Spiritual formation is the key to the survival of our faith. There is an urgent need today for church services that are substantive and purposeful. Stigmatized by scandal, the church in North America and throughout Europe has been branded as useless and irrelevant. To stem the tide of nominal Christianity, we need to get serious about making disciples who can make other disciples. Rory Noland is a worship leader who has led in contexts ranging from megachurches to small retreat settings such as the Transforming Center with Ruth Haley Barton. Combining discipleship and worship-what Noland calls transforming worship-he offers a vision for worship as spiritual formation. We need to reclaim our worship services as a formative space, and through that we will become the light of Christ in a dark world.

In The Power of Prayer to Enrich Your Marriage, bestselling author Stormie Omartian teaches husbands and wives how to pray for protection against the most common marriage problems that can lead to serious distrust, dissatisfaction, and sometimes even divorce.

It’s Never Too Soon or Too Late to Pray for Your Marriage

Stormie Omartian’s bestselling books on prayer have changed the lives of millions. In The Power of Prayer to Enrich Your Marriage, Stormie shows husbands and wives how to pray with urgency and power for God’s protection against the 14 most common marital problems that can lead to distrust, dissatisfaction, and sometimes even divorce.

Whether you want guidance to help you avoid common pitfalls or you need healing and restoration from struggles you’ve already faced, you can partner with God to strengthen your relationship. This book will help you…

• prevent and pray through the challenges that may arise in your marriage
• lift your requests for good communication, forgiveness, wisdom, and much more to the Lord
• experience heartfelt peace knowing that no obstacle in your relationship is too great for God

The main Camino route is the Camino Frances. This part of the Camino de Santiago traditionally starts in St Jean Pied de Port and finishes in Santiago de Compostela about 780km later, after travelling the breadth of Northern Spain, However, travellers can start anywhere and even continue past Santiago to the sea at Finisterre. Finisterre was thought to be the end of the world in medieval times. Robert France walked the Camino Frances (all the way to Finisterre) in Winter and this book is the result of that adventure. It differs from much of the current literature available in that is written by someone in middle-age (most accounts are from the retired or the gap-year student). It is a reflective and thoughtful account which includes literary references, visual records and information on architecture, monuments and pilgrimages. As an example of how much of a 'cult' this walk has become, there is a community called the Confraternity of St. James, based in London, whose membership has grown from a half dozen to over two thousand during the last thirty years. This will have a wide appeal to all travel enthusiasts the world over as well as modern pilgrims, of whom there are more than one thinks!

The Philokalia is a collection of texts written between the fourth and fifteenth centuries by spiritual master of the Orthodox Christian tradition. First published in Greek in 1782, translated into Salvonic and later into Russian, The Philokalia has exercised an influence far greater than that of any book other than the Bible in the recent history of the Orthodox Church.

When we grieve, we all long for light in the dark places. We need a light to warm our hearts when they are chilled by grief. For Those Who Grieve includes 22 brief devotions and prayers, drawing on the saints, Scripture, and modern reflections to encourage readers to turn to God each day and find the light of hope, healing, and wholeness

Jennie Turrell walked into All Saints Chapel on Good Friday, when her three-year-old son stopped her in the darkened doorway and quietly whispered, Uh-oh. At that moment, she realized that changes in the physical space of the liturgy mattered to him. She had been whispering in his ear during liturgies since he was a baby, but it wasn t until that day that she knew he had been taking it all in sights and sounds all of it. In spite of squawking at inopportune times, crawling in the side aisle or narthex when sermons ran too long, drawing on the bulletin, dropping the heavy Book of Common Prayer on his toes, or standing on chairs, her son was present, aware, and sharing in the Eucharist. This is how her little book for little hands came to life. Her son was a consultant on the book from beginning to end. An engaging book for children, ages 2 8, to follow the liturgy and participate in ways that are appropriate for them Beautiful images and age-appropriate language follow the liturgy Kid-friendly, illustrated primer on the sacrament of the Eucharist "

This book is the first to examine the depth, complexity and uniqueness of global Christian pilgrimage, travel and tourism, and how they manifest in terms of both supply and demand. It explores the places and spaces of production and consumption of this increasingly important tourism phenomenon. The volume considers the foundational elements of the attractiveness of places according to Christian thinking - spirit of place, scriptural connections, art and architecture, contrived/themed environments, programmed events, volunteer travel opportunities, and visiting local communities by way of solidarity tourism and mission work. It includes a wide range of examples from Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Africa, Latin America and North America and will be of interest to researchers and students in religious studies, tourism, pilgrimage studies, geography, anthropology and Christianity studies.

