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Dozens of books about spirituality and management have demonstrated the yearning for spirituality in the workplace that exists in people like Kerry Hamilton. No longer content to abide the widening chasm between their deeply-held values and the all-too-common business practices they encounter, these readers long for congruence between their values and their work. They wonder whether the days of the giants of corporate character like Johnson & Johnson, businesses who believed that integrity and profitability could co-exist, are gone for good. Are we living in a state of business and organizational entropy? Are we doomed to endless repetition of the Enron, Worldcom, and Global Crossing scandals? Must integrity and profitability now be opposed? What has happened to American business, healthcare, and non-profits in the last forty years?

Soul at Work: Spiritual Leadership in Organizations demonstrates vividly that another way is possible, based on the contemporary restoration of the partnership between integrity and profitability. It translates the core of what companies like Johnson and Johnson stood for forty years ago into contemporary forms. Through compelling stories of contemporary businesses, healthcare organizations, and nonprofits, Soul at Work shows how integrity, profitability, and personal and organizational transformation are all of a piece.

A fascinating profile of one of the most colorful, controversial and celebrated religious figures of our time, Malcolm Boyd—best-selling author, civil rights activist, gay cleric, and spiritual director.

Through unparalleled access to the personal recollections, writings, and archival records of Malcolm Boyd, Michael Battle provides profound insight into one of America’s most celebrated—and reviled—public religious figures. In the dialogue between Battle, a younger, black heterosexual Christian, the reader comes to view this older, white, gay Christian’s life of activism and ministry with a fresh perspective.

In times of conflict, the Bible is often used as a club to beat those whose opinions differ from one's own. We recoil from such usage, yet the Bible actually represents many diverse and conflicting points of view. It is like a library, full of books that speak to all sides of every question.

Like Christians today, the communities and individuals who wrote the biblical texts often strongly disagree with each other. Ruth and Ezra, Isaiah and Ezekiel, Micah and Joel, Deuteronomy and Daniel, Mark and John. What would they say to each other? Do they have anything in common? Each of these voices is firmly committed to his or her specific view of "the truth," whether it reflects a particular place or community, a prophet, a style of worship, or an "understanding" of who is in and who is out.

The author guides us in considering how we can do justice to this welter of disparate voices. What can the Bible teach us about living together? How can we use it as a powerful resource for understanding and for moving beyond conflict?

A study guide and template for creating safe spaces for conversation about the tough issues in which the bible may be dividing your community is found at the end of the book.

In this provocative book, the author argues that American Christianity, especially evangelicalism, has been corrupted by the dominance of consumerism in modern life. The church's mostly uncritical adoption of this secular condition has resulted in an idolatrous morphing of the message of Christ into just another brand. With Brand Jesus, Wigg Stevenson names the growing concern felt by many Christians at the commodification of their faith.

Using Paul's letter to the Romans as a starting point, Wigg Stevenson 'reads' the letter to today's church, speaking to our consumerist situation through the parallels with Paul's Rome. Though rooted unapologetically in a love for the church, Brand Jesus does not shy away from provocative claims about the melding of Christian faith and consumer ideals; the rise of market-driven theology; the blurring boundaries between the law and religion; and other topics. Wigg Stevenson describes the current situation of both church and society and issues a challenge to it: When faith is a product for consumption, how can the church be faithful to Christ as living Lord, instead of as Brand Jesus?

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.

The Gospel According to Sam is a collection of thirty "animal stories for the soul," written by William Miller, a priest who's considered to be one of the best preachers in the Episcopal Church. The "Sam" in the title is Miller's Airedale, a lovable, "wounded healer" of a dog who survived a house fire that burned off his ears but couldn't extinguish his spirit. Sam becomes a vehicle for healing, humor, adventure, spiritual growth, and prayer for Miller and his parishioners.

Sam isn't a typical warm-fuzzy, feel-good animal stories book, however. Miller writes with an earthy sense of humor and a Southern voice that has the reader laughing out loud--think of Molly Ivins, but with the voice of faith and prayer added in for good measure, and a low tolerance for sickly sweet theology. But then he slips in the zinger that cuts through the laughter and goes for the soul. His meditations aren't limited to Sam or even just dogs; birds, pigs, squirrels, rabbits, fish, bugs, and even yaks feature in his stories. An honest awareness and appreciation of the depth and breath of life are hallmarks of these real life adventures and thought provoking reflections.

