Religion

This history of early Christian creeds contains an up-to-date account of their origin and development from the credal texts in the New Testament to the fully fledged classical formulae of the 4^th century. It includes the creeds’ use and alteration in subsequent periods until the time of Charlemagne and the beginnings of the filioque controversy. In addition, the author provides a scholarly commentary on the most common ancient confessions: the Nicene Creed and the Apostles’ Creed.

Going beyond previous studies, the book contains chapters dedicated to the use of creeds in law, art, music, everyday life and even magic. Recently discovered source texts, such as a new Ethiopic version of the Roman Creed and a short recension of the Creed of Nicaea-Constantinople, receive extensive treatment. Credal developments in the eastern churches beyond the borders of the Roman Empire complete this comprehensive overview.

This volume is intended both as a textbook for advanced students of theology and cognate disciplines and as a reference book on the creeds in a wide range of contexts. All source texts are accompanied by modern English translations.

Winner of the Alberigo Award 2024 awarded by the European Academy of Religion.

Takes seriously youths’ ownership of their sexual choices within purity culture

Gaining mass popularity in the mid-1990s with the True Love Waits rally on the Washington Mall, purity culture began as an urge from evangelical conservatives for Christian adolescents to publicly commit to practicing abstinence until marriage. Throughout this decade and the next, millions of evangelical teenagers performed their commitment to sexual purity by signing pledges and wearing purity rings.

This book examines the shaping of purity culture in the United States, looking specifically at the experiences of white youth. It shows that white girls and white queer youth were vulnerable to the purity movement, but that they were also complicit in its white supremacist oppressive structure. It makes the case that purity culture follows in the footsteps of other purity movements in the United States, and is very much tied to centuries of anti-Black racism and xenophobia in US social history, seeing white youth as in need of protection, usually from a racialized, sexualized other.

While other works have focused on the ways in which purity culture has victimized young people, Sawyer argues that their perceived status as victims lets them too easily off the hook. White youth have been afforded the privilege of participating in purity culture’s harmful behaviors without being called to account. Closely reading adolescents’ stories of growing up in purity culture, she uncovers youth as agents, participants, and beneficiaries of its white supremacist framing, even as they were still vulnerable to its harmful teachings.

Pulling from the riches of The Prayer Book Office and the Contemporary Office Book, Prayer Book Offices includes both Rite I and Rite II versions of the round of offices from the Book of Common Prayer. Additionally, the volume includes canticles, the Psalter, Collects, and the full cycle of readings for Years One and Two and Holy Days in the Daily Office Lectionary. The book is Smyth Sewn Case Bound Flex Case, Bonded Leather with gold foil stamped, and includes four ribbons.

To celebrate the completion of the twenty-year project to translate The Zohar, Stanford University Press is pleased to offer a complete set of all twelve volumes of The Zohar: Pritzker Edition.

Sefer ha-Zohar (The Book of Radiance) has amazed readers ever since it emerged in Spain over seven hundred years ago. Written in a lyrical Aramaic, the Zohar, the masterpiece of Kabbalah, features mystical interpretation of the Torah, from Genesis to Deuteronomy.

The Zohar: Pritzker Edition volumes present the first translation ever made from a critical Aramaic text of the Zohar, which has been established by Professor Daniel C. Matt (along with Nathan Wolski and Joel Hecker) based on a wide range of original manuscripts. Every one of the twelve volumes provides extensive commentary, appearing at the bottom of each page, clarifying the kabbalistic symbolism and terminology, and citing sources and parallels from biblical, rabbinic, and kabbalistic texts.

An essential interfaith resource for university chaplains and spiritual leaders in higher education.

In an increasingly heterogenous age, any university chaplains and spiritual leaders struggle to center their student communities, aware of vast diversities in their needs – the prayers of one tradition are rarely sufficient to honor the many paths their students may be travelling. With this heartfelt collection of interfaith prayers, Janet Fuller leverages the fruits of 40 years of chaplaincy to bridge this gap, offering sample prayers and spiritual direction for use across all communities of learning, from the first day of school to the bittersweet crossroads of graduation. Chaplains will find support for all the essential student struggles, including new beginnings, athletics, loneliness, and the search for hope.

For use in part or whole, or as templates for other prayers, these blessings provide a voice for academic communities as they gather to give thanks, remember, and look to the future, all using language that commends itself to many spiritual paths or none at all. The prayers can also be adapted for chaplain use in hospitals, prisons, continuous care retirement communities, military gatherings, and many others. In a time when many exhibit a disinclination to hear with ears or hearts, Blessings for Your Students invites readers to listen closely to the power of prayer.

The leading source of information on the Episcopal Church

With origins dating back to 1830, The Episcopal Church Annual – aka “The Red Book” – is an indispensable reference tool, trusted year-after-year by churches, diocesan offices, libraries, and many others. You will find the following between the covers of the 2024 edition of “The Red Book”, and more:

• A comprehensive directory of provinces, dioceses, and churches, including contact information and listings of active clergy
• The canonical structure and organization of the Episcopal Church, including complete directories for the Office of The General Convention, The House of Bishops, The House of Deputies, standing committees and commissions, and more
• Listings and contact information for seminaries; Episcopal schools; centers for camps, conferences, and retreats; Episcopal Church Women; and more
• Up-to-date church-wide statistical data and chronological tables
• A classified buyer’s guide of vendors and organizations offering valued services to the church

A comprehensive, easy-to-understand primer to the Episcopal faith for new members, inquirers, and Church members who are unfamiliar with its history, beliefs, and practices.

Written in accessible language and in a conversational tone, this introduction to the Episcopal Church is the ideal resource for adult parish study, newcomers, and others interested individuals. From an Episcopal perspective, the author explores the Church’s history, worship, beliefs, spiritual life, organization of the church, mission and outreach, and the way followers read and understand the Bible. Study questions accompany each chapter.

"Welcome to the Episcopal Church makes clear that the worship of God is the most important thing that can be said about us, and that worship is the source for everything else in our life together--our commitment to justice for all people, our mission to those who do not yet know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, and how we should live out our lives in this very complex world.”—from the Foreword, The Most Rev. Frank T. Griswold III, Presiding Bishop and Primate

A beautiful and durable gift edition of the Book of Common Prayer.

A gold cross is stamped on the bonded leather cover in your choice of five colors, with gilt edges, a presentation page, and two satin ribbon markers. Certificates of Baptism, Confirmation, and Marriage are included. 9-point font size. This is the standard Book of Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments and Other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church together with The Psalter or Psalms of David according to use in the Episcopal Church in the United States as authorized in 1979.

Twenty-five double-sided index-weight register pages plus title page. Hole-punched for Guests of Our Church Register. Spaces for date, name, address, telephone, and e-mail address. Shrink wrapped.

The Bible shaped nearly every aspect of Jewish life in the ancient world, from activities as obvious as attending synagogue to those which have lost their scriptural resonance in modernity, such as drinking water and uttering one’s last words. And within a scriptural universe, no work exerted more force than the Psalter, the most cherished text among all the books of the Hebrew Bible.

A Life of Psalms in Jewish Late Antiquity clarifies the world of late ancient Judaism through the versatile and powerful lens of the Psalter. It asks a simple set of questions: Where did late ancient Jews encounter the Psalms? How did they engage with the work? And what meanings did they produce? A. J. Berkovitz answers these queries by reconstructing and contextualizing a diverse set of religious practices performed with and on the Psalter, such as handling a physical copy, reading from it, interpreting it exegetically, singing it as liturgy, invoking it as magic and reciting it as an act of piety. His book draws from and contributes to the fields of ancient Judaism, biblical reception, book history and the history of reading.

The historical separation between Judaism and Christianity is often figured as a clearly defined break of a single entity into two separate religions. Following this model, there would have been one religion known as Judaism before the birth of Christ, which then took on a hybrid identity. Even before its subsequent division, certain beliefs and practices of this composite would have been identifiable as Christian or Jewish.In Border Lines, however, Daniel Boyarin makes a striking case for a very different way of thinking about the historical development that is the partition of Judaeo-Christianity.

There were no characteristics or features that could be described as uniquely Jewish or Christian in late antiquity, Boyarin argues. Rather, Jesus-following Jews and Jews who did not follow Jesus lived on a cultural map in which beliefs, such as that in a second divine being, and practices, such as keeping kosher or maintaining the Sabbath, were widely and variably distributed. The ultimate distinctions between Judaism and Christianity were imposed from above by "border-makers," heresiologists anxious to construct a discrete identity for Christianity. By defining some beliefs and practices as Christian and others as Jewish or heretical, they moved ideas, behaviors, and people to one side or another of an artificial border—and, Boyarin significantly contends, invented the very notion of religion.

A timely and compassionate resource that equips religious leaders to engage with the reality of trauma within their congregations.

Grounded in both lived experience and theological depth, this guide sheds light on the pervasive impact of sexual, racial, and generational trauma in the U.S., urging faith communities to become intentional spaces of refuge and restoration. Through a powerful call to “hold space,” it offers practical tools for pastors and ministry leaders to walk alongside those carrying deep wounds. It reframes the role of the Church—not merely as a place of spiritual guidance, but as a sanctuary where healing and wholeness can take root. With a focus on embodiment, community, and the sacredness of vulnerability, Sanctuary of Healing provides a vital roadmap for transforming congregations into havens of empathy, resilience, and hope.

How Henry Ford institutionalized a social gospel

Henry Ford did not just mass produce cars. As a member of the Episcopal Church, reader of New Thought texts, believer in the “gospel of reincarnation,” mass marketer of antisemitic material, and employer who institutionalized a social gospel, Henry Ford’s contributions to American models of business were informed by and produced for an America he understood to be broadly Christian. Though Ford’s efforts at the head of the Ford Motor Company have commonly been understood as secular, Ford himself was explicit that his work in engineering and auto production was prophetic and meant to remake the world.

This religious history of Henry Ford and the Ford Motor Company repositions them within critical studies of religion, examining how Ford transformed American religious practice in the twentieth century. Drawing directly on documents from Ford’s archive, it examines Ford’s mass production methods and bureaucratic reforms as examples of prosperity gospel traditions, illuminating the ways manufacturing and technology intersect with American religious practice. Bridging American religious and industrial history, Assembling Religion offers a new and surprising way to understand Ford’s impact on culture, commerce, and the technology of labor.

