This timely book, which arises out of consultations under the auspices of the Centre for the Study of the Christian Church, examines the Church of England's decision to ordain women to the priesthood and to make pastoral provision for those opposed. It attempts to discover and define the theological principles underlying both the ordination of women and the determination of the Church to maintain communion when these developments provoke fundamental disagreements.

The Anglican Communion is in turmoil. One of the great historic pillars of Christianity, embraced by 70 million people in 164 countries, faces the real and immediate possibility of dismberment, as the spectre of schism looms ever closer. Yet why is gay sexuality the tinderbox that could rip the Anglican Communion apart, and put an end to a century-old and hugely-prized international unity, when such contentious issues as the ordination of women, or unity discussions with other churches, failed to cause a split? In answering this question, Stephen Bates will show that unity has been coveted by some above integrity, and has been the cause of vicious infighting and internal politics. In the run-up to publication of A Church At War the author will be in the front line, as he files regular reports on the twists and turns of battle. His eagerly awaited book will be the only one to assess the current state and historical context of the row, the strengths and weaknesses of the protagonists' positions, and the tactics that they are employing to win the day. A Church At War promises compelling insights into a power struggle between factions seemingly united only by their mutual antipathy, and conducted, paradoxically, in the name of true communion.'

Most Christians are completely unaware that for over 200 years there has existed in England, and at times in Wales, Scotland, Canada, Bermuda, Australia, New Zealand, Russia and the USA, an episcopal Church, similar in many respects to the Church of England, worshipping with a Prayer Book virtually identical to the 1662 Book of Common Prayer, and served by bishops, presbyters and deacons whose orders derive directly from Canterbury, and ecumenically enriched by Old Catholic, Swedish, Moravian and other successions. The Free Church of England as an independent jurisdiction within the Universal Church began in the reign of George III. In 1991 the Church sent a bishop to George Carey's Enthronement as Archbishop of Canterbury. In addition to presenting for the first time a detailed history of the Free Church of England, John Fenwick also explores the distinctive doctrinal emphases of the denomination, its Constitution, its liturgical tradition, its experience of the historic episcopate, and its many connections with other churches (including the Reformed Episcopal Church in the USA). He discusses why the Church has, so far, failed to fulfil the vision of its founders, and what the possible future of the Church might be - including a very significant expansion as many Anglicans and other Christians considering new options discover this historic, episcopal, disestablished, Church with its international connections and ecumenical character.

A new generation of leadership is emerging within the Anglican Communion. This book examines the challenges and opportunities facing these young leaders and Anglicanism more broadly. It explores the nature and shape of Anglican ministry in the new millennium. Designed for those who are considering ordination and those who are in training for the same, it is of appeal to lay leaders as well. Donald M. Lewis (DPhil, Oxford) is Professor of Church History and Academic Dean at Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia. An active Anglican, he is also the secretary of Regent College's Anglican Studies Program.

Renowned trailblazing Anglican priest Joy Carroll Wallis, inspiration for the BBC series" Vicar of Dibley," recounts her spiritual and professional path and the setbacks and triumphs she encountered. She discusses with humor and compassion what it is like to be a leader in women's rights and the rights of the poor, as well as her work with her husband, prominent religious leader and Sojourners figure Jim Wallis.

Nora Gallagher’s compelling story of a woman at a crossroads, discerning what to do and how to live after her brother’s death, is a continuation of the spiritual journey she chronicled in her acclaimed book, Things Seen and Unseen: A Year Lived in Faith.

When her beloved brother, Kit, dies, Gallagher finds her own life no longer makes sense. Stretched between meetings, always ten minutes late, increasingly drained of surprise and humor, Gallagher realizes she’s lost more than her brother. She’s lost her “own wild life,” and a sense of the sacred in the world.

Gallagher sets out to find “a new way to spend” herself. Practicing Resurrection describes the often un-
settling, sometimes comic, and finally redemptive process of discovery as Gallagher discerns a possible call to the ministry, and explores her marriage, her work as a writer, and the natural world. It extends to the full meaning of life after a death as Gallagher finds that experiences of “resurrection” are not believing “six impossible things before breakfast.” The surprising end portrays a vision of ministry redefined and a marriage honestly renewed.

A beautiful and often harrowing account of the exploration of a vocation and of new life after loss, this powerful memoir will inform and inspire anyone trying to discern the signs of a “call” to what might be a deeper purpose, and how to act on it.





From the Hardcover edition.