This book is the first to examine the depth, complexity and uniqueness of global Christian pilgrimage, travel and tourism, and how they manifest in terms of both supply and demand. It explores the places and spaces of production and consumption of this increasingly important tourism phenomenon. The volume considers the foundational elements of the attractiveness of places according to Christian thinking - spirit of place, scriptural connections, art and architecture, contrived/themed environments, programmed events, volunteer travel opportunities, and visiting local communities by way of solidarity tourism and mission work. It includes a wide range of examples from Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Africa, Latin America and North America and will be of interest to researchers and students in religious studies, tourism, pilgrimage studies, geography, anthropology and Christianity studies.

"A brilliant breakthrough in pilgrimage studies. An exemplary study that shows how to bring together different academic and institutional interests in a common cause - understanding the relationship between pilgrimage and English cathedrals over time. A publication that will, hopefully, inspire similar collaborative studies around the globe." - John Eade, Professor of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Roehampton, UK "People who oversee, minister, lead worship, guide, welcome, manage, market, promote and maintain cathedrals will find this book an indispensable treasure. It is aware of the awesome complexity inherent in cathedral life but it doesn't duck the issues: its clear-eyed focus is on the way people experience cathedrals and how these extraordinary holy places can speak and connect with all the diversity represented by the people who come to them. In a spiritually-hungry age, this book shows us how to recognise and meet that hunger. This book will be required reading for all us "insiders" trying to invite and signpost access to holy ground." - The Very Reverend Adrian Dorber, Dean of Lichfield, Chair of the Association of English Cathedrals This book looks at England's cathedrals and their relationship with pilgrimage throughout history and in the present day. The volume brings together historians, social scientists, and cathedral practitioners to provide groundbreaking work, comprising a historical overview of the topic, thematic studies, and individual views from prominent clergy discussing how they see pilgrimage as part of the contemporary cathedral experience.

"Pray with more than just your mind--learn how to use your whole self"
In this innovative prayer book, readers are invited to do more than read--they are asked to move in prayer by expressing the Psalms with motion. This way of praying helps deepen and broaden a relationship with God. It allows the pray-er to better come to understand God as "Holy One"--and in other timeless expressions of the psalmists.
In Praying with the Body readers will find both prayer tools and companionship. Black and white drawings showing the postures and expressions of the body, accompany the scripture texts and explanations by Roy DeLeon. Working together, these elements invite readers to taste, explore, and discover a new and different way of knowing God.
This book is for anyone who wants a more integrated and reconciled approach to prayer. It proposes a way of prayer that, depending on your level of readiness, could influence both our interior and daily life. Its meditations and reflections connect readers to their deepest needs to be with the Beloved, to be reassured of the divine presence in our midst. They address hunger and longing for true happiness, for freedom from fear, and for deep peace.
"The four basic ways of praying -oral, mental, affective, and contemplative--are all contained here." --Father Tom Ryan, author of Prayer of Heart and Body

A definitive look at how church music is changing in the 21st century. There is no lack of resources for the church musician focusing on particular skills or repertoire. But this is the first collection of essays created specifically for musicians working in parish ministry that imagines how those vocations will change along with the evolving church. Ponder Anew chronicles the rapid changes in the church music landscape in the last 20 years including the role of technology, education, relationships with clergy and choristers, and cultural presumptions. Contributors are parish musicians, professors, clergy, and bishops.

Most Christians want to experience spiritual transformation. But many are frustrated by the limited progress of our spiritual self-improvement efforts. We find our praying burdened by a sense of obligation and failure. But prayer is not merely something we do; prayer is what God does in us. Prayer is not just communication with God-it is communion with God. As we open ourselves to him, God does the spiritual work of transformation in us. Spiritual director and psychologist David Benner invites us to discover openness to God as the essence of prayer, spirituality, and the Christian life. Prayer is far more than saying words to God; all of life can be prayer when offered to God in faith and with openness. Using the four movements of lectio divina, Benner explores prayer as attending, pondering, responding, and being. Along the way he opens us to a world of possibilities for communion with God: praying with our senses, with imagination, with music and creativity, in contemplation, in service, and much more. Learn how prayer can be a way of living. Move beyond words to become not merely someone who prays, but someone whose entire life is prayer in union with God. This expanded edition includes a new afterword and an experiential guide with questions for individual reflection or group discussion.

