We Welcome You is a three-part baptism preparation course to help parishes prepare families for their child's baptism and to discover the joyful start of a lifelong journey of faith. Drawing on extensive research with families, the course helps parishes to engage families with practical tips on welcome and on helping children and families prepare well for this significant spiritual moment. We Welcome You can be used with small groups or with individual families, but there are also options for using the material in a single session and even at a home visit. Containing all the resources necessary, it covers every aspect of this vital ministry and aims to enrich pastoral practice and, importantly, the experience of families. Session 1 helps families to reflect on why they want their child baptized, the importance of godparents, and the deeper meaning of baptism. Session 2 looks at the baptism service itself and the promises made at it, and explores the key symbols and their significance. Session 3 encourages families to continue on their spiritual journey, with ideas for praying with their child, reading Bible stories together and becoming part of a local church community. Informal and participative, the course offers a wide range of approaches including icebreaker activities and discussion starters, storytelling, reflection and discussion, crafts, quizzes and games. All handouts are photocopiable.

Every service that marks a death or the anniversary of a death, remembers the life of a unique person and should be prepared with utmost care and thought, and approached with reverence. We tread on holy ground when we accompany those who are experiencing loss. This practical and extremely helpful resource book provides guidelines for creating individualised funeral, thanksgiving and memorial services and includes a wide range of prayers, readings and reflections for each stage of the service from the gathering words of welcome to the committal and final blessing, and suggestions for symbolic acts of remembrance. Resources are also included for creating special services, such as for those facing their first Christmas after a bereavement. All resources may be downloaded from the accompanying CD Rom. Pastoral guidance is offered for every step of the way in funeral ministry, including the first visit to a bereaved family, prayers for a funeral visit, making practical arrangements with funeral directors, crafting orders of service, using music and images, and supporting those in particularly distressing circumstances.

Project Holiness: Marriage as a Workshop for Everyday Saints celebrates the holiness of the ordinary and the goodness of married discipleship. Vatican II's Lumen Gentium reminds Catholics of the universal call to holiness. Each person-lay and ordained alike-shares this vocation to holiness, this call to sainthood. For most adult Catholics, it is within the context of vowed, married life that the joyful and challenging path to sainthood is traveled. Based on an extensive qualitative study of long-lasting Catholic marriages, Bridget Burke Ravizza and Julie Donovan Massey examine the virtues, values, and practices that ground flourishing marriages and lead married partners to holiness.

The rite of marriage (betrothal and crowning) as celebrated in the Holy Orthodox Church. the text is in Greek and English on in columns and follows the Great Euchologion of the Great Church of Christ. Also included are the Service for a Second Marriage, and the Service for the Restoration of a Marriage for those Previously Divorced. The translation is base on that of V. Rev. Arch. Ephrem Lash. Music aids are included in both Byzantine and Western notation and were arranged Fr. Ephraim of St. Anthony Monastery, Florence, Arizona.

Contains all the advice, guidance and resources a church needs to discuss admitting children to Holy Communion before confirmation Includes a ready-to-use preparation course for the whole family Also includes answers to the most common objections from parishes and an outline admission service Authors have many years' experience of advising and resourcing parishes on this issue