Meeting at an African American college in North Carolina in 1959, a group of black and white Episcopalians organized the Episcopal Society for Cultural and Racial Unity and pledged to oppose all distinctions based on race, ethnicity, and social class. They adopted a motto derived from Psalm 133: ""Behold, how good and joyful a thing it is, for brethren to dwell together in unity "" Though the spiritual intentions of these individuals were positive, the reality of the association between blacks and whites in the church was much more complicated. Episcopalians and Race examines the often ambivalent relationship between black communities and the predominantly white leadership of the Episcopal Church since the Civil War. Paying special attention to the 1950s and 60s, Gardiner Shattuck analyzes the impact of the civil rights movement on church life, especially in southern states. He discusses the Church's lofty goals--exemplified by the Episcopal Society for Cultural and Racial Unity--and ignoble practices and attitudes, such as the failure to recognize the role of black clergy and laity within the denomination. The efforts of mainline Protestant denominations were critically important in the struggle for civil rights, and Episcopalians expended a great deal of time and resources in engaging in the quest for racial equality and strengthening the missionary outreach to African Americans in the South. Shattuck offers an insider's history of Episcopalians' efforts, both successful and unsuccessful, to come to terms with race and racism since the Civil War.

Elizabeth I divided her episcopate at the outset of her reign between Geneva reformers and bishops who looked to the Fathers of the Early Church. Thereafter in the Church of England there would always be divines who were drawn to the orthodox East. Such men suffered mightily in the 17th century at the hands of the Puritans and then Whigs when these gained political power, and their suffering impelled them more and more to 'look to the east'. This book traces the fortunes of that quest, through the study of Greek texts, involvement in the intricate politics of the Near and Middle East, deprivation and isolation in the Nonjuror schism and finally the rejection by the Greek Patriarchs of requests for Orthodox Communion in the 1720s. It is a sad story involving much pain, but the steadfastness of the participants may have much to teach embattled churchmen today and inspire Orthodox readers to look with freah eyes at an attempt at unity whihc fialed as much through the weaknesses of the Orthodox Church at that time as from the inadequacies of those who wished to join them.

Arising out of consultations under the auspices of the Centre for the Study of the Christian Church, this book examines the Church of England's decision to ordain women to the priesthood and to make pastoral provision for those opposed. It attempts to discover and define the theological principles underlying both the ordination of women and the determination of the Church to maintain communion when these developments provoke fundamental disagreements. The book also considers the role of the so-called "flying Bishops", set in place by the Episcopal Ministry Act of Synod (1993). All the contributors support, with varying degrees of enthusiasm, the Act of Synod, but they are divided in their view of the ordination of women.

Ronald Blythe invites us into the company of his neighbours and friends to hear his reflections on the natural and local history, the liturgy, stories, village events and gossip that shape and unite their lives. Though intimately local, his voice is that of a poet, transcending boundaries of place and time with a universal appeal. 'Man of letters, man of faith, Suffolk man: Ronald Blythe is all of these.' Tiimes Literary Supplement

This volume includes lectures from high profile figures from academia and the Church. Anglian and Catholic voices explores continuity and change in the Anglican Church and its relations with Rome, from its earliest days onwards.

This account of the Oxford or Tractarian movement provides essential information to the study of English church history and the history of England during the Victorian era. This book is an up-to-date, scholarly but approachable exploration of the Movement which features primary material from a range of its key members. Herring looks at the relationship beween the Movement and the older, pre-1833 High Church tradition and, crucially, at developments after Newman's departure for Rome in 1845. By placing the Tractarians in the general political and social context of Victorian movements that sought to revitalize England's traditional institutions during a period of urbanization and industrialization, Herring brings new meaning to the movement.

The Anabaptists of North America sport an amazing spectrum of religious and cultural diversity--from communal Hutterites to urban Mennonites, from low-tech Amish to acculturated Brethren. They are known for their strong commitments to peacemaking, service, and community. In this concise text, Donald B. Kraybill provides a sweeping overview of their beliefs and practices as well as their similarities and differences.

Published to mark the tenth anniversary of the ordination of women in the Anglican church, this work includes prominent clergy, both female and male, such as Lucy Winkett, Angela Tilby, Una Kroll, Rose Hudson-Wilkin and Rowan Williams. It tells women's stories about the reality of life as a priest and reveals defining moments in their own personal journey. Influential men in the church also reflect upon the challenges and opportunities that women's ministry has created for them.

Trollope and the Church of England is the first detailed examination of Trollop's attitude towards his Anglican faith and the Church, and the impact this had on his works. Jill Durey controversially explodes the myth that Trollope's most popular characters just happened to be clerical and were simply a skit on the Church, by revealing the true extent of his lifelong fascination with religion.