An exploration—and an affirmation—of the connection between the Church’s sacraments of initiation.​

Inviting the unbaptized to participate in the Eucharist has become an increasingly common practice in churches, as Christian communities explore ways to use the sacraments as an expression of openness and service. In this volume, sacramental theologian Shawn Strout reconsiders this trend. Arguing from church history, sacramental theology, and liturgical practice, Strout shows how baptism and the Eucharist form an indissoluble bond that is central to Christian initiation and community. The book’s conclusion turns to pastoral considerations and ecumenical relationships, showing the significance of the traditional ordo of baptism and Eucharist for the church.

An important text for clergy, scholars, and church leaders, Bound Together: Baptism, Eucharist, and the Church offers important reflections on an issue of pressing concern.

The Chancel Edition features an attractive blue hardcover with a 10 point font size.

This is the standard Book of Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments and Other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church together with The Psalter or Psalms of David according to use in the Episcopal Church in the United States as authorized in 1979.

Explores the joys and challenges of vestry service.

Created to meet the needs of pastors and church staff seeking gifts of appreciation for church members such as LEMs, lay members, choir and vestry members, and others. Each volume offers support, guidance, and education geared specifically to one particular group or ministry within the church. Individual meditations are based on quotations from the Bible, The Book of Common Prayer, or hymns from the 1982 Hymnal, and prayers specific to the needs of each audience. Designed with the church budget in mind, these affordable books acknowledge important passages and ministries in the life of the people of God.

The complete readings for the Revised Common Lectionary Years A, B, and C as authorized by the 2006 General Convention of the Episcopal Church, together with readings for the major Holy Days of the church year, in the NRSV translation.

• The RCL goes into official use in the Episcopal Church on the First Sunday of Advent 2007 and will replace the three-year lectionary currently in the Book of Common Prayer.
• Many congregations have already begun to use the RCL, and all congregations must be using it by 2010.

This handsome, well-made cloth edition with two ribbon markers and a lay-flat binding is ideal for use in a pulpit or lectern.

Charts the development of progressive Christianity’s engagement with modern science, historical criticism, and liberal humanism

Christians who have doubts about the existence of God? Who do not believe in the divinity of Jesus? Who reject the accuracy of the Bible? The New Heretics explores the development of progressive Christianity, a movement of Christians who do not reject their identity as Christians, but who believe Christianity must be updated for today’s times and take into consideration modern science, historical criticism, and liberal humanism.

Drawing on three years of ethnographic fieldwork in North America, Rebekka King focuses on testimonies of deconversion, collective reading practices, and the ways in which religious beliefs and practices are adapted to fit secular lives. King introduces the concept of “lived secularity” as a category with which to examine the ways in which religiosity often is entangled with and subsumed by secular identities over and against religious ones. This theoretical framework provides insight into the study of religious and cultural hybridity, new emerging groups such as “the nones,” atheism, religious apostasy, and multi-religious identities.

The New Heretics pays close attention to the ways that progressive Christians understand themselves vis-à-vis a conservative or fundamentalist Christian “other,” providing context concerning the presumed divide between the religious right and the religious left. King shows that while it might be tempting to think of progressive Christians as atheists, there are religious and moral dimensions to their disbelief. For progressive Christians the act of questioning and rejecting God—alongside other theological tenets—is framed as a moral activity. Ultimately, the book showcases the importance of engaging with the ethics of belief in understanding contemporary Christianity.

How Coptic Christian migrants reshape religious identity through the imagination of US empire

Coptic Orthodox Christians comprise the largest Christian community in the Middle East and are among the oldest Christian communities in the world. While once the objects of American missionary efforts, in recent years Copts have been in the spotlight for their Christianity. A spate of ISIS-related bombings and attacks have garnered worldwide attention, leading to a series of efforts from US politicians, think tanks, and NGOs to re-channel their efforts into “saving” these Middle Eastern Christians from Muslims. The increased targeting of Copts has also contributed to the moral imaginary of the “Persecuted Church,” particularly among American evangelicals, which embraces the idea that Christians around the globe are currently being persecuted more than any other time in history.

Drawing on years of extensive fieldwork among Coptic migrants between Egypt and the United States, Martyrs and Migrants examines how American religious imaginaries of global Christian persecution have remapped Coptic collective memory of martyrdom. Transnational Copts have navigated the sociopolitical conditions in Egypt and the global consequences of the US “war on terror” by translating their suffering into the ambiguous forms of religious and political visibility. Candace Lukasik argues that the commingling of American conservatives and Copts has shaped a new kind of Christian kinship in blood, operating through a double movement between glorification and racialization. Occupying a position between threat and victim, Copts from the Middle East have been subject to anti-terror surveillance in the US even as they have leveraged their roles as “persecuted Christians.” Through Lukasik’s careful examination of the everyday processes shaping Coptic communal formation, Martyrs and Migrants broadly reveals how ideologies of spiritual kinship are forged through theological histories of martyrdom and of blood, demonstrating the global dynamics and imperial politics of contemporary Christianity.

Resource for clergy to give/use with couples seeking to be wed in an Episcopal Church

Many couples come to an Episcopal Church seeking a place to hold their wedding ceremony because they love the setting in our beautiful churches. Others seek to be married in the Episcopal Church because their parents are members and/or it was the church of their childhood but have lapsed in attendance. While marriage is a tradition for many rooted in the religious tradition, the church continues to be an agent of the state in performing the legal components. And some couples are deeply connected to their parish family and seek a marriage grounded in the rites of the church.

Intended as an accessible resource, clergy can give this book to couples and use as a preparation tool in planning “The Celebration and Blessing of a Marriage” in the Episcopal Church. This book will satisfy the request clergy often receive from individuals (as well as newcomers, unmarried parents, same gender couples, those seeking remarriage) who desire to be married but don’t know what is involved from an Episcopal perspective. It includes essays, an outline and explanation of the marriage service, and how couples can live out the promises they make to one another.

Church Publishing Incorporated is pleased to offer this new and expanded volume of optional commemorations of significant figures in the history of The Episcopal Church. It replaces the popular Holy Women, Holy Men. By action of the 2015 General Convention, A Great Cloud of Witnesses is being made available for devotional or catechetical use and for use in public worship throughout the Church.

GCW reflects the lively experience of holiness, especially on the level of the local community. GCW is accordingly a useful tool for learning about the history of the church and identifying those who have inspired and challenged us from the time of the New Testament to the present.

Each entry includes a biographical narrative of the person or people, highlighting the significance of their life and witness. A devotional collect is provided in both Rite I and Rite II language and a set of indexing “tags” suggests how the entry fits into the broader scope of Christian history and delineates the Christian gifts and virtues that may have inspired the person’s ministries.

Also available as 3-ring hardcover foil stamped binder with loose leaf pages and tabs. The binder allows for insertions and deletions by action of future General Conventions without repurchasing the bound edition.

These tasteful cards inform the family of the deceased that a memorial gift has been given in memory of their loved one. Printed in purple on off-white vellum card stock. Includes matching envelopes.

Outside reads: In Memoriam.

Inside reads: To the glory of God and in loving memory of _________. A gift has been presented to ___________ by ________________.

When Jesus was five he killed a boy, or so reports the Infancy Gospel of Thomas. A little boy had run into Jesus by accident, bumping him on the shoulder, and Jesus took offense: "Jesus was angry and said to him, 'You shall go no further on your way,' and instantly the boy fell down and died." A second story recounts how Jesus transformed mud into living birds, while yet another has Joseph telling Mary to keep Jesus in the house so that no one else gets hurt. What was life really like in the household of Joseph, Mary, and little Jesus? The canon of the New Testament provides few details, but ancient Christians, wanting to know more, would turn to the texts we know as the "Infancy Gospels."

The Infancy Gospel of Thomas is a collection of stories from the mid-second century C.E. describing events in the life of Jesus between the ages of five and twelve. The Proto-gospel of James, also dating from the second century, focuses on Mary and likewise includes episodes from her childhood. These gospels are often cast aside as marginal character sketches, designed to assure the faithful that signs of divine grace cropped up in the early years of both Mary and Jesus. Christopher A. Frilingos contends instead that the accounts are best viewed as meditations on family. Both gospels offer rich portrayals of household relationships at a time when ancient Christians were locked in a fierce debate about family—not only on the question of what a Christian family ought to look like but also on whether Christians should pursue family life at all.

Describing the conflicts of family life, the gospels present Jesus, Mary, and Joseph in moments of weakness and strength, reminding early Christians of the canyon separating human ignorance and divine knowledge. According to Frilingos, the depicted acts of love and courage performed in the face of great uncertainty taught early Christian readers the worth of human relationships.

Provides an illuminating look at the diverse world of Black religious life in North America, focusing particularly outside of mainstream Christian churches

From the Moorish Science Temple to the Peace Mission Movement of Father Divine to the Commandment Keepers sect of Black Judaism, myriad Black new religious movements developed during the time of the Great Migration. Many of these stood outside of Christianity, but some remained at least partially within the Christian fold. The Black Coptic Church is one of these.

Black Coptics combined elements of Black Protestant and Black Hebrew traditions with Ethiopianism as a way of constructing a divine racial identity that embraced the idea of a royal Egyptian heritage for its African American followers, a heroic identity that was in stark contrast to the racial identity imposed on African Americans by the white dominant culture. This embrace of a royal Blackness—what McKinnis calls an act of “fugitive spirituality”—illuminates how the Black Coptic tradition in Chicago and beyond uniquely employs a religio-performative imagination.

McKinnis asks, ‘What does it mean to imagine Blackness?’ Drawing on ten years of archival research and interviews with current members of the church, The Black Coptic Church offers a look at a group that insisted on its own understanding of its divine Blackness. In the process, it provides a more complex look at the diverse world of Black religious life in North America, particularly within non-mainstream Christian churches.

These short readings, one for each day of the year, offer deep inspiration for readers who want to develop a more spiritually grounded lifestyle.

In the midst of our busy world we need islands of calm. Each of these daily readings is paired with a quotation from one of the world’s great philosophers, poets, saints, and sages. Easwaran taught spiritual living for forty years, and his commentaries show how the wisdom of the ages can guide us in our own lives.

