What do we need to learn and receive from the other to help us address challenges or wounds in our own tradition? That is the key question asked in what has come to be known as 'receptive ecumenism'. And nowhere is this question more pressing and pertinent than in women's experiences within the church. Based on qualitative research from five focus groups, 'For the Good of the Church' expose the difficulties women face when they work in a church - sexism, unfulfilled vocation, and abuse of power and privilege, as well as the wide range of gifts and skills which women bring in light of these. The second part of the book continues to draw on the particular wounds and gifts, which arise in the focus groups. Specific case studies are used to identify gifts of theology, practice, experience, vocation and power. Against negative prognoses of an 'ecumenical winter', Gabrielle Thomas reveals how radically different theological and ecclesiological perspectives can be a space for learning and receiving gifts for the well-being of the whole Church.

Austin Farrer is often called the one genius the Church of England produced in the 20th Century. His innovative ideas crossed a host of theological disciplines. Assessing his continuing importance and introducing him to a new generation of readers, Austin Farrer for Today brings together a stellar collection of writers to reflect on Farrer's contribution to biblical theology, philosophy, language, doctrine, prayer and preaching. Chapters include: *Rowan Williams on Farrer as a doctrinal theologian *Morwenna Ludlow on Farrer's language and symbolism *Jane Shaw on Farrer as preacher *John Barton, on typology in Farrer

Includes general hymns; hymns for feasts, seasons and saints' days; office hymns for the liturgical year; an enlarged eucharistic section; responsorial psalms, and a new English folk mass setting.

On the eve of WWI the well-known explorer and writer Sir Clements Markham decided to pay tribute to his father, the Reverend David Markham, by putting pen to paper. In tracing his father's life story he provided a detailed account of his life and work at Stillingfleet, Great Horkesley, and Windsor, and his interactions with an extensive list of friends and family. As a well-connected, highly-educated and wealthy individual, David Markham was able to indulge his passion for travelling, collecting, and painting. The family home was filled with cabinets of coins, fossils, shells and other curiosities, as well as many fine works of art. His keen interest in heraldry and family history meant a great deal of time being devoted to tracing the rich history of the family. Clements Markham's story of his father's life provides the reader with a rich depiction of a true Victorian antiquarian: someone with a lifelong passion for learning and interest in a broad spectrum of fields. In doing so he has provided the reader with a rich source of Victorian local, family and social history.

Bishop John Shelby Spong, author of Jesus for the Non-Religious, Why Christianity Must Change or Die, Sins of Scripture, and many other books, is known for his controversial ideas and fighting for minority rights. In Eternal Life: A New Vision, a remarkable spiritual journey about his lifelong struggle with the questions of God and death, he reveals how he came to a new conviction about eternal life. God, says spong, is ultimately one, and each of us is part of that oneness. We do not live on after death as children who have been rewarded with heaven or punished with hell but as part of the life and being of God, sharing in God's eternity, which is beyond the barriers of time and space. spong argues that the discovery of the eternal can be found within each of us if we go deeply into ourselves, transcend our limits and become fully human. By seeking God within, by living each day to its fullest, we will come to understand how we live eternally.

Always compelling and controversial, Spong, the leading Christian liberal and pioneer for human rights, wrestles with the question that all of us will ultimately face. In his final book, Spong takes us beyond religion and even beyond Christianity until he arrives at the affirmation that the fully realized human life empties into and participates in the eternity of God. The pathway into God turns out to be both a pathway into ourselves and a doorway into eternal life. To Job's question "If a man (or a woman) dies, will he (or she) live again?" he gives his answer as a ringing yes

This report from the Faith and Order Commission explores the idea of 'witness' in the life of the church. It is intended as a theological resource to encourage Christians to think of themselves as witnesses, ready to speak of what they have seen and heard, but also to listen with humility. With practical case studies from church communities around England, it offers examples to inspire readers to go further, imagining how they and their churches might witness more richly, as well as put their dreams into action. Designed for churches and small groups to study together, it also includes reflections on the case studies and questions to help readers put their thinking into practice.