anyone should go to church. In Why Go to Church? Robertson addresses the top reasons for not attending and goes further to explore how church participation can enhance one’s life on so many levels. Essential reading for those who have thought about going to church, are thinking about going back to church, and even those who go to church regularly but want to attain a deeper worship experience.

This edition includes the liturgies for Discernment for a New Church Mission; A Liturgy for Commissioning a Church Planter, Missioner or Mission Team; A Liturgy for the Opening of a New Congregation; Setting Apart Secular Space for Sacred Use; a new Litany for the Mission of the Church; and a variety of Church Planting collects, blessings and other prayers, and hymn suggestions. This material, authorized by the 2003 General Convention, is published in English, Spanish, and French.

The newest book in the Little Books on Liturgy series, focused on the intersection of liturgy and formation.

Juan Oliver, Custodian of the Book of Common Prayer, outlines why rituals and liturgy have great meaning in forming individuals and communities. His work is focused on topics such as the sacraments, worship, mystery and the sacred.

Ideal for group or individual study in churches, seminaries, and schools of ministry.

Praise for Juan Oliver's previous work:

"Juan Oliver offers us the gift of 'disclosure of meaning' in this most helpful volume."
—Louis Weil, James F. Hodges Professor of Liturgics Emeritus at the Church Divinity School of the Pacific

" . . . invaluable to parish clergy . . . "
—J. Neil Alexander, Dean, Sewanee School of Theology

In a world and nation marked by suffering and division, Marcus Halley invites readers to explore rituals of healing and reconciliation in parish practice.

How is Christian community fostered when healing and reconciliation are prayerfully and actively sought? How do the ancient rituals of healing practiced among us today form a community committed to the Way of Love, the Way of Healing? And how does such practice lead the Christian community to seek peace?

The basics of Episcopal and Anglican worship in North America are explored in this Little Books series, which invites parishioners and newcomers to consider both the beauty of worship and Episcopal ethical commitments.

Rhythms of Grace is a unique, innovative and cutting-edge program resource designed to meet the spiritual needs of children and families living with autism-spectrum disorders. Participant families gather monthly with program leaders and volunteers for sessions that are a hybrid of worship and faith formation.

This bookhelps children and their families feel at the center of a worship/formation experience that is specific to their needs and circumstances, rather than merely at the margins of even a conventionally inclusive program of worship or faith formation.

The whole Rhythms of Grace curriculum consists of a 3-year syllabus of distinct scripture-based session plans. This volume, Year 1, includes complete plans for 12 monthly sessions and 6 feast sessions, as well as the background and support material needed to establish and conduct a successful program.

This booklet helps readers change the world for the better during Lent by undertaking one small action at a time.

Love Life Live Lent offers 40 age-appropriate actions for each day of Lent to make the world a better place—locally, nationally, and globally. The adult/youth edition also includes a scripture quote and brief reflection for each day. The booklet is undated and may be used in any year.

"A cogent and persuasive plea for a return to the full catholic tradition which would make a critical contribution to the debate about gender in matters of faith."
—The Most Rev. Desmond M. Tutu

Writers of scripture and theologians have used scores of images to describe God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. Yet only the patriarchal perspective seemed to survive and be taught. In this comprehensive reflection on the Nicene Creed, Geitz looks to the writings of theologians, mystics, and scholars throughout the centuries for a balanced and scholarly approach to an often divisive issue of Christians.

Elizabeth Geitz writes, "My desire is to help us move from an initial emotional response to feminine tradition of the church to one that is based on sound biblical, historical and theological principles."