Augustine and Einstein, Emily Dickinson and Jalaladdin Rumi, Biblical verses, Buddhist sutras, Hasidic proverbs, and Hindu Upanishads can all be found here. As we go through the year with Easwaran, some days will be joyful, some will be hard, but each one can further our journey. One day at a time is enough.

Shortlist, 2025 Best First Book in the History of Religions, given by the American Academy of Religion

Reframes religion’s role in twentieth-century American public education

The processes of secularization and desegregation were among the two most radical transformations of the American public school system in all its history. Many regard the 1962 and 1963 US Supreme Court rulings against school prayer and Bible-reading as the end of religion in public schools. Likewise, the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education case is seen as the dawn of school racial equality. Yet, these two major twentieth-century American educational movements are often perceived as having no bearing on one another.

Without a Prayer redefines secularization and desegregation as intrinsically linked. Using New York City as a window into a national story, the volume argues that these rulings failed to successfully remove religion from public schools, because it was worked into the foundation of the public education structure, especially how public schools treated race and moral formation. Moreover, even public schools that were not legally segregated nonetheless remained racially segregated in part because public schools rooted moral lessons in an invented tradition—Judeo-Christianity—and in whiteness.

The book illuminates how both secularization and desegregation took the form of inculcating students into white Christian norms as part of their project of shaping them into citizens. Schools and religious and civic constituents worked together to promote programs such as juvenile delinquency prevention, moral and spiritual values curricula, and racial integration advocacy. At the same time, religiously and racially diverse community members drew on, resisted, and reimagined public school morality.

Drawing on research from a number of archival repositories, newspaper and legal databases, and visual and material culture, Without a Prayer shows how religion and racial discrimination were woven into the very fabric of public schools, continuing to inform public education’s everyday practices even after the Supreme Court rulings.

PSALM 84
1 How dear to me is your dwelling, o God of hosts!*
My soul has a desire and longing for your courts;
My heart and my flesh rejoice in the living God
2 The sparrow has found her a house
and the swallow a nest where she may lay her young,*
by the side of your altars, O God of hosts,
my Ruler and my God.
3 Happy are they who dwell in your house;*
they will always be praising you.

For several years, the sisters of The Order of Saint Helena, a monastic community in the Episcopal Church, have been revising their services of worship. The primary goal of the revision is opening up the human vocabulary of prayer and expanding the ways in which we name and worship God.

This version of the Psalter, based upon the translation in the Book of Common Prayer, softens the exclusively male Hebrew terminology for the Creator God and recasts texts in ways that avoid the need for a he (or she) personal pronoun.

The Book of Common Prayer (BCP) and the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible are an excellent, logical combination for daily devotion and study, as well as on Sundays during the liturgy. This combined volume eliminates the need to carry two books.

The NRSV translation of the Bible is accurate, elegant, highly acclaimed by scholars, and enjoys wide use in congregations of the Episcopal Church. This edition contains the Apocrypha.

The Book of Common Prayer and lectionary titles have been updated to include the Revised Common Lectionary, according to Resolution A077 of the 75th General Convention.

Arriving to you in a sturdy, attractive box, this compact volume has five ribbon markers and a leather cover in red or black. Print size is 9-point.

Includes two liturgies approved for trial use by the 78th General Convention of The Episcopal Church: “I Will Bless You and You Will Be a Blessing: The Witnessing and Blessing of a Marriage” and “Celebration and Blessing of a Marriage 2”. These are presented in a beautiful remembrance booklet featuring an embossed cover with a cross and lettering rendered in gold leaf. Includes space to record names of the wedding party and special guests. The Declaration of Intention and the Marriage Certificate, are included in the booklet. Interior pages are printed in red and black. Includes envelope.

Ideal for families and congregations, selections from the Book of Common Prayer in Spanish and English.

This bilingual edition features selected materials from the Book of Common Prayer in English and a newly authorized Spanish translation. Included are liturgies for morning and evening prayer, compline, baptism, marriage, the Holy Eucharist, reconciliation of a penitent, and burial of the dead, as well as selected psalms, prayers, and thanksgivings. This edition was created to support the liturgical and pastoral needs of families and bilingual congregations.

Ideal para familias y congregaciones, selecciones del Libro de Oración Común en español e inglés.

Esta edición bilingüe presenta materiales seleccionados del Libro de Oración Común en inglés y una traducción al español recientemente autorizada. Se incluyen liturgias para oraciones matutinas y vespertinas, completas, bautismos, matrimonios, la Santa Eucaristía, reconciliaciones de penitentes y entierros de muertos, así como salmos, oraciones y agradecimientos seleccionados. Esta edición se creó para apoyar las necesidades litúrgicas y pastorales de las familias y congregaciones bilingües.

73rd National Jewish Book Awards Finalist


Charts how changes to Jewish education in the nineteenth century served as a site for the wholescale reimagining of Judaism itself

The earliest Jewish Sunday schools were female-led, growing from one school in Philadelphia established by Rebecca Gratz in 1838 to an entire system that educated vast numbers of Jewish youth across the country. These schools were modeled on Christian approaches to religious education and aimed to protect Jewish children from Protestant missionaries. But debates soon swirled around the so-called sorry state of “feminized” American Jewish supplemental learning, and the schools were taken over by men within one generation of their creation. It is commonly assumed that the critiques were accurate and that the early Jewish Sunday school was too feminized, saccharine, and dependent on Christian paradigms. Tracing the development of these schools from their inception through the first decade of the twentieth century, this book shows this was not the reality.

Jewish Sunday Schools argues that the work of the women who shepherded Jewish education in the early Jewish Sunday school had ramifications far outside the classroom. Indeed, we cannot understand the nineteenth-century American Jewish experience, and how American Judaism sought to sustain itself in an overwhelmingly Protestant context, without looking closely at the development of these precursors to Hebrew School.

Jewish Sunday Schools provides an in-depth portrait of a massively understudied movement that acted as a vital means by which American Jews explored and reconciled their religious and national identities.

Finalist for the 2021 National Jewish Book Award in American Jewish Studies

Honorable Mention, 2021 Saul Viener Book Prize, given by the American Jewish Historical Society

Reveals nostalgia as a new way of maintaining Jewish continuity

In 2007, the Museum at Eldridge Street opened at the site of a restored nineteenth-century synagogue originally built by some of the first Eastern European Jewish immigrants in New York City. Visitors to the museum are invited to stand along indentations on the floor where footprints of congregants past have worn down the soft pinewood. Here, many feel a palpable connection to the history surrounding them.

Beyond the Synagogue argues that nostalgic activities such as visiting the Museum at Eldridge Street or eating traditional Jewish foods should be understood as American Jewish religious practices. In making the case that these practices are not just cultural, but are actually religious, Rachel B. Gross asserts that many prominent sociologists and historians have mistakenly concluded that American Judaism is in decline, and she contends that they are looking in the wrong places for Jewish religious activity. If they looked outside of traditional institutions and practices, such as attendance at synagogue or membership in Jewish Community Centers, they would see that the embrace of nostalgia provides evidence of an alternative, under-appreciated way of being Jewish and of maintaining Jewish continuity.

Tracing American Jews’ involvement in a broad array of ostensibly nonreligious activities, including conducting Jewish genealogical research, visiting Jewish historic sites, purchasing books and toys that teach Jewish nostalgia to children, and seeking out traditional Jewish foods, Gross argues that these practices illuminate how many American Jews are finding and making meaning within American Judaism today.

“This is one of the best books on Zen and Zen practice that I have read in years. Busshō uses a well-known Zen song/poem to elucidate the key features of Zen meditation, practice and life….It brings the famous Zen master’s teaching alive while also showing how it is relevant to Zen practice in the 21st century." —Tim Burkett, author of Nothing Holy About It and Zen in the Age of Anxiety

Foreword Book of the Year Finalist (Nonfiction: Religion)

Singing and Dancing Are the Voice of the Law introduces us to one of the great works of Zen literature, “The Song of Zazen.” Zen teacher Busshō Lahn illuminates Hakuin’s enigmatic poem in plain language, unpacking it and applying it to contemporary life. His book offers a wealth of information on the context and content of this eighteenth-century work, clearly evoking its themes of abiding wisdom, meditation, compassionate self-regard, and our own everyday life’s potential to express deep spiritual truth.

Short stanza by short stanza, this exceptionally readable and deeply engaging book shows how the poem’s teachings and invitations are as applicable now as they were when they were first written nearly three centuries ago. Lahn offers readers an intuitive and progressive path of exploration of their spiritual lives, regardless of their faith tradition.

A must-have for every search Committee.

The Episcopal Clerical Directory is the biennial directory of all living clergy in good standing in the Episcopal Church—more than 18,000 deacons, priests, and bishops. It includes full biographical information and ministry history for each cleric.

This 30th anniversary edition presents the unique approach of Listening Hearts to the spiritual practice of discernment for a new generation.

Written to make the often elusive and usually clergy-centered spiritual practice of discernment accessible to all people, Listening Hearts features simple reflections and exercises drawn from scripture and from Quaker and Ignatian traditions. The seminal work in the Listening Hearts Series, this book has been a beloved resource for tens of thousands of individual readers, retreat participants, small groups, and church leaders listening for and responding to God’s call in their lives.

“With updated language, revised appendices, and added stories, Listening Hearts can impart the deep wisdom embedded in its pages to new generations of those who seek to answer the call of Jesus to ‘follow me’.” –The Most Rev. Michael B. Curry, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church

A leading expert shares important benchmarks for leading liturgy.
Grounded in Christian liturgical theology and how ritual forms the people who practice it, this book offers the principles at work in good liturgical practice, guidance for making liturgical choices, and best practices in leading and presiding over liturgical worship.
Topics include curating liturgy and leading with excellence, principles for liturgical planning and presiding, and best practices for the Eucharist and Baptism. The author draws on his wide-ranging work in ritual theory to provide a practical guide that clergy and lay leaders in the Episcopal Church will find to be an essential resource. Those in other denominations will also find this book to be a useful reference in a standard setting.

Ideal as a pew book or gift, this prayer book features luxurious imitation leather binding with a soft, matte finish in your choice of four colors.