Can we really enjoy the world while trying to save it? Many of us want to do both, but find a balance difficult to achieve. Part how-to and part memoir, Schaper's book shows us a socially responsible way of having it all.

The short, humorous chapters are about simplifying: food, children, money, romance. From the Slow Food Movement to the lighting of simple fires, Schaper provides basic strategies and spiritual solutions for living well and doing good, drawing from her own experience of working for social change while attempting to live fully.

From marine to lay minister, an inspirational story on the power of healing and faith.

“My journey has transformed me from Royal Marine Commander to lay minister of healing. Twenty-five years ago, I was trained to kill or be killed. Now it is my privilege to teach people to heal and be healed.”

This long-awaited sequel to Hand to Hand: From Combat to Healing, Mumford's experience of healing in the trenches, offers vivid snapshots of God at work in the world. These true tales from the author's healing ministry and prayers gives the reader insight into the little-known world of modern miracles.

Inspiring to Christians and non-Christians alike, these accessible stories challenge us to explore the depths of our faith. They will encourage healers in their ministry of prayer and those who are ill to seek physical and spiritual healing for themselves.

Writing for a wide popular audience, philosopher Diogenes Allen examines the problem of human suffering and helps us to discover "traces of God" in the world, even as we suffer from physical pain and loss, natural disaster, and human evil. Written for beginners in the spiritual life, Traces of God describes how we can prepare ourselves for the inevitable sufferings of life. Allen explores the human pilgrimage through adversity and takes a close look at Simone Weil's studies of affliction.

From booting up the computer or driving a car, to pregnancy, childbirth, and sending out a child in shared custody, this collection offers simple prayers for living into and through the joys, anxieties, and complications of modern life. Traditional prayers — on waking, table graces, and preparing for sleep — are included, too.

Phillips is equally at home with lament and thanksgiving; prayers for recovery from a robbery or divorce mingle with thanks for healing and the ordinary ticking of a clock.

Prayers include: A Child’s Breakfast Prayer, Dashboard Prayer, At the Computer, For Watching Television, Writing Checks, Prayer for a Marriage Bed, Delivery Room Prayer, For a Couple Longing to Conceive, A Prayer for Imperfect Parents, Out of This Muddle, After a Robbery.

Since earliest times Christians have used pebbles, a string of knots, or beads on a cord to keep track of their prayers, and prayer beads can be found in virtually every major religious tradition in the world. Anglicans and other Protestants have also begun to use the rosary to help refresh a life of prayer--it creates a rhythm that helps wean us from our distractions and focus our attention so that we can more readily move into God's presence. As the beads and prayers recede into the background, the mysteries that make up the rosary come into our minds and hearts like religious pictures or icons.

First published in 1975, J. Neville Ward's unusual collection of meditations offer an entirely new approach to the rosary for all Christians. He begins with its traditional use and then offers fifteen insights into the life of Jesus and his mother Mary that can speak to us today. Thus a meditation on the sorrowful themes reminds us of the suffering that is so much a part of our own lives, while the joyful and glorious mysteries speak of the desire for faith, hope, and love that will heal them. These reflections serve up a rich spiritual repast for Christians seeking new contemplative practices and learning to pray with the rosary.

An introduction and guide to “sustainable ministry,” which empowers pastors and church leaders to focus on their inner resources for proactive leadership.

Church leadership does not have to be a recipe for burnout. There is an easier way, one that is doable, effective, and sustainable. It is counterintuitive, so help is needed to get it right. In this book, Margaret Marcuson shares her experiences and guides church leaders to a more sustainable leadership.

In this book, learn how you can:

• Be more of a leader and less of a controller.
• Adopt a new system of seeing yourself and those you lead.
• Focus on yourself and the resources you bring rather than trying to help, fix, or change others.
• Respond to others with clarity, calm, and creativity.
• Remain more thoughtful during challenge and crisis.
• Increase your influence without increasing your workload.
• Reduce your overall stress about issues of congregational life.

“Why did I give advice to Eve instead of going directly to Adam? I knew I would never be able to stop the Creator’s overall plan, but I thought I might really be able to frustrate it if I could screw up some relationships.” So speaks Satan as The First Family Counselor in this collection of Edwin Friedman’s most popular essays, edited by his daughter, Shira Friedman Bogart.