• An all-in-one volume sharing the history, practice, and viewpoints of Confirmation in the Episcopal Church and the first book on the subject for at least 15 years

• Resolutions regarding Confirmation are coming to the 2015 General Convention

• Includes questions for reflection and study by individuals and groups

Many clergy and educators would say that the rite of Confirmation in the Episcopal Church today is a sacrament in search of a meaning. Some believe Confirmation is an essential rite of passage for adult leadership in the governance of the church. Some believe it is a rite that no longer has a place in the life of the church, understanding the importance that Baptism now holds in the 1979 Book of Common Prayer’s ecclesiology.
Following a history of how the rite of Confirmation came about and its implications for youth and adults in the church today, voices in the Episcopal Church (bishops, liturgical scholars, confirmation leaders, and youth themselves) offer fresh viewpoints here in a conversational format to engage the reader.

Covering all the Sundays and major festivals of all three years in the lectionary cycle, renowned scholar N.T. Wright offers reflections on the readings in the Revised Common Lectionary for Years A, B & C.

Drawn from his hugely popular columns in the British Church Times, and with new material, Twelve Months of Sundays weaves together scholarship, history and insights into the world and language of the Bible to add richness and a deeper understanding of the Word of the Lord.

In the wake of misconduct by trusted clergy and lay leaders, members of congregations find themselves adrift. Often there are deep divisions within the church and open, direct, honest communication ceases. Wholeness After Betrayal offers an understanding of these dynamics and a process to help members take the first steps toward reconciling relationships with one another.

This specialized instruction is tested and proven, having been used effectively many times in a variety of congregational settings. It holds tremendous value for institutional healing, both immediately following misconduct or even decades later.

Faith formation resource for children on human sexuality—for church, home, or school.
This sexuality education resource from a mainline/progressive denominational prospective aids the leader, child (participant), and parent in learning about their body and using skills that enable them to embrace and affirm the wholeness of sexuality as part of who they are. Session plans address facts about sexuality, vocabulary, decision making, faith and daily life, respect, growth and change, behavior, responsibility, values, prayer, and intentionality in an age appropriate manner for children and their parents. One Leader Guide covers all ages, with three Parent Books (Preschool: 3- to 5-year olds, Primary: 6- to 8-year-olds, and Intermediate: 9- to 11-year-olds), and two Participant Books (Primary and Intermediate ages). Session topics include: • We are Wonderfully Made • We are Complex • We are Changing • We are Knowledgeable • We are Equipped • We are Called • We are Growing Up

A meditation and prayer companion for Christians who struggle with depression.

The stigma around mental illness in our culture has had a damaging effect on those who suffer from its grip. As a priest and bishop, Hirschfeld has quietly and secretly been in treatment for depression for decades but now shares his own experience publicly. In this book, he offers short meditations, prayers, and suggestions of how one can follow and call upon Jesus for strength and peace during times of emotional upheaval.

Christians often feel that their experience of depression or mental illness is a reflection of a deficit in their faith. As a result of seeing depression as a moral shortcoming or spiritual failure, we risk more damage to ourselves and even hurt those around us by denying what is really going on. This book, with its prayers and practical suggestions for spiritual and creative practices and resilience, can be a companion for those who suffer so that they may know more deeply the resilient love of Jesus.

Godly Play® is an imaginative approach to working with children, based on Montessori principles.

The kind of help you will find here for your continuing development as a Godly Play teacher supplements the first four volumes of The Complete Guide to Godly Play and their related videos. You will find wisdom about developing the storyteller you already are. There is advice on how to manage time and space in the classical teaching and learning environment for Godly Play. The authors of volume 5 are nearly all accredited Godly Play trainers. It has been written not only to introduce you to some of the next generation of leaders in Godly Play, but also to make available to you the benefit of their experience and insight.

Since there is nothing quite so practical as good theory, there are also reflections about children's education, their spirituality and a theology of childhood for adults. This information is based on what has been learned about children in Godly Play settings around the world so we adults can be guided toward entering the reality Jesus called "the Kingdom of Heaven."

Based upon addresses given to Anglican audiences in North America and Australia, Bill Countryman directly confronts the challenges that face Anglicans and other Western Christians at a time of internal division and increasing indifference to religion on the part of educated elites. He regards these challenges as a work of the Holy Spirit, who is clearing the ground for a new era of building, and help readers start thinking about what kind of future the Spirit is leading us toward.

