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

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.

A guide to preaching on the Common Worship Lectionary, covering the whole three-year cycle, concentration on the lections for the principal service, and the major saints' days. It provides, for each Sunday's principal service, a focus verse from one of the readings and notes on how to link the four readings. The focus is on the readings but the author includes illustrations and reflections on the everyday life offering the preacher a number of jumping-off points. She sees the main aim of preaching as being to encourage people. A "how-to" section at the beginning of the book contains advice for those new to preaching.

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.

The Anglican answer to this question is clearly given in this unrivalled short guide to the origins, structure, ministry and values of the Churches of the worldwide Anglican Communion. Paul Avis explains and clarifies the history and theology involved. The reader is introduced to the concepts in a structured way, making the book clear to those who may be coming to these issues for the first time. It will also form an invaluable aide-memoire and reference tool for the specialist, presenting a clear outline of the structure, form, function, disposition and beliefs of the Church. Concise and informative, this is an ideal handbook and textbook.

In 1974 the Church of England published a groundbreaking report on euthanasia. Considered by many Christians to be one of the key texts on the subject, it has now been revised and updated with important new additions and commentaries. On Dying Well investigates moral, theological, clinical and legal arguments for and against voluntary euthanasia. It presents arguments on both sides and considers real cases, thereby locating the issues in their clinical context. The report is both intellectually robust and sensitive to the realities of death. On Dying Well is, therefore, as much a contribution to the debate on euthanasia today as it was 25 years ago. The report, while recognising that there may be exceptional cases demanding special decisions, nevertheless concludes that the case for legalising voluntary euthanasia is not one that can be supported. The conclusions are satisfactory because they emerge from careful examination of the issues and reasoned arguments. Anyone who is concerned about euthanasia, or who would like to deepen their own reflections on the subject, should read On Dying Well.

This book represents a continuation of study, debate, and conversation, particularly within the Episcopal Church in the U.S., concerning the authority and function of the Bible in the church. The content of the debate and conversation, however, will be of interest and benefit also to members of other church bodies. A helpful study guide appears at the beginning of the book to assist individuals and group to work through the various contributions and to draw their own conclusions regarding the Bible's role in today's church. The literal and plain sense of the scriptures, the matter in which the Bible is to be regarded as incarnate in history and human limitations, and the degree to which it is subject to historical conditions-these and a host of other critical issues provide the focus of the book. Special attention is directed to the issue of the growing biblical illiteracy in society, leading one of the contributors to warn that "biblical illiteracy is the precursor to spiritual death and communal dissolution." The main chapters include" "The 'Official position' of the Episcopal Church on the Authority of Scripture: Historical Development and Ecumenical Comparison" (J. Robert Wright); "Holy Book, Holy People: A Study of the Authority and Use of the Bible" (Charles P. Price); "'For Freedom Christ Has Set You Free': The Interpretation and Authority of Scripture in Contemporary Theologies of Liberation" (Ellen K. Wondra); "Reading the Bible as the Word of God" (Stephen F. Noll); "The Scriptures in the Life of the Church" (Richard A. Norris, Jr.). The editor, Frederick Houk Borsch, is Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles.

An engaging portrait of one of the most influential and greatly-loved bishops of the Church of England in the twentieth century. He was a Franciscan scholar of world renown, a quintessential Anglican and untiring ecumenist.

For almost 200 years, the city of Birmingham has been a key location for the training of clergy. From 1828 Anglican clergy studied at the Queen's College and in 1881 the Methodist Church developed their own training facility at Handsworth College. In this book, Andrew Chandler tells the tale of these two colleges. This is a history not simply of the creation and evolution of these two religious institutions, but a study full of significance for the wider history of Christianity in British society across the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The foundation of both colleges occurred in a confident age of civic progress and reform and their subsequent histories reveal much that was at work in the experience of the British churches at large. They were at first expressions of denominational identity and a determination to educate a class of clergy. In time they found themselves negotiating new prospects within the ecumenical currents of a later age and the deepening realities of secularization. In 1970 they united. This is a book which blends local, national and international dimensions and also shows how the two theological colleges came to embrace all kinds of intellectual, cultural, social and political history in a period of restless change.

Mullings and Musings is a collection of essays, each originally written by Charlotte Marshall for the monthly church newsletter published by Trinity Episcopal Church of Clarksville, Tennessee. The essays, often humorous, collectively tell the story of growing up in rural Tennessee in the 1930s during the Great Depression, the trials and tribulations of marriage and raising children, and growing old with the inevitable loss of dear friends. Charlotte Marshall was born in 1923 at Kirkwood, a rural community in Montgomery County, Tennessee. She graduated from Austin Peay State University. She and her husband, Jack, currently reside outside Clarksville, Tennessee.

When change in the Anglican Church is controversial, such as the ordination of women, those on both sides of the debate appear to reason and tradition to strengthen their argument. This important study explores the limits of that tradition.

Wise and informed commentary on the lectionary readings for the principal service in Year C. The authors represent a wide spectrum of theology but their shared concern for excellence in preaching have combined to produce an inspirational volume.

In 1732, a blasphemous burlesque of the Christian Atonement was published in England without comment from the government or the Church of England. In "Hogarth's Harlot," Ronald Paulson explains this absence of official censure through a detailed examination of the parameters of blasphemy in eighteenth-century England and the changing attitudes toward the central tenets of the Christian Church among artists in this period. Discerning a profound spiritual and cultural shift from atonement and personal salvation to redemption, incarnation, and acts of charity and love, Paulson focuses on such influential factors as English antipopery and anti-Jacobitism, as well as the ideas of the English Enlightenment.