A textured cross is embossed on the cover. The prayer book is sturdily assembled, with Smyth-sewn pages and a spine that won't crack under heavy use. A presentation page and certificates for the rites of Baptism, Confirmation, and Marriage are included. 9-point font.

This is the standard Book of Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments and Other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church together with The Psalter or Psalms of David according to use in the Episcopal Church in the United States as authorized in 1979.

In Biblical Women and Jewish Daily Life in the Middle Ages, Elisheva Baumgarten seeks a point of entry into the everyday existence of people who did not belong to the learned elite, and who therefore left no written records of their lives. She does so by turning to the Bible as it was read, reinterpreted, and seen by the Jews of medieval Ashkenaz. In the tellings, retellings, and illustrations of biblical stories, and especially of those centered around women, Baumgarten writes, we can find explanations and validations for the practices that structured birth, marriage, and death; women's inclusion in the liturgy and synagogue; and the roles of women as community leaders, givers of charity, and keepers of the household.

Each of the book's chapters concentrates on a single figure or a cluster of biblical women—Eve, the Matriarchs, Deborah, Yael, Abigail, and Jephthah's daughter—to explore aspects of the domestic and communal lives of Northern French and German Jews living among Christians in urban settings. Throughout the book more than forty vivid medieval illuminations, most reproduced in color, help convey to modern readers what medieval people could have known visually about these biblical stories. "I do not claim that the genres I analyze here—literature, art, exegesis—mirror social practice," Baumgarten writes. "Rather, my goal is to examine how medieval Jewish engagement with the Bible offers a window onto aspects of the daily lives and cultural mentalités of Ashkenazic Jews in the High Middle Ages."

In a final chapter, Baumgarten turns to the historical figure of Dulcia, a late twelfth-century woman, to ponder how our understanding of those people about whom we know relatively more can be enriched by considering the lives of those who have remained anonymous. The biblical stories through which Baumgarten reads contributed to shaping a world that is largely lost to us, and can help us, in turn, to gain access to lives of people of the past who left no written accounts of their beliefs and practices.

An exploration of Paul’s role as a pastoral theologian in the early church.​

Through a close exegetical reading of Paul’s letters, this volume shows how Paul prioritized moral formation and community-building in his pastoral ministry and placed the practice of communal discernment in churches at the heart of life in the Spirit. Applying these fundamental insights for today’s churches, Lewis reclaims Paul’s primary pastoral emphasis on moral discernment and community-building, showing how this practice can be used in a variety of local church communities.

Ideal for scholars and clergy interested in applying Paul’s pastoral theology to real contexts, the volume includes practical examples and strategies for engaging in a vibrant practice of spiritual discernment today.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

FOREWORD BY CHARLIE KIRK

“A fearless warrior for Christ. Lucas is a man built to stand for the truth in a time of great apostasy. Don’t just read PAGAN THREAT—internalize what it has to say. Then, share its message with your Christian friends, before they are seduced by Paganism themselves. We have a faith and a country to save.”

—CHARLIE KIRK, FOUNDER TURNING POINT USA

“If ever there was a prophetic book for this hour. 'Godless uprising.' 'Pagan threat.' The young man...who murdered Charlie is right at the center of the kind of thing [Lucas Miles is] talking about here.”

—ERIC METAXAS

THERE IS A RISING PAGAN THREAT TO THE CHURCH AND AMERICAN WAY OF LIFE.

"The world does not need a Christianity of convenience or cultural compliance; it needs a Christianity that is fervent, passionate, and unapologetically true. For only when we believe, with all our hearts, that Christ is the way, the truth, and the life—only when we are convinced that the Gospel is not just a set of doctrines but the living, breathing power of God—will we have the courage to stand against the forces of Paganism.”—PASTOR LUCAS MILES, SENIOR DIRECTOR TURNING POINT USA FAITH

Pastor Lucas Miles, bestselling author of Woke Jesus: The False Messiah Destroying Christianity, delves into the alarming resurgence of pagan ideologies within the United States, posing significant threats to the church, the nation, and the world.

Unveiling the complex interplay between ancient beliefs and modern society, PAGAN THREAT: CONFRONTING AMERICA'S GODLESS UPRISING meticulously exposes the inherent dangers that challenge the core fabric of our faith and civic unity. From exposing an evolving techno paganism to blatant idol worship, Pastor Miles navigates the intricate terrain of safeguarding the nation and the pulpit against the rising tide of paganism.

PAGAN THREAT serves as an insightful guide, a warning and a call-to-action, urging readers to understand, confront, and ultimately fortify the foundations of their faith and the principles that define our great nation, and is a necessary work to prepare God’s people for what comes next in a society experiencing moral and spiritual decline.

PAGAN THREAT aims to shed light on how the ancient and the modern have converged in ways that threaten both the church and the broader fabric of our society. The connection between Woke ideology and Paganism is not merely a coincidence but a natural progression. Behind the emphasis on identity politics, intersectionality, and radical inclusivity within Wokeism lies centuries-old ancient Pagan ideologies. 

Pastor Lucas Miles does more than diagnose the threats we face; he aims to equip and inspire us to rise to the challenge and invites readers to embark on an adventure of spiritual awakening; To seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit, embrace the transformative power of revival, and stand resolute against the encroaching darkness. The future of the church and our great nation depends on our collective faithfulness to the truth and our unwavering commitment to the Kingdom of God.

THE FINAL BATTLE PLAN TO RESIST PAGANISM

• Deepen Discipleship Rooted in Primary Christian Doctrine.
• Develop a Roadmap for Christian Engagement in Politics and the Public Square.
• Leverage Technology for the Advancement of the Gospel.
• Redouble Efforts to Reach Today’s Youth.
• Implement a Practical Strategy for Evangelism.
• Directly Combat False Doctrines and Pagan Ideologies.
• Renew Interest in Spiritual Gifts.

PAGAN THREAT shows we must focus on these essential steps needed to combat the rise of Paganism so we can fortify believers’ faith, strategically spread the Gospel, and reclaim the public square for God’s glory.

“To win the battle against Paganism, we must do more than merely resist the rise of its idols; we must believe in Christianity in a way that shapes our lives, our actions, and our very hearts. It is not enough to claim the name of Christ or to oppose the darkness with moral outrage; we embrace the light, letting it pierce the deepest corners of our souls.”—Pastor Lucas Miles

Ideal as a pew book or gift, this exclusive prayer book features luxurious imitation leather binding with a soft, matte finish in your choice of four colors.

A textured cross is embossed on the cover. The prayer book is sturdily assembled, with Smyth-sewn pages and a spine that won't crack under heavy use. A presentation page and certificates for the rites of Baptism, Confirmation, and Marriage are included. 9-point font.

This is the standard Book of Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments and Other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church together with The Psalter or Psalms of David according to use in the Episcopal Church in the United States as authorized in 1979.

Explore how Anglican traditions enrich Episcopal worship.

With its great heritage from English mystics, the Episcopal Church has been “spiritual” since before it was trendy, and modern Episcopalians have been in the forefront of exploring practices beyond Anglican boundaries. Yet, perhaps only rarely do they grasp the implications of the theology embedded in these practices or in the liturgies of the 1979 Book of Common Prayer, which has shaped Episcopalians in this country with its emphasis on baptismal spirituality and the centrality of the Eucharist. Julia Gatta wants to change that with her book, Life in Christ.

Applying her years of experience as pastor and spiritual director combined with her study of the spiritual wisdom of the past, she explores common Christian practices and their underlying theology through an Episcopal lens. In the tradition of Esther de Waal, Martin Smith, and Martin Thornton, with particular reference to scripture, the Book of Common Prayer, and the wisdom of the Christian spiritual tradition, she illuminates methods readers may already be practicing and provides insight and guidance to ones that may be new to them.

A clarion call and evidence-based reparations plan for churches engaged in dismantling racism.

Christian churches, schools, and organizations committed to a reparations plan can learn how to do it--including how to support local, Black-led organizations working on economic empowerment. This is a much needed resource as churches have acknowledged generations of participation in systemic and structural racism and are looking for specific ways to action responsibility. This engaging book show how these plans are being lived out in congregations across the country.

Written by a white priest called to pastor an historically Black congregation in Washington DC, Reparations: A Plan for Churches provides spiritual resources and practical tools for dioceses, and other institutions, who are poised to seize this crucial moment. By drawing from examples of steps being taken by congregations and others, this guide also centers the counsel, voices, and teaching of Black scholars, activists, and many denominations of Christians. From this vantage, the book shows Christians how to make the work of restitution a reality by honest fact-finding and truth-telling, substantive and sustained engagement with those to whom reparations are owed, clear statements about what reparations are, and focused action to begin the work.

All royalties go to Harriet's Wildest Dreams, a Black-led abolitionist community defense hub centering all Black lives most at risk for state-sanctioned violence in the Greater Washington area.

What can we know about the everyday experiences of Christians during the fourth, fifth, and sixth centuries? How did non-elite men and women, enslaved, freed, and free persons, who did not renounce sex or choose voluntary poverty become Christian? They neither led a religious community nor did they live in entirely Christian settings. In this period, an age marked by “extraordinary” Christians—wonderworking saints, household ascetics, hermits, monks, nuns, pious aristocrats, pilgrims, and bishops—ordinary Christians went about their daily lives, in various occupations, raising families, sharing households, kitchens, and baths in religiously diverse cities. Occasionally they attended church liturgies, sought out local healers, and visited martyrs’ shrines. Barely and rarely mentioned in ancient texts, common Christians remain nameless and undifferentiated.

Unfinished Christians explores the sensory and affective dimensions of ordinary Christians who assembled for rituals. With precious few first-person accounts by common Christians, it relies on written sources not typically associated with lived religion: sermons, liturgical instruction books, and festal hymns. All three genres of writing are composed by clergy for use in ritual settings. Yet they may also provide glimpses of everyday Christians’ lives and experiences. This book investigates the habits, objects, behaviors, and movements of ordinary Christians by mining festal preaching by John Chrysostom, Cyril of Jerusalem, Gregory of Nyssa, and Romanos the Melodist, among others. It also mines liturgical instructions to explore the psalms and other songs performed on various feast days. “Unfinished,” then, connotes the creativity and agency of unremarkable Christians who engaged in making religious experiences: the “Christian-in-progress” who learns to work with material and bring something into being; the artisans who attended sermons; and, more widely, the bearers of embodied knowing.