Amongst the churches, Anglicanism is distinctive by virtue of its attempt to participate in the life and purposes of God and to make them known through history and in the practicalities of particular situations. Yet the distinctiveness of this position, and what its implications are for the Church's ongoing life, are not well appreciated. As a result, the churches of the Anglican Communion often find themselves caught in painful struggles about major issues concerning their own basis and practice, to such a degree that there are constant threats of division. The essays in this book begin from the struggles which have emerged in recent years, since the 1998 Lambeth conference, and show the deeper issues at stake. They respond with proposals for the future, focusing especially on the wisdom which manifests itself in the Church, and how this needs to be furthered in the worship, order and practice of the Church in the breadth of its mission in each place. They conclude with some considerations of the wider role of the Church in responding to spirituality and money. Together they form a powerful statement of the tasks of Anglicanism today from which other traditions have much to learn.

Open the ancient door of an old church, says Ronald Blythe, and framed in the silence is a house of words where everything has been said: centuries of birth, marriage and death words, gossip, poetry, philosophy, rant, eloquence, learning, nonsense, the language of hymn writers and Bible translators - all of it spoken in one place. This work contains words spoken by Ronald Blythe in the churches he serves as a Reader in the Church of England, and as the local writer expected to add his own distinctive voice. Originating as addresses given at Matins or Evensong, they follow various paths into old and new liturgies, literature and the local countryside. They bring together the author's delight in language, his recollections of farming, his recognition of friends and neighbours, and the hopes he has found in faith.

An invaluable one-stop reference point for a wide range of biblical and ecclesiastical terms. Includes simple definitions for words frequently used in relation to church buildings, their contents, and in many aspects of church organization and worship. Revised and expanded to include the many changes brought about by Common Worship.

Religion was a vital part of women's experience in Victorian Britain. This book is the first real study of the social history and cultural significance of the sisterhoods which sprang up within Britain in the second half of the nineteenth century, where women abandoned the domestic sphere to become the prototype of the modern social worker as well as pushing back the boundaries of what women could do within the structures of the Anglican church. The sisterhood movement began with the establishment of the first convent in 1845 and grew rapidly. By 1900 more than 10,000 women had joined the only Anglican organization which offered full-time work for women of all social classes. Even more impressive than the sisterhood's rapid growth was the degree of fascination that 'protestant nunneries' had for the general public -- the movement was the focus of a vigorous and heated public debate that lasted beyond the end of the century. Based upon years of research into the archives of twenty-eight religious communities, the book offers a unique breadth of coverage which allows for the formation of a more comprehensive and accurate picture of the movement than has been possible previously. Above all, the book shows that these sisterhoods were not refuges for women who failed to find husbands; rather, they attracted women who were interested in moulding careers. So successful were they in recruiting women that by the 1860s they threatened to undermine the hegemony of the ideal of domestic life as the proper sphere for women.

Phillips Brooks, author of the carol O Little Town of Bethlehem, was the rector of the Trinity Episcopal Church in Boston for 22 years and the Bishop of Massachusetts for 15 months until his death in 1893. This volume in the Great American Orators series focuses on Brooks' oratorical style and the public's response to his rhetoric. Chesebrough provides a biographical sketch of Brooks' life emphasizing the development and use of his oratorical skills and placing him within the secular and ecclesiastical contexts of his times. Attention is given to Brooks' development as a public speaker and to his manner of sermon preparation and delivery. Three of Brooks' sermons are printed in their entirety: Abraham Lincoln, The Cradle of the Lord, and Help from the Hills, preceded by introductory remarks and a brief analysis of the sermon. This examination of Brooks' rhetoric will appeal to scholars of rhetoric and of American theology and American religious history, especially Episcopal history.

The Saints of the Anglican Calendar introduces us to the 232 men and women who are commemorated in the Common Mrship Calendar. Nearly five hundred years after the Reformation, the Church of England is coming to a fuller appreciation of the saints, and their contribution to our spiritual heritage. 1 it le .11 .1r, e: Mediaeval accounts of saints' lives were often marred by confitsion and contradictory oral traditions, the writers' desire to tell an edifying story, and the exploitation of the commercial opportunities of pilgrim shrines. Embellished with improbable miracles and unlikely legends, these accounts made the saints seem remote and unbelievable figures, but recent theological scholarship has cleared away the accretions of centuries, enabling us to see the saints as real people who faced up to the challenge of living out the Christian faith, often in conditions of great difficulty or danger - and who made mistakes like everyone else. This lively and informative volume presents the experience of men and women from the days of the early Church to modern times - people from many walks of life, including some from other Christian traditions. They represent the 'great cloud of witnesses' who enrich our understanding of the Christian faith, endow us with a legacy of two thousand years of Christian values in action, and inspire us to walk faithfully in the way of Christ.

Co-published with the Council for World Mission, this exciting new resource focuses on the theme of mission as it is expressed in worship and worked out in the life of the church. 150 original items from around the world include litanies and symbolic acts