Friedman’s signature wit and playfulness goes straight to the heart of human relationships from one generation to another. Throughout his life, Friedman eloquently applied the insights of family therapy to churches and synagogues, rectors and rabbis, politicians and teachers, and his humor, sense of paradox, and unique style of storytelling were trademarks of his teaching style.

A resource for working through conflict with dialogue toward the goal of peace.

Building Dialogue is intended as an aide to inter-contextual analysis of conflict and practices of peace. This book emerges from inter-cultural relationships and discernment. Based on a three-year effort by a community of scholars and practitioners from across the Anglican Communion who reflected on the nature of conflict in relation to Christian visions of peace.

"For just strolling, walking, and running are bodily exercises, so spiritual exercises are methods of preparing the soul," wrote St. Ignatius in his "Spiritual Exercises." In her homage to this classic, Nancy Roth offers a rationale and overview of contemporary prayer practices that prepare the soul in the here and now through a variety of exercises that honor the link between "body" and spirit" and lead the body to express itself in prayer.

To help us in our quest to integrate physical well-being with spiritual practice, Roth introduces and leads us through many different disciplines, including Pilates, Tai Chi, yoga, dance, strength training, and aerobic exercises. After summarizing their origins, she describes each discipline clearly, with three or four examples, and then discusses how this particular form of exercise provides a metaphor for the spiritual journey. Other sections discuss breathing and posture, alignment, and progressive relaxation, while the final chapter helps us think through all the different offerings presented here and decide which we might incorporate into our own lives of prayer.

Beginning with Palm Sunday, the gospels record every day of Jesus’ life up to the time of his death and resurrection. These eight days are unparalleled in the canon of Scripture for their narrative power, their detail, and their focus. A unique synthesis of the four gospel accounts of the passion and resurrection of Christ is provided in this seamless and elegant narrative account of the Easter events, including every detail mentioned in all four Gospels, but without any unnecessary repetition or distracting references.

A chapter is assigned to each of these days to facilitate devotional reading and study during the days leading up to Easter. Two chapters are added on either side of the eight days to round out the story. A study guide is also included.

The book invites reader to experience the events of Christ’s passion as they happened, thus fully entering into the drama of the Easter story. More than anything, this book is an invitation to join Jesus and the disciples in walking the road that leads to Jerusalem, and to experience the events that happened there in an intimate and life-changing way.

A groundbreaking collection of writings that place queer ritual at the center of the theological conversation.

In this collection of essays, leading scholars in queer theology and liturgical studies explore the ways in which the distinctive theological voices of LGBTQIA+ Christians challenge and expand thinking and practice around worship in new directions. This challenge has expanded in the past decades, as obstacles to the full participation of queer Christians—particularly in marriage and ordination—have fallen.

Organized into three main parts, the volume begins with an introduction to queer engagement with ritual practices, continues with a series of case studies that examine queer texts and contexts, and concludes with an examination of the horizons of queer liturgical theology and practice. Throughout the volume, Queering Christian Worship provides new imagination and tools to those who study and curate Christian worship across traditions.

A desire and demand to know more about the Jewish legacy of Christian identity is growing among laity. A similar desire to foster interfaith understanding and dialogue is growing among leaders of local churches.

Why Is There a Menorah on the Altar? seeks to meet these demands by providing information and insight about Judaism’s legacy as it is revealed in Christian rites, rituals, and traditions. Drawing upon scripture and historical sources, this book explains how Judaism has influenced the structure of liturgical worship; the design and décor of church sanctuaries; and how Baptism, Eucharist, and Confirmation find their roots in Judaism.

This book invites readers to develop a deeper understanding of Judaism, one that will enrich their Christianity and appreciation for their enduring Jewish heritage. Includes: questions for reflection; activities for individuals or groups; and easy-to-follow timelines.

The world has changed, but will the church keep up? This seminal report from the Church of England evaluates the changing religious landscape and introduces exciting new forms of church that speak directly to their diverse mission contexts. The Archbishop of Canterbury's Council on Mission and Public Affairs collaborated to research and produce the Mission-Shaped Church report in 2004, and Seabury Books is the new North American Publisher.