This essay collection, devoted to exploring the richness of Christian musical traditions in the Americas, reflects the distinctive critical perspectives of the Society for Christian Scholarship in Music, an association of scholars dedicated to exploring the intersections of Christian faith and musical scholarship. Now in our sixteenth year, we seek to celebrate our work in the world and bring it to a larger audience by offering a cross- section of the most outstanding scholarship from an international array of writers. The proposed collection follows a first collection published to celebrate the fifteenth anniversary of the Society (Exploring Christian Song, M. Jennifer Bloxam and AndrewShenton, editors, Lexington Books, 2017). That first volume focused on Christian song in a variety of different contexts. Our proposed collection surveys a broad geographical areaand demonstrates the enormous diversity of music-making and scholarship within that area. While there are some studies that focus on a single country or region and its sacred music (see the literature survey below), this will be the first collection to present a representative cross-section of the range of sacred music in the Americas and the approaches to studying them in context. The essays in this collection are ecumenical, reflecting the breadth of Christian traditions. The essays include several by distinguished senior scholars in the field (including David Music, Baylor University; and Jeff Warren, Quest University, Canada). Several essays are by noted specialists in the field (including Jesse Karlsberg, Emory University; and Cathy Ann Elias, DePaul University), and several by younger scholars (including Hannah Denecke, Florida State University; and Natasha Walsh, York University, Canada). SCSM is particularly keen to promote the work of students. The work of these rising stars thus appears alongside the work of veteran scholars working in the area of Christian sacred music, ensuring a stimulating mix of subjects, viewpoints, and methodologies.

Today, traditional forms of preaching are being scrutinized and challenged. The biblical sermon is not immune to the pressure to evolve or even fall by the wayside, leaving pastors and seminary students confused over how best to communicate to today s listeners. In this forward-looking textbook, Kenton Anderson delivers a strong call to current and future ministers to indeed choose to preach biblical sermons, despite the obstacles to doing so. While preaching itself is non-negotiable, the exact form it takes can be much more flexible, allowing people to hear from God as they hear his Word preached. Rather than presenting one model or process for preparing a sermon, Anderson explains several available options. As you discern your message from the Bible, will you begin with the text (deductive) or with the listener (inductive)? Will you focus on the idea (cognitive) or the image (affective)? The choices you make lead to five possible sermon structures: * DECLARATIVE---make an argument * PRAGMATIC---solve a mystery * NARRATIVE---tell a story * VISIONARY---paint a picture * INTEGRATIVE---sing a song Each model is described in detail and related to well-known contemporary preachers, including John MacArthur, Rick Warren, Eugene Lowry, and Rob Bell. This book equips you with a variety of tools for your preaching tool kit."

The essays collected in this volume provide a resource for thinking theologically about the practice of Christian prayer. In the first of four parts, the volume begins by reaching back to the biblical foundations of prayer. Then, each of the chapters in the second part investigates a classical Christian doctrine - including God, creation, Christology, pneumatology, providence and eschatology - from the perspective of prayer. The chapters in the third part explore the writings of some of the great theorizers of prayer in the history of the Christian tradition. The final part gathers a set of creative and critical conversations on prayer responding to a variety of contemporary issues. Overall, the T&T Clark Handbook of Christian Prayer articulates a theologically expansive account of prayer - one that is deeply biblical, energetically doctrinal, historically rooted, and relevant to a whole host of critical questions and concerns facing the world today.

Offers the opportunity to spend a month with Julian of Norwich, with readings for both morning and evening

Pilgrimage was a central feature of medieval English life which affected history, politics, art and literature. The shrines were destroyed during the Reformation and pilgrimage stopped, yet the idea of pilgrimage continued--refashioned - in Protestant theology. By reaching beyond the Reformation to explore the transformation of the idea of the pilgrim, this book confronts the religious experience of the English laity over half a millennium. In a series of ground-breaking studies the contributors challenge many orthodox assumptions about English pilgrims and their history.