Easwaran’s best-selling translation of the ancient wisdom texts called the Upanishads is reliable, readable, and profound.

In the Upanishads, illumined sages share flashes of insight, the results of their investigation into consciousness itself.

In extraordinary visions, they experience directly a transcendent Reality which is the essence, or Self, of each created being. They teach that each of us, each Self, is eternal, deathless, one with the power that created the universe.

Easwaran’s best-selling translation of selections taken from the principal Upanishads and five others is reliable and accessible. It includes an overview of the cultural and historical setting, with chapter introductions, notes, and a Sanskrit glossary. But it is Easwaran’s understanding of the wisdom of the Upanishads, and their relevance to the modern reader, that makes this edition truly outstanding.

Each sage, each Upanishad, appeals in different ways to the reader’s head and heart. As Easwaran writes, “The Upanishads belong not just to Hinduism. They are India’s most precious legacy to humanity, and in that spirit they are offered here.”

In a time when abuse at the hands of religious leaders is too common, comes this guide to making the most of the Zen tradition while protecting and empowering yourself.

While the liberation that Zen offers is real, it must be engaged with carefully, explains this sensei. Her book is neither a memoir about a single case of abuse nor a bloodless academic study. Nelson reflects on the multiple dangers in Zen, from firsthand experience in Boston—where documented abuse recently took place—integrating her discussion at every step with core Zen teachings. 

“This is a thoroughly engaging exploration based on deep knowledge of the tradition as well as contemporary research.” —Martine Batchelor, author, Principles of Zen 

“Practicing Safe Zen imparts a lesson we all will have to learn if we want to truly mature in our spiritual practice.” —Barry Magid, author, Ending the Pursuit of Happiness

A complete resource for the theology, liturgy, and practice of the pastoral offices.

This easy-to-use resource for clergy and lay liturgical leaders examines baptism, confirmation, marriage, reconciliation of the penitent, ministration to the sick, and burial, offering background and guidance for each liturgy. Each chapter begins with brief historical and theological contexts, followed by a discussion of pastoral and liturgical issues relevant to each rite. Because cultural considerations are often central to the pastoral offices, each chapter includes an overview of cultural practices surrounding each liturgy that may be unfamiliar to clergy.

Taking into account theological and liturgical perspectives from a variety of denominations, Shepherding Souls is designed to be useful in any church. This trusted resource provides the busy church leader with everything needed to prepare for and administer pastoral offices.

A book for personal devotions selected from the Prayer Book and Bible.
The simple, accessible structure allows even those with little time on their hands the opportunity to ‘recharge’ for a few minutes each day. Includes Prayer During the Day (for every single day of the week and season of the year), Night Prayer and selected psalms from Common Worship: Daily Prayer. It features classic Christian prayers from across the ages alongside a selection of short Bible readings and Psalms. Designed to complement existing schemes of Bible reading or simply to ‘stand alone’ as a daily act of prayer.

These attractive cards are to inform the giver that the church has received their gift and in whose memory the gift was received. There is ample room to note to what fund or project the gift was directed. Printed in purple on off-white vellum card stock. Includes matching envelopes. Outside reads: To acknowledge your memorial gift. Inside reads: Gift _______________ Date _________ Your gift in memory of ______ is gratefully accepted by ___________________.

An important work highlighting the theological foundation of social action.

Christ himself lived in a time of immense social and political turmoil, as did his early followers. But can those early struggles provide guidance for God’s faithful in today's divided world? Episcopal priest and peace advocate Michael W. Hopkins proves that they can, tracing the origins of Christian responsibility all the way back to the indissoluble bond of baptism, drawing a clear line between those fraught early days and the turbulent present that Jesus commands Christians to engage in.

Called to Act peels back the historical and scriptural underpinnings of Christianity to exhume the social obligations inherited by all members of the kingdom of God. Through interpretation of Jesus’ words, works, and sacraments, modern day Christians can begin to reframe their fundamental outlook on and participation in the world, working as one to build communities of mutual care. Rather than allow differences of opinion or misguided attempts at neutrality to divorce Christians from the necessary work of political and community engagement, Hopkins provides compelling scriptural evidence for a new kingdom, united not by what has been left undone, but by what Christians are called to do for each other.

Pilgrim is a teaching and discipleship resource that helps inquirers and new Christians explore what it means to travel through life with Christ.

A Christian course for the twenty-first century, Pilgrim offers an approach of participation, not persuasion. Following the practice of the ancient disciplines of biblical reflection and prayer with quotes from the Christian tradition throughout the ages, Pilgrim assumes little or no knowledge of the Christian faith. Individuals or small groups on the journey of discipleship in the Episcopal tradition can use Pilgrim at any point.

Pilgrim is made up of two parts, each with four courses contained in four booklets.

Offers vivid stories of nonconformist Muslim communities

The turn of the twenty-first century ushered in a wave of progressive Muslims, whose modern interpretations and practices transformed the public’s perception of who could follow the teachings of Islam. Muslims on the Margins tells the story of their even more radical descendants: nonconformists who have reinterpreted their religion and created space for queer, trans, and nonbinary identities within Islam.

Katrina Daly Thompson draws extensively from conversations and interviews conducted both in person in North America and online in several international communities. Writing in a compelling narrative style that centers the real experiences and diverse perspectives of nonconformist Muslims, Thompson illustrates how these radical Muslims are forming a community dedicated to creative reinterpretations of their religion, critical questioning of established norms, expansive inclusion of those who are queer in various ways, and the creation of different religious futures. Muslims on the Margins is a powerful account of how Muslims are forging new traditions and setting precedents for a more inclusive community— one that is engaged with tradition, but not beholden to it.

Exposes the invisible ways in which white Christian privilege disadvantages racial and religious minorities in America

The United States is recognized as the most religiously diverse country in the world, and yet its laws and customs, which many have come to see as normal features of American life, actually keep the Constitutional ideal of “religious freedom for all” from becoming a reality. Christian beliefs, norms, and practices infuse our society; they are embedded in our institutions, creating the structures and expectations that define the idea of “Americanness.” Religious minorities still struggle for recognition and for the opportunity to be treated as fully and equally legitimate members of American society. From the courtroom to the classroom, their scriptures and practices are viewed with suspicion, and bias embedded in centuries of Supreme Court rulings create structural disadvantages that endure today.

In White Christian Privilege, Khyati Y. Joshi traces Christianity’s influence on the American experiment from before the founding of the Republic to the social movements of today. Mapping the way through centuries of slavery, westward expansion, immigration, and citizenship laws, she also reveals the ways Christian privilege in the United States has always been entangled with notions of White supremacy.

Through the voices of Christians and religious minorities, Joshi explores how Christian privilege and White racial norms affect the lives of all Americans, often in subtle ways that society overlooks. By shining a light on the inequalities these privileges create, Joshi points the way forward, urging readers to help remake America as a diverse democracy with a commitment to true religious freedom.

A comprehensive manual for living a spiritual life, based on a verse-by-verse commentary on India’s timeless scripture – from the author of its best-selling translation.

(The ebook The Bhagavad Gita for Daily Living 9781586381455 includes all three volumes in this series.)

The Bhagavad Gita is set on the battlefield of an apocalyptic war between good and evil. Faced with a dire moral dilemma, the warrior prince Arjuna turns in anguish to his spiritual guide, Sri Krishna, for answers to the fundamental questions of life.

Easwaran points out that Arjuna’s crisis is acutely modern. The Gita’s battlefield is the struggle for self-mastery that every human being must wage. Arjuna represents each of us, and Sri Krishna is the Lord, instructing us in eighteen chapters of lofty wisdom as we face the social, environmental, and global challenges that threaten our world today.

Easwaran is a spiritual teacher and author of deep insight and warmth. His verse-by-verse commentary interprets the Gita’s teachings for modern readers, explaining the Sanskrit concepts and philosophy and applying them with practicality, wisdom, and humor to every aspect of our work, our relationships, and our lives. With everyday anecdotes, stories, and examples, he shows that the changes we long to see in the world start with the transformation of our own consciousness.

The practical exercises recommended by Easwaran to achieve transformation are part of a spiritual program he developed for his own life. They are accessible to people from all backgrounds and cultures. Urging us to adopt a higher image of the human being, he assures us that peace and unity are within reach.

Each volume of this series covers six chapters of the Gita. Each may be read on its own, but all three volumes together form an in-depth, verse-by-verse explanation of this ancient scripture and its relevance today. Each volume includes instructions in Easwaran's universal eight-point program of passage meditation.

Volume 1: The first six chapters of the Gita explore the concept of the innermost Self and source of wisdom in each of us. Easwaran explains how we can begin to transform ourselves, even as householders engaged in busy lives.

Volume 2: The next six chapters of the Gita go beyond the individual Self to explore the Supreme Reality underlying all creation. Easwaran builds a bridge across the seeming divide between scientific knowledge and spiritual wisdom, and explains how the concept of the unity of life can help us in all our relationships.

Volume 3: The final six chapters put forth an urgent appeal for us to begin to see that all of us are one – to make the connection between the Self within and the Reality underlying all creation. Global in scope, the emphasis is on what we can do to make a difference to heal our environment and establish peace in the world.

Easwaran’s commentary is for all students of the Gita, whatever their background, and for anyone who is trying to find a path to wisdom, love, and kindness in themselves and our troubled world. Written as an authoritative, accessible guide to a much-loved scripture, it is a handbook for finding peace and clarity within.

This second edition incorporates revisions made across all three volumes following the author’s final instructions.

Prayer Through Pictures is a beautifully illustrated prayer book, designed to make prayer accessible to all children regardless of their ability.

As a parent of two children on the autism spectrum, when Danielle McManus attempted to share her faith with her children, she quickly realized she was teaching her children the words, but for them, the words had no meaning. Using her background as an early childhood special education teacher, she began working on a method to make prayer a meaningful aspect of her children’s lives.

Prayer Through Pictures provides parents and caregivers with a practical method of teaching their children how to pray. Many children are visual learners, interpreting the world around them based on what they see. When caregivers want to teach their children to pray, they often teach the words and hope that, over time, the child understands the meaning. Prayer Through Pictures combines images with corresponding words so that, as children say the words, they have a deeper understanding of what their words mean.

