This useful book falls in the category of resources for structuring liturgies to fit local occasions. In addition to seven complete vigil services inspired by the ancient monastic discipline of nighttime prayer and meditation, there are new models such as "A Vigil in the Presence of God" or "A Vigil for Peace and Justice." Ample notes throughout explain the history of vigils and offer advice for planning small private and large public vigils.

The philosophical and theological study of aesthetics has a long and rich history, stretching back to Platos identification of ultimate goodness and beauty, together representing the eternal form. Recent trends in aesthetic theory, however, characterised by a focus on the beautiful at the expense of the good, have made it an object of suspicion in the Orthodox Church. In its place, Greek theologians have sought to emphasise philokalia as a truer theological discipline. Seeking to reverse this trend, Chrysostomos Stamoulis brings into conversation a plethora of voices, from Church fathers to contemporary poets, and from a Marxist political theorist to a literary critic. Out of this dialogue, Stamoulis builds a model for the re-appropriation of Orthodoxys patristic and Byzantine past that is no longer defined in antithesis to the Western present. The openness he proposes allows us to perceive afresh the world shot through with divinity, if only we can lift our gaze to see it. Dismantling the false dichotomy, philokalia or aesthetics, is the first step.

A host of both very old and entirely new liturgical practices have arisen in digital mediation, from the live-streaming of worship services and "pray-as-you-go" apps, to digital prayer chapels, virtual choirs and online pilgrimages. Cyberspace now even hosts communities of faith that exist entirely online. These digitally mediated liturgical practices raise challenging questions: Are worshippers in an online chapel really a community at prayer? Do avatars that receive digital bread and wine receive communion? @ Worship proposes a nuanced response to these sometimes contentious issues, rooted in familiarity with, and sustained attention to, actual online practices. Four major thematic lines of inquiry form the structure of the book. After an introductory chapter the following chapters look at digital presence, virtual bodies, and online participation; ecclesial communities in cyberspace; digital materiality, visuality, and soundscapes; and finally the issues of sacramental mediation online. A concluding chapter brings together the insights from the previous chapters and maps a way forward for reflections on digitally mediated liturgical practices. @ Worship is the first monograph dedicated to exploring online liturgical practices that have emerged since the introduction of Web 2.0. Bringing together the scholarly tools and insights of liturgical studies, constructive theology and digital media theories, it is vital reading for scholars of Theology and Religion with as well as Sociology and Digital Culture more generally.

Put faith into action with this mission guide book Building on the success of Call on Me: A Prayer Book for Young People, this book focuses on the themes and core values of youth ministries in the Episcopal Church. Youth seek ways to put their faith into action and claim their "power," which is a hallmark of the millennial generation according to recent research. This book offers reflections and prayers to help young people do just that-to live out their faith at home, church, community, and beyond. It specifically addresses Episcopal identity for emerging adults, ages 15-25. Available in kivar or paperback binding.

Are you curious about biblical Christian meditation? Through stories, practical advice, and helpful prompts, Rick Hamlin guides Christians to center their minds and hearts on God as they seek to hear the still small voice above all the noise and chaos in the world. Rick Hamlin has been unpacking the power of prayer in Finding God on the A Train and Ten Prayers You Can't Live Without and the special Guideposts book, Prayer Works. In this new book, you will discover how meditation has deep Christian roots that go back for millennia, how it can be used to live more authentically and let go of anxiety, how to love more generously and find God's will in your life, and how to grow in compassion, forgiveness, and acceptance. The steps are simple, and at the end of each chapter Hamlin offers specific exercises to enhance your practice. "If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take his cross daily and follow me," Jesus said to his followers. Meditative prayer offers a rich resource to do just that. Silence speaks volumes and becomes a tool for all Jesus followers.