The book begins by presenting the Spirit as a demolition expert, endeavoring to shake us out of our complacency. It then focuses on three central elements of Christian faith and life: the image of Jesus, the sacraments, and the scriptures, and notes some different ways in which we have seen and utilized them over the ages. It holds out the communion of saints as the key to understanding the ongoing value of the church today. It calls faithful people of all stripes to reject our tendency to turn God’s gifts into idols and to rediscover a humility that will be open to the rebuilding that must now be done with the leadership of the Spirit.

Dementia: a specter that haunts many, either as a fear for the future or as lived reality with a loved one. It has been called the “theological disease” because it affects so much of how we define our humanity: language, long-term memory, and ability to plan the future. The church has a role in bringing hope and shepherding the spiritual journeys of people with dementia and their families. Beginning with current theological models of personhood, concepts about the self and spirituality are explored through the latest research in medicine and neuroscience as well as from work on spirituality and aging. The final chapter focuses on narratives of successful programs in churches and retirement communities designed to minister to people with dementia alongside their families and caregivers.

Spiritually hungry readers who want to breakthrough to a deeper experience of prayer and want practical help for Lent need look no further than to Martin Smith's A Season for the Spirit.

Originally commissioned by the Archbishop of Canterbury in 1991, A Season for the Spirit provides forty daily meditations for Lent, leading us on a journey of discovery in which we find that Christ, through the Spirit, embraces every aspect of our humanity. Each meditation concludes with a prayer and passage of scripture or quotation for further reflection and study. While it aims to assist a daily practice of personal prayer, it is also widely used by groups who pledge to meet regularly so that members can share their thoughts, reactions, and spiritual experiences.

Two ministers share their own stories about struggling to live out their faith.

It’s the sort of experience familiar to many: Somewhere between illness and divorce, abusive relationships and brushes with death, faith failed to provide answers . . . or we failed to live as though we believed faith held answers. But surely, it’s different for clergy, the ones who preach and practice faith? But faith requires more, and authors Martha Spong and Rachel G. Hackenberg, who grew up in the church and became ordained ministers, know first-hand about coming to terms with God and life, the need to search for answers . . . or at least assurance we are not alone in struggling for renewed hope. Denial is My Spiritual Practice is a companion for the wondering and struggling. The authors offer their own stories as evidence that God remains, both when faith fails and when faith finds new understanding. They combine stark life experiences, offbeat spiritual perspectives, and Scripture to offer comfort, grace, laughter, and a few tears along the way.

Faith formation resource for young adults on human sexuality.

Our inherent value and worth comes from God’s love for us, but our modern world is filled with sexual expression that too often leads us away from the life of Christ. As Christians seeking to live a life worthy of our calling and desiring to pass along these values to our children and youth, these books (Leader Guide and Participant Book) offer session plans with activities for Young Adults (ages 18–30) to explore issues of sexuality in the context of our faith, building on the foundational book of the same name and as part of the These Are Our Bodies program resource.

Session topics include: • Holiness • Intimacy • Covenant • Love • Biology • Communication • What is Sacred? • Power and Parity • Mind, Body, and Soul • Brokenness and Shame • Our Bodies: Currency and Creators

Whether he is interviewing God (“I must be the first since Moses to be allowed into your presence”), preaching on “marriage as music,” or reflecting on a visit to his parents’ grave, Friedman always has the power to surprise us and invite us to change. This collection of Edwin Friedman’s writings, most of them unpublished, reveal a different side of this rabbi, teacher, and leadership coach who caused a revolution in viewing human relationships with Generation to Generation.

Organized into life stages, specifically the journey from young adulthood to maturity and death, What Are You Going to Do with Your Life? captures Friedman’s signature wit and playfulness as he cuts straight to the heart of human growth and relationships.