This useful prayerbook for children with additional needs provides sample prayers related to specific times of day, with corresponding Bible verses, and includes visual schedules for prayer as well as some responses to frequent questions asked by young children, making it a helpful resource for any parent who wants to deepen their child’s bond with God.

An indispensable, pocket-sized guide for incorporating labyrinths into your spiritual walk.
 
For centuries, labyrinths have served as an essential meditation aid for Christians seeking to deepen their personal relationships with God. In this portable edition—perfect for mobile use at home or in church—Robert Elsner unravels the mysteries of the labyrinth, laying out a clear roadmap to a regular meditative practice. Following the liturgical calendar, each entry offers scripture to contemplate, prayers or mantras, a reflection, and questions to inspire further thought. Suggestions for alternate labyrinth forms ensure that these meditations can be practiced by the faithful of all physical abilities.

This confirmation program, based on the Baptismal Covenant from The Book of Common Prayer, encourages youth and adults to share their own faith journeys. Adaptable for six- to twelve-week programs, confirmation retreats or conferences. Easy-to-use session plans include many interactive activities for youth and adults that encourage reflection and discussion.

This interactive journal is your companion on your faith journey as you seek to renew your commitment to the Episcopal Church. You'll find prayer, scripture study, creative activities and generous space for recording your reflections and experiences.

Based on beautiful seasonal hymns, Crafton's daily meditations on faith, prayer, forgiveness, and healing for Advent and Christmas make an excellent companion for the season.

For centuries the words and poetry of our hymns have spoken deeply to us. Many people, in fact, find that what is heard in poetry and music sinks deeper into the soul than does ordinary prose. And so it is to the beautiful seasonal hymns that Barbara Cawthorne Crafton turns for inspiration for daily meditations during the great devotional seasons of the church year: Advent/Christmas.

A valuable, illustrated handbook for the server at all liturgical celebrations that details all the responsibilities and duties of the acolyte.

When serving at the altar, one is doing just this: actively assisting the celebrant in the worship of God. This manual is designed to described duties expected of a server. There are basic directions that apply, governed either by The Book of Common Prayer or tradition. The Handbook will assist you in learning the basic principles of serving.

“A no-nonsense book of clear and brief instructions.”—The Living Church

Offers an overarching definition and framework for the study of religion as it manifests itself in everyday life

Look around you as you walk down the street; somewhere, usually hidden in plain sight, there will be traces of religion. Perhaps it is the person who walks past with a Christian tattoo or a Muslim hijab. Perhaps it is the poster announcing a charity auction at the local synagogue. Or perhaps you open your Instagram feed to see what inspiring images and meditations have been posted by spiritual guides to help start the day.

Studying Lived Religion examines religious practices wherever they happen—both within religious spaces and in everyday life. Although the study of lived religion has been around for over two decades, there has not been an agreed-upon definition of what it encompasses, and we have lacked a sociological theory to frame the way it is studied. This book offers a definition that expands lived religion’s geographic scope and a framework of seven dimensions around which we can analyze lived religious practice. Examples from multiple traditions and disciplines show the range of methods available for such studies, offering practical tips for how to begin. The volume opens up how we understand the category of lived religion, erasing the artificial divide between what happens in congregations and other religious institutions and what happens in other settings.

Nancy Tatom Ammerman draws on examples ranging from Singapore to Accra to Chicago to show how deeply religion permeates everyday lives. In revealing the often overlooked ways that religion shapes human experience, she invites us all into new ways of seeing the world around us.

The Bhagavad Gita is the best known of all the Indian scriptures, and Eknath Easwaran’s best-selling translation is reliable, readable, and profound.

Easwaran's 55-page introduction places the Bhagavad Gita in its historical setting, and brings out the universality and timelessness of its teachings. Chapter introductions clarify key concepts, and notes and a glossary explain Sanskrit terms.

Easwaran grew up in the Hindu tradition in India, and learned Sanskrit from a young age. He was a professor of English literature before coming to the West on a Fulbright scholarship. A gifted teacher, he is recognized as an authority on the Indian classics and world mysticism.

The Bhagavad Gita opens, dramatically, on a battlefield, as the warrior Arjuna turns in anguish to his spiritual guide, Sri Krishna, for answers to the fundamental questions of life. Yet, as Easwaran points out, the Gita is not what it seems – it’s not a dialogue between two mythical figures at the dawn of Indian history. “The battlefield is a perfect backdrop, but the Gita’s subject is the war within, the struggle for self-mastery that every human being must wage if he or she is to emerge from life victorious.”

Arjuna’s struggle in the Bhagavad Gita is acutely modern. He has lost his way on the battlefield of life and turns to find the path again by asking direct, uncompromising questions of his spiritual guide, Sri Krishna, the Lord himself. Krishna replies in 700 verses of sublime instruction on living and dying, loving and working, and the nature of the soul.

Easwaran shows the Gita’s relevance to us today as we strive, like Arjuna, to do what is right.

“No one in modern times is more qualified – no, make that ‘as qualified’ – to translate the epochal Classics of Indian Spirituality than Eknath Easwaran. And the reason is clear. It is impossible to get to the heart of those classics unless you live them, and he did live them. My admiration of the man and his works is boundless.” – Huston Smith, author of The World’s Religions

"The translation...is smooth, eloquent, and reliable...[I] would unhesitatingly recommend Easwaran to someone searching for the spirituality of the Gita." — Choice [1st edition]

In the Church’s Teachings for a Changing World series, visionary Episcopal thinkers and leaders have teamed up to revitalize this series with fresh voices and style, making it grounded and thoughtful enough for seminarians and leaders, yet concise and clear enough for newcomers.

A leading thinker and vibrant presence at the intersection of church and world, Winnie Varghese explores the “what”, “how”, and “why” of Episcopal engagement with contemporary social issues. Like the master of the household in Jesus’ parable (Matthew 13:52) who “brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old,” Varghese leads readers to discover theological resources from generations past and how they help to guide our action around thorny issues like racial justice, gender and sexuality, economic disparity, definitions of “family,” the environment, and much more.

An accessible introduction to the Episcopal Church for general inquiries, use with new members, as a confirmation resource, and in youth and adult study groups.
A simple Q&A provides a quick, easy, and non-threatening way to learn―perfect for today’s busy lifestyle. Yet, with Episcopal Questions, Episcopal Answers, we’re also dealing with some of the most central and compelling elements of the faith.

Sample questions of the new work include: What do Episcopalians believe about the Bible? Why do Episcopalians practice infant baptism? Why does God permit evil and suffering? What are the sacraments of the Episcopal Church? Is it acceptable for a Bishop to question the Virgin Birth? Why is the Prayer Book so important to Episcopalians? What is the relationship between the Prayer Book and the Bible? What is the Anglican Communion? How did the Episcopal Church come to be? How are decisions made in the Episcopal Church?

Church Publishing is pleased to offer this exclusive edition of the 1979 Book of Common Prayer (BCP). Ideal as a pew book or gift, this prayer book features luxurious imitation leather binding with a soft, matte finish in your choice of four colors. A textured cross is embossed on the cover. The prayer book is sturdily assembled, with Smyth-sewn pages and a spine that won't crack under heavy use. A presentation page and certificates for the rites of Baptism, Confirmation, and Marriage are included. 9-point font.

This is the standard Book of Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments and Other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church together with The Psalter or Psalms of David according to use in the Episcopal Church in the United States as authorized in 1979.

The world is ever changing and so must the Episcopal Church to remain relevant to its followers. A grounded, necessary book on the Episcopalian faith in the 21st century.

In the Church’s Teachings for a Changing World series, two visionary Episcopal thinkers and church leaders team up to revitalize the currency, integrity, and scholarship of this series with fresh new voices and style; concise and clear enough for newcomers, yet grounded and thoughtful enough for seminarians and leaders.

In this foundational text for the Church’s Teachings for a Changing World, Law and Spellers explore seismic shifts in American life and the opportunities and challenges each presents to the church today. With a winning combination of passion, creativity, and wisdom, the authors call for a return to Episcopal basics and insist that faithfully engaging a changing world might be the most truly Anglican practice of all.

“This is the book I’ve been waiting for. The Episcopal way of following Jesus and being Christian may be one of the best-kept secrets in the Western world. Finally, someone has taken the light out from under the bushel. Let it shine.”—The Rt. Rev. Michael B. Curry, Presiding Bishop and Primate of The Episcopal Church.

Liturgies for Ash Wednesday, Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and the Easter Vigil. 64 pages.

Hole-punched for inclusion in the Holy Eucharist, Altar Edition, Binder. Binder sold separately (9780898690453).

The Zohar is the great medieval compendium of Jewish esoteric and mystical teaching, and the basis of the kabbalistic faith. It is, however, a notoriously difficult text, full of hidden codes, concealed meanings, obscure symbols, and ecstatic expression. This illuminating study, based upon the last several decades of modern Zohar scholarship, unravels the historical and intellectual origins of this rich text and provides an excellent introduction to its themes, complex symbolism, narrative structure, and language. A Guide to the Zohar is thus an invaluable companion to the Zohar itself, as well as a useful resource for scholars and students interested in mystical literature, particularly that of the west, from the Middle Ages to the present.

Shows how American forms of religion and empire developed in tandem, shaping and reshaping each other over the course of American history

The United States has been an empire since the time of its founding, and this empire is inextricably intertwined with American religion. Religion and US Empire examines the relationship between these dynamic forces throughout the country’s history and into the present. The volume will serve as the most comprehensive and definitive text on the relationship between US empire and American religion.

Whereas other works describe religion as a force that aided or motivated American imperialism, this comprehensive new history reveals how imperialism shaped American religion—and how religion historically structured, enabled, challenged, and resisted US imperialism. Chapters move chronologically from the eighteenth century to the twenty-first, ranging geographically from the Caribbean, Michigan, and Liberia, to Oklahoma, Hawai’i, and the Philippines. Rather than situating these histories safely in the past, the final chapters ask readers to consider present day entanglements between capitalism, imperialism, and American religion. Religion and US Empire is an urgent work of history, offering the context behind a relationship that is, for better or worse, very much alive today.

