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.

Church dedications are as widely used as they are little studied, yet their histories are often obscure and complicated. Frequently forgotten after the Reformation, they were revived on the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries with many guesses and mistakes, resulting in numerous alterations. Church history cannot safely be based on the dedication in use today. Part One of the book surveys their history in England from roman ties to the present day. Part Two is detailed list of all 800 ancient parish churches and religious houses in Cornwall and Devon. It shows when their dedications first occur, the changes and misunderstandings that have happened, and the dates of parish feast days. Cornwall is a country of Celtic church dedication, whilst Devon's resemble this of the rest of England, so the book will be helpful in understanding dedications in both traditions.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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."

WHY TAYLOR TODAY? Jeremy Taylor is more than a famous figure from the Anglican past for much of what he created theologically remains an ingredient in Anglicanism today. Seen against the background of his own times, he stands out in a period rich in theological ability. Seen from the angle of our times, Taylor commands our attention as a precursor. His Real Presence and Spiritual (1654) anticipates aspects of eucharistic theology in the Lima Report (1982) and in the Final Report (1982) or ARCIC I. His moral theology forms the context for his sacramental theology and forestalls much of the development characteristic of the twentieth-century revolution in that subject. He has moreover the curious capacity of appearing to make himself at times our contemporary. A man of paradox, both Laudon and liberal, steeped in the great tradition yet: on occasion strangely modern, he persistently defies easy classification. He is a theologian of affiliations but of no party, holding 'the faith once 'for all delivered' but expounding it with originality, and individuality. Taylor always remains his own man. Deeply and widely learned and enormously productive even throughout the years of national turmoil and amid personal losses, he can be exciting in his handling of themes expressed in that style which has, ensured for him a place in English literature. This book attempts an evaluation of his eucharistic theology - not hitherto examined in depth - which is firmly sited by Taylor within his overall picture of the Christian life.

This historic report, first published in 1985, was released four years after Lord Scarman's report on the Brixton disorders, and at a time of continuing urban unrest, yet is still of great relevance today. Faith in the City asks what future is there for our inner cities and housing estates, and considers how should the Church of England, and other bodies, including government should respond. This was the brief given by the Archbishop of Canterbury to a distinguished 18-member Commission drawn from a wide range of backgrounds. After two years of taking evidence and visiting the major cities where economic, physical and social conditions are at their most acute and depressing, the Commission's report paints a disturbing picture. The report makes recommendations to the Church about its place and responsibilities in the urban priority areas. Important recommendations are also made about public policy issues: unemployment, housing, social and community work, education, policing, and urban policy. In its call for action on a broad front, the Commission argues that Church and State must have faith in the city. There needs to be a clear commitment - and a positive response - by the nation as a whole.

Originating in 1867 under the presidency of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Lambeth Conference has proactively shaped the modern world by influencing areas as diverse as the ecumenical movement, post-war international relations, and the spiritual lives of hundreds of millions. A team of distinguished scholars from around the world now detail the historical legacy, theological meaning, and pastoral purpose of the Anglican Communion's decennial councils. The next Lambeth Conference will be crucial for the Anglican Communion, which is currently afflicted by destructive tensions over matters long central to Christian identity, such as the nature of holy orders, the definition of sexual morality, and the scope of ecclesial authority. Whether in supplication or celebration, both nurtured by diverse cultural contexts and furthered by the scope of ecumenical horizons, these essays break new ground. The Lambeth Conference is a faithful testament to generations past, and a spur to the ongoing restoration of Anglican theology and devotion in the present.

A very useful source for the history of the early 20th-century church. JOURNAL OF ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY Daily preoccupations of the bishop cast light on church and society in and around Lincoln before and during the first worldwar. Bishop Edward Lee Hicks' diary offers an honest picture of the daily life of a bishop in the period immediately before and during the first world war, a portrait of church and society in a largely rural diocese in the last phase before the radical transformation which the `Great War' hastened. The diary presents a largely church-centred picture; but it is also valuable as a personal view of such matters as Lincolnshire social life including the impact of war on the county, conditions of travel at the beginning of the era of the motor car, characteristics of the clergy, and frequent comment on items of archaeological and antiquarian interest.Canon GRAHAM NEVILLEwas Canon andPrebendary of Lincoln Cathedral from 1982-1987.

an essay in historical anthropology

Ralph Josselin, vicar of Earls Colne in Essex from 1641 to his death in 1683, kept for almost forty years a remarkably detailed account of his life—his mental and emotional world as well as his activities. Few diaries from this period afford such a rounded picture of a family from so many aspects. Alan Macfarlane, a historian and lecturer in social anthropology at Cambridge University, explores through the diary Josselin's life as farmer, businessman, Puritan clergyman, neighbor, husband, and father, providing a unique view of a seventeenth-century life from the inside.

"The great merit of Macfarlane's book is that it poses questions; it teaches historians to look very much more closely, and in new ways, at familiar evidence; it brings familiar relationships into the centre of scrutiny; and it offers, in a significant way, the unit of one man's life, and one man's economic fortunes, as a focus of study." —E.P. Thompson, Midland History

"Alan Macfarlane [is] a yound historian who has already deepened out understanding of seventeenth-century English society." —Christopher Hill, Renaissance Quarterly

"Ralph Josselin's diary when subjected to Macfarlane's anthropological tools provides major insights into the life of a yeoman-priest, his community, and the vision peculiar to that lost world." —John J. Waters, New England Quarterly

"Historians . . . will find this book valuable as well as enormously enjoyable." —D. H. Pennington, American Historical Review

"By any standards, however exacting, this is a remarkable addition to seventeenth-century studies. . . . . A crisply written and penetrating study of a man's mind, circustances, and environment. . . . This is social history with the politics—and all the rest of the blood, sweat, and tears—very much left in, as it should be, but all too rarely is." —Times Literary Supplement

"How the Anglo-Catholic movement in the Victorian Church of England overcame opposition to establish itself as a legitimate form of Anglicanism."