Throughout his life, Friedman eloquently applied the insights of family therapy to churches and synagogues, organizations and businesses—and, of course, to families themselves. He energized and delighted a wide public in his lifetime and continues to engage us with What Are You Going to Do with Your Life?, an essential reader for those seeking life-changing insights.

"God's goodness is bigger than all human badness," writes best-selling author John Claypool. "God's power and willingness to forgive are greater than our human capacity to sin."

The Bible is often held up as a source of family values, but it is also full of families who falter and do so generation after generation. Few families have visited as much evil on each other as Abraham's descendants in Genesis. Using these stories, Claypool explores how God turns the "lead" of evil–like Jacob's theft of Esau's birthright, and Joseph's brothers selling him into slavery in Egypt–into the "gold" of abundant blessing, as alchemists were said to do in the past. God is always more interested in our future, according to Claypool, than in our pasts.

In this book, as in his other books, Claypool explores the biblical texts carefully, and with a pastoral eye for the characters from Genesis and his contemporary readers. This book offers challenge and comfort to people who feel that their sins may be beyond God's concern and their lives beyond redemption.

A profound and spiritual reflection on the Nicene Creed, the basis of Catholic belief.

These meditations, based upon the principal articles of the Nicene Creed, were originally presented by Evelyn Underhill (1875 –1941) at a retreat she conducted at her beloved Pleshy, a small village in England that was the site of her conversion to the Christian faith. The renewed interest in mysticism and spirituality today among Christians of all communions draws heavily from her work. The popularity and use of her books by scholar, lay people, and clergy attest to the originality of her writings and the helpfulness of her spiritual direction.

An accessible primer to theology through the prospective of Anglicanism.

Organized around the topics of systematic theology, Introduction to Theology begins with an exploration of Scripture, then moves through history and tradition to contemporary debates and reconstructions. As a textbook for introductory courses in seminaries of the Episcopal Church, this book also includes references to The Book of Common Prayer, which Anglicans consider a primary source for theology.

This edition pays detailed attention to the many developments in theology since its last revision: the emergence of new perspectives such as womanist, mujerista, narrative, and post-modern theology; the shift in theological methods to incorporate the human sciences, recent critical philosophies, and recent developments in the physical sciences; the ongoing revisions of The Book of Common Prayer and resultant shifts in Anglican identity; and the globalization of theological education, specifically the focus on the Episcopal Church as part of the worldwide Anglican Communion.

This clear, beautifully written tool for congregations engaged in the discernment and search process is a balanced combination of spiritual reflection and practical advice, born of the author's extensive experience as deployment officer in the Episcopal Diocese of New Jersey. The bonus of additional Appendix material, including a sample congregational questionnaire and other invaluable resources, available for free download below, make Calling Clergy a must-read book for parish search committees, vestry members, and other parish leaders.

The Episcopal Church's rituals and foibles, character and characters, beauty and liturgy - seventeen syllables at a time.

Stand, sit, kneel, stand, kneel:
It's quite a good workout for
a Sunday morning.

Blessing animals
is a joyous day at church.
Who has ugly pets?

- and many more!

Episcopal Haiku will delight Episcopalians with its humor and universally recognizable situations.

A series of brief essays, ideal for study groups, that explores the history of the Episcopal Church and its four cornerstones: tradition, experience, reason, and scripture.

A brief guide that shows how this spiritual practice can enrich your life.

From the beginning of creation, God has established the sacred pattern of going and returning, labor and rest. Especially today, God invites us to dedicate time for restoration and wholeness––within our bodies, minds, and souls, and within our communities and institutions. By resting, we place our trust in God, the primary actor who brings all things to their fullness. When we set aside time to rest we receive the gift of God’s grace, peace, and restoration.

This series of seven Little Books of Guidance are designed for you to discover how following certain practices can help you follow Jesus more fully in your daily life.