Sufism through the eyes of a legal scholar

In The Requirements of the Sufi Path, the renowned North African historian and jurist Ibn Khaldūn applies his analytical powers to Sufism, which he deems a bona fide form of Islamic piety. Ibn Khaldūn is widely known for his groundbreaking work as a sociologist and historian, in particular for the Muqaddimah, the introduction to his massive universal history. In The Requirements of the Sufi Path, he writes from the perspective of an Islamic jurist and legal scholar. He characterizes Sufism and the stages along the Sufi path and takes up the question of the need for a guide along that path. In doing so, he relies on the works of influential Sufi scholars, including al-Qushayrī, al-Ghazālī, and Ibn al-Khaṭīb. Even as Ibn Khaldūn warns of the extremes to which some Sufis go—including practicing magic—his work is essentially a legal opinion, a fatwa, asserting the inherent validity of the Sufi path.

The Requirements of the Sufi Path incorporates the wisdom of three of Sufism’s greatest voices as well as Ibn Khaldūn’s own insights, acquired through his intellectual encounters with Sufism and his broad legal expertise. All this he brings to bear on the debate over Sufi practices in a remarkable work of synthesis and analysis.

A bilingual Arabic-English edition.

• Why God uses some people more than others
• How to evaluate our heart behind our actions
• How to test if we are pursuing the same goal as God
• How remaining sin creates barriers in our relationship with God
• How our faith makes God look great or small
• How our holiness today affects our usefulness tomorrow
• How we embezzle glory from God
• How to find more joy
• How to love others more
• How to make disciples with boldness

Uncover the core of goodness within.

Love, compassion, meaning, hope, and freedom from fear are not qualities we need to acquire. We simply need to uncover what we already have.

Original goodness is Eknath Easwaran’s phrase for this spark of divinity hidden in every one of us, regardless of our personal liabilities or past mistakes.

Easwaran is one of the twentieth century's great spiritual teachers and an authentic guide to timeless wisdom. His books on meditation, spiritual living, and the classics of world mysticism have been translated into sixteen languages.

Commenting on the Beatitudes from the Sermon on the Mount, Easwaran shows how this spark of divinity can energize our lives – beginning with a simple method of meditation that gradually removes the conditioning that hides our native goodness.

Demonstrates definitively that the secularization thesis is correct, and religion is losing its grip on societies worldwide

In the decades since its introduction, secularization theory has been subjected to doubt and criticism from a number of leading scholars, who have variously claimed that it is wrong, flawed, or incomplete. In Beyond Doubt, Isabella Kasselstrand, Phil Zuckerman, and Ryan T. Cragun mount a strong defense for the theory, providing compelling evidence that religion is indeed declining globally as a result of modernization.

Though defenses of secularization theory have been mounted in the past, we now have many years’ worth of empirical data to illuminate trends, and can trace changes not just at a given point in time but over a trajectory. Drawing on extensive survey data from nations around the world, the book demonstrates that, in spite of its many detractors, there is robust empirical support for secularization theory. It also engages with the most prominent criticisms levied against the theory, showing that data that are said to refute the narrative of religious decline are easily explainable and in keeping with the broader tendency toward secularization.

Beyond simply defending secularization theory, the authors endeavor to formalize it, offering clear definitions of relevant terms and creating propositions that can be repeatedly and accurately tested. Beyond Doubt offers the strongest argument to date for the existence of a global secularization trend, and will be a vital resource for students and scholars alike who study religion and secularism.

Choice Outstanding Academic Title 2023

A radically new way of understanding secularism which explains why being secular can seem so strangely religious

For much of America’s rapidly growing secular population, religion is an inescapable source of skepticism and discomfort. It shows up in politics and in holidays, but also in common events like weddings and funerals. In The Secular Paradox, Joseph Blankholm argues that, despite their desire to avoid religion, nonbelievers often seem religious because Christianity influences the culture around them so deeply. Relying on several years of ethnographic research among secular activists and organized nonbelievers in the United States, the volume explores how very secular people are ambivalent toward belief, community, ritual, conversion, and tradition. As they try to embrace what they share, secular people encounter, again and again, that they are becoming too religious. And as they reject religion, they feel they have lost too much. Trying to strike the right balance, secular people alternate between the two sides of their ambiguous condition: absolutely not religious and part of a religion-like secular tradition.

Blankholm relies heavily on the voices of women and people of color to understand what it means to live with the secular paradox. The struggles of secular misfits—the people who mis-fit normative secularism in the United States—show that becoming secular means rejecting parts of life that resemble Christianity and embracing a European tradition that emphasizes reason and avoids emotion. Women, people of color, and secular people who have left non-Christian religions work against the limits and contradictions of secularism to create new ways of being secular that are transforming the American religious landscape. They are pioneering the most interesting and important forms of secular “religiosity” in America today.

Challenges the definition of humanitarian aid

Aside from being one of the most important migration corridors in the world, Mexico is becoming an immigrant destination itself, with more and more migrants deciding or needing to stay in the country after failing to enter the United States. In the absence of state aid, migrant shelters have emerged as an informal welfare system for migrants, asylum seekers, refugees, and deportees in Mexico. Largely run by faith-based humanitarian organizations, these shelters have grown significantly in recent years.

Humanitarianism from Below examines the significance of these casas de migrantes (migrant shelters) in the migration process in Mexico. The book also reviews the role of faith-based humanitarian organizations, whose engagement with migrants is perceived more as charity work than professional humanitarian work. The volume argues that faith-based humanitarian organizations’ work challenges traditional understandings of what counts as humanitarian aid. It makes the case that in order to understand the full ecology of migration, we need to understand not only how large organizations like the Red Cross work, but also how these smaller and local entities with fewer resources interact with migrants on their journeys. Most migration research tends to focus on its impact within home countries or in destination contexts, rarely focusing on the actual migration process, including the interactions that influence the course of the migration journey itself. In conducting this research, Alejandro Olayo-Méndez traveled along migrant routes several times in order to gain knowledge about how migrants move and how they interact with the migrant shelters. He offers a detailed look at the experiences and challenges of casas de migrantes in Mexico, situating these faith-based shelters as an integral part of Mexico’s humanitarian ecosystem.

The Book of Common Prayer (BCP) and the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible (NRSV) are an excellent, logical combination for daily devotion and study, as well as on Sundays during the liturgy.

The NRSV translation of the Bible is accurate, elegant, highly acclaimed by scholars, and enjoys wide use in congregations of the Episcopal Church. This edition contains the Apocrypha. The Book of Common Prayer and lectionary titles have been updated to include the Revised Common Lectionary, according to Resolution A077 of the 75th General Convention. Arriving in a sturdy, attractive box, this compact volume has five ribbon markers and a leather cover in red or black. Font size is 9-point.

Pilgrim is a teaching and discipleship resource that helps inquirers and new Christians explore what it means to travel through life with Christ. A Christian course for the twenty-first century, Pilgrim offers an approach of participation, not persuasion. Following the practice of the ancient disciplines of biblical reflection and prayer with quotes from the Christian tradition throughout the ages, Pilgrim assumes little or no knowledge of the Christian faith. Individuals or small groups on the journey of discipleship in the Episcopal tradition can use Pilgrim at any point.

There are many different aspects to helping people learn about the Christian faith. We have taken as our starting point Jesus’ summary of the commandments. We are called to offer our lives to God through loving God with all our mind, soul, strength, and heart, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. Learning about Christian faith and growing in Christian faith is about more than what we believe. It’s also about the ways in which we pray and develop our relationship with God, about the way we live our lives and about living in God’s vision for the Church and for the world.

Course 2. The Lord’s Prayer: How do Christians know and worship God? Explore the Lord’s Prayer in these sessions as a gateway to the Christian gospel, as a guide to our own prayers, and as a way of deepening our relationship with God. Here is a way of seeing God and the world and yourself which is profound and revolutionary and good news.

Reflections follow the practices of The Way of Love—Turn, Learn, Pray, Worship, Bless, Go, Rest

Living the Way of Love offers forty brief reflections about the seven Jesus-centered practices identified by Presiding Bishop Michael Curry in “The Way of Love” initiative. Sullivan tells stories from her own and others’ experiences as a starting point for discussion about how to seek and find a deeper connection to God. Rotating through each practice so that each is covered once a week, going deeper into the practice throughout the forty days, each reflection ends with questions designed to spur further discussion and assist readers in making the practices their own. Perfect for using as a Lenten devotional or at any time of the year, the book includes a guide for creating a personal rule of life, and a downloadable Facilitator’s Guide.

Lectionary texts for reading the daily office using the Revised Standard Version translation of the Bible.

An entire psalter of one hundred fifty psalms in The Book of Common Prayer translation set to Anglican chant in the time-honored "speech rhythm" pointing of The Parish Psalter from England as refined by Ray Francis Brown during his thirty-year tenure as Director of Music at The General Theological Seminary in New York City. The Standing Commission on Church Music followed Brown's principles in pointing the psalms of this book.

A brief introduction gives a description of chanting and the performance notes are helpful with the specifics of reading pointing.

A foundation of the Episcopal faith with detailed church calendar and explanatory essays.

This edition of the Book of Common Prayer includes 38 pages of additional material designed to help the reader understand more about the Episcopal Church, its worship, and its prayer book. Supplemental materials include:

• What Is the Book of Common Prayer?
• Reading Scripture in Worship
• How to Write a Collect
• An overview of the church year

An encyclopedic survey of the Jewish body as it has existed and as it has been imagined from biblical times to the present

That the human body can be the object not only of biological study but also of historical consideration and cultural criticism is now widely accepted. But why, Robert Jütte asks, should a historian bother with the Jewish body in particular? And is the "Jewish body" as much a concept constructed over the course of centuries by Jews and non-Jews alike as it is a physical reality? To comprehend the notion and existence of a Jewish body, he contends, one needs to look both at the images and traits that have been ascribed to Jews by themselves and others, and to the specific bodily practices that have played an important role in creating the identity of a religious and cultural community.

Jütte has written an encyclopedic survey of the Jewish body as it has existed and as it has been imagined from biblical times to the present, often for anti-Jewish purposes. He examines the techniques for caring for the body that Jews acquire in childhood from parents and authority figures and how these have changed over the course of a more than 2000-year history, most of it spent in exile. From consideration of traditional body stereotypes, such as the so-called Jewish nose, to matters of gender and sexuality, sickness and health, and the inevitable end of the body in death, The Jewish Body explores the historical foundations of the human physis in all its aspects.