Offering imaginative and deeply informed readings of a wide range of artistic works--engravings by Hogarth; poems by Milton, Pope, Christopher Smart, and Blake; plays by Nicholas Rowe and George Lillo; paintings and sculptures by Benjamin West, John Zoffany, Joseph Wright of Derby, and Louis-Francois Roubiliac; and oratorios by George Frederic Handel--Paulson explores the significance of the medium in which artists produced "sacred parody" and how these works both reflected and influenced attitudes toward the nature of Christianity in England. As England's faithful began to worry less about everlasting felicity in heaven and more about life on earth, these diverse artists provided them with new ways of thinking about both their spiritual and their social existence.

Covers the story of "The Nine O'Clock Services" which received heavy publicity in 1995, following the exposure of scandals and abuses at the hands of the leader, Chris Brain. This book follows the development of the church and draws comparisons with other alternative churches.

The Archbishops' Commission on the Organisation of the Church of England has carried out a more comprehensive review of the national institutions of the Church than has ever before been undertaken. Its recommendations are far-reaching and, if implemented, would radically change the ways in which the Church of England operates. This would involve a redefinition of how episcopal leadership and synodical governance can work most effectively together in resolving policy and resource issues at the national level, a change of working culture, and much closer integration at the national level and with dioceses. The report sets out clearly the theological principles which led the Commission to its conclusions, describes briefly the existing central structures and goes on to outline the proposals for a new National Council for the Church of England.

n recent years, Church of England church plants have been springing up all over the country at an average rate of one per fortnight. BREAKING NEW GROUND considers the whole phenomenon of church planting, its triumphs and its pitfalls. It looks at stories of life, hope and new beginnings, at growth and learning, and at the possible frustrations, tensions and difficulties surrounding this aspect of the Church's mission. It offers guidance for all kinds of church planting situations, and goes beyond the first stages to consider how to bring these new parts of God's church to fruition and maturity.

Can the Church of England survive the 21st century? What needs to change and what remains? How does the Church deal with contemporary challenges and how are these related to the situation it faced in 1966? This book is an evaluation of Bishop Ronald Williams' 1966 book What's Right with the Church of England identifying the issues of that time with reference to the issues still facing the Church of England today. These include perception and position, resources and finance, ethics, ecumenism, a liberal church in a liberal society, ministry for today, marketing, and a contemporary parochial ecclesiology. Many of the issues from 1966 have not changed but the context is significantly different requiring different responses.

Despite the importance of Evangelism, the history of the Evangelicals in the Church of England has been the subject of no extensive study since G.R. Balleine's classic work of 1908. Incorporating subsequent research, and bringing to bear the most modern scholarly disciplines, Dr Hylson Smith has now provided an up-to-date, comprehensive and perceptive account of the Evangelical movement from the time of the Wesleys and Whitefield to the present day. Kenneth Hylson-Smith has doctoral degrees from Leicester and London. He is Bursar and Fellow of St. Cross College, Oxford.

Many denominations have faced serious identity crisis in recent years. Who are we? We do we exist? What is our mission given the radical political, social, and economic changes that have occurred in this century? What does it mean to be church in a pluralistic, postmodern world? In an effort to answer these and related questions, denominations have rediscovered their origins and redefined themselves and their mission in ways that are consistent with their history. Additional research into denominational histories and the rewriting of these histories has been of significant import in helping today's churches relate to their times. David L. Holmes has produced a relatively concise, highly literary 400-year history of the Episcopal Church, its successes and its failures. He has clearly tied this history to the Anglican Reformation that emerged from Henry VIII's break with Roman Catholicism (an appendix on the annulment of Henry VIII has been included for those who may be unfamiliar with what precipitated the crisis between Henry and the Roman Church). This book, then, provides a readable and accurate account of the beginnings of the Anglican Church in America at Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607, to the establishment of the Protestant Episcopal Church in America after the War of Independence, to the present day. Although only sixth in terms of numbers in the United States, David Holmes concludes, the denomination that first appeared in the colonies as the Church of England 400 years ago has become substantially Americanized. It may be second to none in the nation in terms of power and influence. All who are interested in American church history and in the influence of the Episcopal Church on American history will find David Holmes's account fascinating and helpful. David L. Holmes is Professor of American Religion and Church History at the College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia.

In 11 essays by leading Anglican scholars, this book clarifies what sets Anglicanism apart from other denominations and offers clarity for the future of the communion.

At a time if division and crisis in the Church of England, its identity and mission have come into question as never before. Its own members, but also the wider community of Christians in both East and West, need to understand its history and the reasons for its present crisis, as well as the distinctive contribution it can make to the Great Church of the future. Aidan Nichols provides a clear summary and analysis of the history of the Church of England by way of a sensitive appraisal of its rich theological tradition. This also gives the reader a firm grasp of the context of the issues currently being discussed by the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission. Aidan Nichols, O.P. is a member of the Dominican community at Blackfriars, Cambridge. He is the author is Rome and the Eastern Churches, The Shape of Catholic Theology and many other books.

The history of the Methodist attempt to evangelize Native Americans is riddled with spectacular failures as well as dramatic successes. In this balanced yet forthright account, Homer Noley helps you gain new insights and a richer understanding of Methodist missionary activities with native Americans from the 1600s to today."