Exhausted with trying to “fix” the church? It’s time to turn in a new direction: back to the Holy Spirit. In this insightful book, internationally renowned scholar and leader Alan Roxburgh urges Christians to follow the Spirit into our neighborhoods, re-engage with the mission of God, and re-imagine the whole enterprise of church. Joining God, Remaking Church, and Changing the World can guide any church—large or small, suburban or urban, denomination-level or local parish — to become a vital center for spirituality and mission.

A distinctive resource that deals with all the practicalities of the Episcopal culture for those preparing for--and exercising--ministry in the Episcopal Church

What is the appropriate attire for an Episcopal priest at the events associated with the service in the Book of Common Prayer, the “Celebration and Blessing of a Marriage?” What does it mean to be an icon of Christ at a cocktail party? How does one live with sensitive confidential information from a parishioner? These questions might seem almost trivial yet are deeply serious. The Episcopal Church is a distinctive culture: effective ministry needs an understanding of the distinctive Episcopal culture.

At one level, this is a book that introduces and explains the Episcopal faith to a potential priest who wants to be effective in this world. At another level, this book is a reflection on the meaning and nature of the holy mystery of priesthood.

Drawing upon his rich parish experience in the Episcopal Church, Hawkins distils a wealth of practical experience and tips to enhance the training of seminarians and the ministries of established priests. Hawkins takes the reader through the pastoral offices with theological reflection and vignettes in order to encourage “good priestly habits.” Ideal reading for anyone wishing to serve the Episcopal Church in an ordained capacity.

Lent has traditionally been a time for self-denial and penitence, a time to examine the baser aspects of human nature. But the church increasingly recognizes that this negative focus does not always build a relationship with God, especially among women who already struggle with issues of worth and self-esteem. In its wide range of writings, Gifts from Within invites women to spend the time of Lent focusing on their uniqueness and on the gifts of their feminine spiritual nature. This collection points the way for women to deepen their ability to recognize God's love and to live as God directs.

Starting with Ash Wednesday and ending on Easter Day, each day's meditation explores an aspect of women's lives, their unique spirituality, and their heritage in the biblical stories. By connecting their own stories -- some sad and some joyous -- with the biblical texts, readers of these devotions may find Lent to be a time of inspiration instead of merely something to be endured.

This book is an important “history-of-traditions” work in which Godly Play founder Jerome Berryman re-visions religious education as spiritual guidance and traces the history of Montessori religious education through four generations. Berryman then highlights the development of the Godly Play approach to spiritual guidance within this context and concludes with thoughts about the fifth generation and the future of the tradition.

Explores the pastoral implications of a new scholarly understanding of the role of deacons in the Early Church.

In many churches today -- Catholic, Anglican, and others -- deacons have come to serve largely as servants of the poor and needy. In Deacons and the Church, Collins argues that this limited role for deacons was based on misinterpretations of key scriptural passages. Following the history of deacons in the Early Church to modern times, Collins offers extensive reflections on the relevant Scriptures, and suggests that we redefine the role of deacons for today. Rather than limit the role of deacons, he urges the church to adapt ancient meanings to modern pastoral situations. In the words of Ignatius of Antioch, whom he quotes in the final chapter, "Deacons are not providers of bread and drink but are agents of the congregation."

Collins paints a rich picture of deacons as agents of the church, ordained to the service of the bishop, who sends them forth as ministers of the church as a whole, rather than simply social workers. Collins provides an understanding of deacons that embraces social welfare but is not bound by it.

The lives of the saints are either too grisly for little kids or too saccharine for older ones. But this collection appeals to both groups with a combination of gentle humor and frankness – battle-tested at the author’s weekly chapel services at the school where she teaches.

It’s organized into two full school years, with each saint’s story falling on or near his or her special day so that each story can be a springboard to a creative seasonal teaching unit or small festival. Saints represent a wide variety of ethnic and geographic backgrounds.