Born in Slutzk, Russia, in 1805, Elijah Zvi Soloveitchik is a largely forgotten member of the prestigious Soloveitchik rabbinic dynasty. Before Hayyim Soloveitchik developed the standard Brisker method of Talmudic study, or Joseph Dov Soloveitchik helped to found American Modern Orthodox Judaism, Elijah Soloveitchik wrote Qol Qore, a rabbinic commentary on the Gospels of Matthew and Mark. Qol Qore drew on classic rabbinic literature, and particularly on the works of Moses Maimonides, to argue for the compatibility of Christianity with Judaism. To this day, it remains the only rabbinic work to embrace the compatibility of Orthodox Judaism and the Christian Bible.

In The Bible, the Talmud, and the New Testament, Shaul Magid presents the first-ever English translation of Qol Qore. In his contextualizing introduction, Magid explains that Qol Qore offers a window onto the turbulent historical context of nineteenth-century European Jewry. With violent anti-Semitic activity on the rise in Europe, Elijah Soloveitchik was unique in believing that the roots of anti-Semitism were theological, based on a misunderstanding of the New Testament by both Jews and Christians. His hope was that the Qol Qore, written in Hebrew and translated into French, German, and Polish, would reach Jewish and Christian audiences, urging each to consider the validity of the other's religious principles. In an era characterized by fractious debates between Jewish communities, Elijah Soloveitchik represents a voice that called for radical unity amongst Jews and Christians alike.

Recovers the religious origins of the War on Drugs

Many people view the War on Drugs as a contemporary phenomenon invented by the Nixon administration. But as this new book shows, the conflict actually began more than a century before, when American Protestants began the temperance movement and linked drug use with immorality.

Christian Nationalism and the Birth of the War on Drugs argues that this early drug war was deeply rooted in Christian impulses. While many scholars understand Prohibition to have been a Protestant undertaking, it is considerably less common to consider the War on Drugs this way, in part because racism has understandably been the focal point of discussions of the drug war. Antidrug activists expressed—and still do express--blatant white supremacist and nativist motives. Yet this book argues that that racism was intertwined with religious impulses. Reformers pursued the “civilizing mission,” a wide-ranging project that sought to protect “child races” from harmful influences while remodeling their cultures to look like Europe and the United States. Most reformers saw Christianity as essential to civilization and missionaries felt that banning drugs would encourage religious conversion and progress.

This compelling work of scholarship radically reshapes our understanding of one of the longest and most damaging conflicts in modern American history, making the case that we cannot understand the War on Drugs unless we understand its religious origins.

A collection of meditations on the importance of stewardship.

Much has changed in the 21st-century world of stewardship. Now a person may use electronic funds transfer or use a credit card after clicking on a website link instead of dropping a check in the offering plate. Stewardship witness videos can be linked to the church’s website. One-Minute Stewardship is designed to promote the development of a meaningful theology of giving in a new age. These short reflections, indexed by Scripture, theme, event, and lectionary, are designed to empower clergy and lay leaders to promote the message of good stewardship every Sunday of the year.

Lectionary texts for reading the daily office using the Revised Standard Version translation of the Bible.

My Faith, My Life is a trusted confirmation curriculum for the Episcopal Church.

With this leader guide, leaders can create short, intermediate, and longer programs, including confirmation sequences of six, nine, or twelve-sessions, a retreat or similar short program, or a longer study that is integrated with other current programs over the entire academic year. Filled with prayers to begin and end each session, plus a variety of activities that tap into multiple learning styles and ways to interact with the congregation, this is a primary go-to resource for any youth leader. New material includes how to select, train, and support mentors, as well as how leaders can strengthen their own spiritual life.

Prepared by the Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music and adopted by the 73rd General Convention, this new set of materials was adapted from sources in scripture; a variety of contemporary prayer books throughout the Anglican Communion; traditional materials from Orthodox and medieval western sources; and hymnody of various American cultures. Newly written texts and some texts from the 1979 Book of Common Prayer which have been revised are also included.

Give the gift of a beautiful and durable Book of Common Prayer! A gold cross is stamped on the bonded leather cover in your choice of five colors, with gilt edges, a presentation page, and two satin ribbon markers. Certificates of Baptism, Confirmation, and Marriage are included. 9-point font size.

This is the standard Book of Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments and Other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church together with The Psalter or Psalms of David according to use in the Episcopal Church in the United States as authorized in 1979.

Helps bridge the gap between love of God and love of nature.
Many people experience God most strongly in nature but do not know how to incorporate this experience into their spiritual life. Others question whether Christianity has room for nature at all and seek alternatives elsewhere, often leaving Christianity entirely. This book addresses this crucial issue by providing a resource for fostering a closer relationship with God and creation. With a step-by-step approach, this book provides a framework integrating asceticism with the contemplation of nature. Each chapter contains a “take it home” section for applying the lessons learned outdoors to everyday life, connecting God and nature as seamless components of spirituality. Topics include gratitude, delight, appreciation, wonder, discernment, reverence, mortality, love, beauty, humility, silence, and hope.

In 1756, Jacob Frank, an Ottoman Jew who had returned to the Poland of his birth, was discovered leading a group of fellow travelers in a suspect religious service. At the request of the local rabbis, Polish authorities arrested the participants. Jewish authorities contacted the bishop in whose diocese the service had taken place and argued that since the rites of Frank's followers involved the practice of magic and immoral conduct, both Jews and Christians should condemn them and burn them at the stake. The scheme backfired, as the Frankists took the opportunity to ally themselves with the Church, presenting themselves as Contra-Talmudists who believed in a triune God. As a Turkish subject, Frank was released and temporarily expelled to the Ottoman territories, but the others were found guilty of breaking numerous halakhic prohibitions and were subject to a Jewish ban of excommunication. While they professed their adherence to everything that was commanded by God in the Old Testament, they asserted as well that the Rabbis of old had introduced innumerable lies and misconstructions in their interpretations of that holy book.

Who were Jacob Frank and his followers? To most Christians, they seemed to be members of a Jewish sect; to Jewish reformers, they formed a group making a valiant if misguided attempt to bring an end to the power of the rabbis; and to more traditional Jews, they were heretics to be suppressed by the rabbinate. What is undeniable is that by the late eighteenth century, the Frankists numbered in the tens of thousands and had a significant political and ideological influence on non-Jewish communities throughout eastern and central Europe.

Based on extensive archival research in Poland, the Czech Republic, Israel, Germany, the United States, and the Vatican, The Mixed Multitude is the first comprehensive study of Frank and Frankism in more than a century and offers an important new perspective on Jewish-Christian relations in the Age of Enlightenment.

Easwaran’s best-selling translation of this classic Buddhist text The Dhammapada is reliable, readable, and profound.

Dhammapada means "the path of dharma," the path of harmony and righteousness that anyone can follow to reach the highest good. The Dhammapada is a collection of verses, gathered probably from direct disciples who wanted to preserve what they had heard from the Buddha himself.

Easwaran's comprehensive introduction to the Dhammapada gives an overview of the Buddha's teachings that is penetrating, and clear – accessible for readers new to Buddhism, but also with fresh insights and practical applications for readers familiar with this text. His translation is based on the original Pali. Chapter introductions, notes and a Sanskrit glossary place individual verses into the context of the broader Buddhist canon.

Easwaran is a master storyteller, and the introduction includes many stories that make moving, memorable reading, bringing young Siddhartha and his heroic spiritual quest vividly to life. This faithful interpretation brings us closer to the compassionate heart of the Buddha.

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A comprehensive manual for living a spiritual life, based on a verse-by-verse commentary on India’s timeless scripture – from the author of its best-selling translation.

(The ebook The Bhagavad Gita for Daily Living 9781586381455 includes all three volumes in this series.)

The Bhagavad Gita is set on the battlefield of an apocalyptic war between good and evil. Faced with a dire moral dilemma, the warrior prince Arjuna turns in anguish to his spiritual guide, Sri Krishna, for answers to the fundamental questions of life.

Easwaran points out that Arjuna’s crisis is acutely modern. The Gita’s battlefield is the struggle for self-mastery that every human being must wage. Arjuna represents each of us, and Sri Krishna is the Lord, instructing us in eighteen chapters of lofty wisdom as we face the social, environmental, and global challenges that threaten our world today.

Easwaran is a spiritual teacher and author of deep insight and warmth. His verse-by-verse commentary interprets the Gita’s teachings for modern readers, explaining the Sanskrit concepts and philosophy and applying them with practicality, wisdom, and humor to every aspect of our work, our relationships, and our lives. With everyday anecdotes, stories, and examples, he shows that the changes we long to see in the world start with the transformation of our own consciousness.

The practical exercises recommended by Easwaran to achieve transformation are part of a spiritual program he developed for his own life. They are accessible to people from all backgrounds and cultures. Urging us to adopt a higher image of the human being, he assures us that peace and unity are within reach.

Each volume of this series covers six chapters of the Gita. Each may be read on its own, but all three volumes together form an in-depth, verse-by-verse explanation of this ancient scripture and its relevance today. Each volume includes instructions in Easwaran's eight-point program of passage meditation.

Volume 1: The first six chapters of the Gita explore the concept of the innermost Self and source of wisdom in each of us. Easwaran explains how we can begin to transform ourselves, even as householders engaged in busy lives.

Volume 2: The next six chapters of the Gita go beyond the individual Self to explore the Supreme Reality underlying all creation. Easwaran builds a bridge across the seeming divide between scientific knowledge and spiritual wisdom, and explains how the concept of the unity of life can help us in all our relationships.

Volume 3: The final six chapters put forth an urgent appeal for us to begin to see that all of us are one – to make the connection between the Self within and the Reality underlying all creation. Global in scope, the emphasis is on what we can do to make a difference to heal our environment and establish peace in the world.

Easwaran’s commentary is for all students of the Gita, whatever their background, and for anyone who is trying to find a path to wisdom, love, and kindness in themselves and our troubled world. Written as an authoritative, accessible guide to a much-loved scripture, it is a handbook for finding peace and clarity within.

This second edition incorporates revisions made across all three volumes following the author’s final instructions.