A thorough, compelling, and often amusing account of how the Anglo-Catholic movement in the Victorian Church of England overcame vehement opposition to establish itself as a legitimate form of Anglicanism.

From working class tenements to the pages of Punch to the very Houses of Parliament, the Victorian Anglo-Catholic movement provoked bitter debate and even violence throughout Victorian times. Rotten vegetables were thrown at priests as they spoke from their pulpits, and fistfights broke out among families over whether dear departed ones would be buried "High Church" or "Low Church." In this innovative critical study, John Shelton Reed provides the first comprehensive treatment of the rise, growth, and eventual consolidation of this controversial movement within the Victorian Church of England.

Reed identifies Anglo-Catholicism as a countercultural movement, in some ways not unlike the counterculture of the 1960s, one that championed practices that were symbolic affronts to some of the central values of the dominant middle-class culture of its time. He identifies certain members of the clergy (including John Henry Newman and his circle), the urban poor, women, and youth of both sexes, expecially those who were put off by "muscular Christianity," as those most attracted both to what the movement had to offer and to the shock value it gave to the institutions, classes, and individuals whom they despised. Each of these component groups can be seen as culturally subordinate or in decline--threatened, oppressed, or at least bored by the Victorian values that the movement challenged--and thus ready to hear subversive messages.

A distinguished sociologist, best known as a major interpreter of the American South, Reed here explores new ground with characteristic scholarly acumen, thorough and meticulous research, fresh perspective and insight, and a remarkably engaging literary style. He has uncovered and taken full advantage of a wealth of largely untapped archival material, from the library of Pusey House, Oxford, as well as the Bodleian Library and the British Library, and has fashioned this into a cogent analysis that will enhance understanding of the subject for both scholars and general readers. His conclusions will shed light on many aspects of Victorian studies and the related disciplines of history (social, cultural, political, intellectual, and ecclesiastical), literary studies, women's studies, and the study of social movements. All future work on Anglo-Catholicism and related subjects will be indebted to Reed's "Glorious Battle."

This book has been supported by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

The Book of Waking Up invites you to wake to your coping mechanisms, find the why behind your pain, and walk into the Divine Love of God. The inevitable pain of life gives us many reasons to check out--and many ways to do it. Alcohol, entertainment, pills, shopping, porn, chasing success, cashing checks, and collecting social media "likes"--these and so many other things anesthetize us from the wounds of everyday living. As Seth Haines wrote in his award-winning book, Coming Clean, "We're all drunk on something." In his compelling follow-up, The Book of Waking Up, Seth invites you into the story of healing. He invites you to see your coping mechanisms for what they are--lesser lovers, which cannot bring the peace, freedom, and wholeness you crave. Through guided reflections, sustainable soul practices, and stories from Seth's life and others, The Book of Waking Up points you toward the Divine Love of God that has the power to transform your life. As Seth writes, "Addiction is misplaced adoration." Now, join him on a journey toward the only Love worth adoring, the only Love that cures a soul. Join him on the journey to waking up.

C. S. Lewis was one of the twentieth century's foremost Christian authors - at once a scholar, a teacher, a social critic, an amateur yet profound theologian, and an apologist. This study of his writings provides a perceptive and illuminating guide to readers who may be unacquainted with Lewis; a help to those wishing to understand him better; and an evaluation for those who want a survey of his works as a whole. Clyde S. Kilby examines Lewis's Christian works one by one, compares them with each other and with books by other authors, and discovers and elucidates the themes that recur throughout the main body of Lewis's writings.

Anglicanism arguably originated in 1534 when Parliament passed the Act of Supremacy, which transferred papal power over the Church of England to the king. Today, approximately 550 dioceses are located around the world, not only in England, but also everywhere that the British Empire's area of influence extended. With a membership estimated at around 80 million members the Anglican Communion is the third largest Christian communion in the world This second edition of Historical Dictionary of Anglicanism covers the history of Anglicanism through a chronology, an introductory essay, appendixes, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 700 cross-referenced entries on important personalities, concepts and institutions, rituals and liturgy, events and national communities. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Anglicanism.

"Straw for the Bricks" explores theological reflection as a tool for ministerial training and development. The book offers a new resource for theological conversation at the beginning of the 21st century: it breaks new ground in exploring how a model of conversation can be used to lay a foundation for learning which provides a new architecture for both academic curriculum and personal formation. In addition, this book offers a practical guide to good practice supported by the lived experience of educators from All Saints Centre for Mission and Ministry working across several disciplines. No other such detailed practical guide is currently in print. This will become an important resource for those within theological education institutions, adult theological educators; those with responsibility for continuing ministerial development, mentoring and discipleship; and any lay person who seeks to live a life of faith in conversation with culture and the Judaeo-Christian tradition.

Since it was first introduced in the Summer of 2000, Common Praise the new Hymns Ancient & Modern has sold over one hundred thousand copies, and been adopted by parishes in every diocese in England and Wales including eight English cathedrals and in five of the seven dioceses in Scotland. It is also used in numerous schools, colleges, hospitals, residential homes, retreat houses, religious communities, crematoria, missions and military garrison chapels.

The Recent Past From a Southern Standpoint: Reminiscences of a Grandfather

The Recent Past From a Southern Standpoint: Reminiscences of a Grandfather Authored by Richard H. Wilmer