Christian churches and groups within Anglo-American contexts have increasingly used popular music as a way to connect with young people. This book investigates the relationships between evangelical Christianity and popular music, focusing particularly on electronic dance music in the last twenty years. Author Stella Lau illustrates how electronic dance music is legitimized in evangelical activities by Christians' discourses, and how the discourses challenge the divide between the 'secular' and the 'sacred' in the Western culture. Unlike other existing books on the relationships between music cultures and religion, which predominantly discuss the cultural implications of such phenomenon, Popular Music in Evangelical Youth Culture examines the notion of 'spirituality' in contemporary popular electronic dance music. Lau's emphasis on the sonic qualities of electronic dance music opens the door for future research about the relationships between aural properties of electronic dance music and religious discourses. With three case studies conducted in the cultural hubs of electronic dance music - Bristol, Ibiza and New York - the monograph can also be used as a guidebook for ethnographic research in popular music.

This newly revised edition of Betty Wolfe's classic manual covers all the essential steps and information needed for quick-and-easy church banner construction, including 49 patterns, complete instructions, and tips for designing your own patterns.

Worship spaces can be enlivened by the use of colorful banners that anyone can construct. This colorful and clear introduction to making banners provides advice on fabrics, design, colors, and construction for banners of all types and sizes. Determining banner size and shape, creating and placing letters and symbols, using color and contrast effectively, and picking fabrics and stitching options, and more are all included in this comprehensive volume.

Regardless of their skill level, readers can learn how and where to place words and use symbols, choose colors, and make basic arrangements. The book includes idea starters, helpful design solutions, and easy reference sections on appliques, stitchery and gluing, fabrics, tassels, tabs, bells, finishings, and mountings. It also lists information on tools and materials, and how to enlarge or adapt patterns.

Patterns for seasonal, special event, and regular use can keep the church freshly decorated all year round.

Betty Wolfe has been making banners and teaching banner construction for more than twenty years. She lives in Winter Park, Florida.

More banners can be found in the Banners for All Seasons.

Check out these wall hangings you can make yourself, click here. To learn more about Special Days in the Christian Year get this book"

Online churches are Internet-based Christian communities, pursuing worship, discussion, friendship, support, proselytization, and other key religious goals through computer-mediated communication. The first examples appeared in the mid-1980s, but this genre of online activity has been revolutionized over the last decade by considerable institutional investment and the rise of new low-cost social media platforms. Hundreds of thousands of people are now involved with online congregations, generating new kinds of ritual, leadership, and community as well as new networks of global influence.

Creating Church Online is the first large-scale sociological investigation of this area, offering a significant and timely advance in the study of religion, media, and culture. Five ethnographic case studies are presented, based primarily in the UK, USA, and Australasia, providing levels of detail, scope, and variety previously unexplored by researchers in this field. Comparative analysis of these case studies demonstrates the emergence of intriguing new hybrids of digital, local, and institutional religion, reflecting major shifts in contemporary patterns of religious commitment. Author Tim Hutchings constructs a rich account of the culture and practice of five online churches, emphasizing worship, leadership, and community and the relationship between online and everyday life. Through such in-depth analysis, this book explores the significance and impact of online churchgoing in the religious and social lives of participants, as well as the relationship between online and everyday life, in search of a new theoretical framework to map religious users engagement with new media."

"Dayspring, my dictionary tells me, is an archaic word meaning 'dawn.' But I have chosen Daysprings as the title for this collection of meditations for the several meanings in the ancient word and its components. I hope these brief reflections shed new light on old, familiar passages and illuminate the way through new ones. I also hope these pieces will prove to be springboards to new and creative meditation for readers, pastors, and preachers, and that they will find within these pieces an extra buoyancy for each day. Lastly, I hope these thoughts will flow like fresh, living waters through days of fast and feast, bringing refreshment. -from the Preface In his accompanying volume to Brightest and Best: A Companion to the Lesser Feasts and Fasts, Sam Portaro offers meditations for each of the weekdays for the seasons of Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Holy Week, and Easter. Following the lectionary texts for each day, he focuses on the seasonal themes of incarnation, manifestation, suffering, redemption, and resurrection, showing how the eternal truths of the gospel shed light on the ordinary and extraordinary events of our lives. Solidly grounded in the prayers and scriptures of these seasonal liturgies, Portaro's meditations bring fresh and powerful-sometimes pointed-insights for those who follow the daily readings and prayers of these days of the weeks in the church year as found in Lesser Feasts and Fasts.

Cancer. You hear the word and your heart stops. Unfair. Frightening. Life. Death. Fragmented thoughts ricochet around in your mind as you try to grasp this unthinkable diagnosis. How will she be able to fight it? How will I be able to help her? The diagnosis of cancer is devastating, leaving family and friends feeling helpless, wishing there was something they could do to alleviate their loved one's suffering. Thankfully, there is. Faithful Warrior offers an answer to those questions, equipping you with Scripture-based prayers for the person battling cancer. These simple yet heartfelt prayers are infused with the power of God's Word, inviting the faithful warrior to step out in belief and hope. Written to be perfectly blended with the reader's prayers and voice, the prayers focus on personal surrender and acceptance, continued hope and healing, and God's constant and abiding presence, equipping the reader with a means of tangible support while offering a deeper sense of involvement. The battle against cancer is intense, woven throughout with fear, anger, and doubt. Yet the compassionate voice of Faithful Warrior will comfort your heart and soul, arming you with strength and support during this fierce fight. Many people say, "I'll pray for you; it's the least I can do." No, Faithful Warrior, it is the most you can do. The sword is now in your hand. The question is...what will you do with it?

Burgundy padded leather cover with 6 ribbon markers. The new translation of Catholic text to be adopted by Catholic Mass to begin Advent 2011.

"You're blessed when you've worked up a good appetite for God." Matthew 5:6 The Message We live in hungry times. Ours is a consumer culture, predisposed to quickly fill the cravings of body and mind. The idea of fasting--the voluntary denial of something for a specific time, for a spiritual purpose--sets us immediately on edge. But Lynne Baab makes the case that anyone can fast. Fasting is an expression of freedom. Free from the patterns and habits that mark everyday life, from time to time we can move beyond our appetites into meaningful encounter with God. In Fasting you'll discover an ancient Christian practice that extends beyond giving up food to any regular activity in our contemporary lives. You'll see how taking a break from eating--or driving, or checking e-mail, or watching television--opens us up to discover new things about ourselves and God and the world around us. You'll see that while not everyone should forgo food, anyone can step out of routine to feed the soul. In a time of great spiritual hunger, God invites us all to a feast: fellowship with the Creator of the universe, where all our truest needs are identified and attended to.

"The Prayer-Saturated Church" provides step-by-step, practical help for mobilizing, organizing, and motivating believers to make their church a house of prayer. Written by a veteran prayer leader with hands-on experience in local church prayer, "The Prayer-Saturated Church" will enable any church to take prayer to the next level.The print version comes with a CD that contains printable forms--publicity templates, sign-up applications, prayer guides, and more--to promote, encourage, and energize your congregation toward more prayer.

Professor Gromada has provided fellow-theologians and researchers with a complete and accurate history of the different stages, transitions and influences which lead to the actual text on ministry in 'Baptism, Eucharist, and Ministry' (BEM) produced by the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches in January 1982 in Lima, Peru. In this serious and methodical exposition, both published and unpublished sources and documentation are utilized as well as the author-participant's own material. In addition, individual theologians and theological perspectives are identified and highlghted and the eventual direction of ecumenical discussions is fully described.

Year 2000 is a Jubilee year for the Catholic church and very large numbers are expected to make the pilgrimage to Rome. Debra Birch's lively account of pilgrimage to Rome throughout the medieval period is well-documented and clearly presented. HISTORY TODAY [Emma Mason]Well researched, clearly written, and, quite apart from the eternal city, provides an excellent introduction to pilgrimage as a whole. CHURCH TIMES [Nicholas Orme] Rome was one of the major pilgrim destinations in the middle ages. The belief that certain objects and places were a focus of holiness where pilgrims could come closer to God had a long history in Christian tradition; in the case of Rome, the tradition developed around two of the city's most important martyrs, Christ's apostles Peter and Paul. So strong were the city'sassociations with these apostles that pilgrimage to Rome was often referred to as pilgrimage `to the threshold of the apostles'. Debra Birch conveys a vivid picture of the world of the medieval pilgrim to Rome - the Romipetae, or `Rome-seekers' - covering all aspects of their journey, and their life in the city itself. DEBRA BIRCH is assistant secretary at the Institute of Historical Research. CONTENTS The Cult of Saints and Pilgrimage to Rome. The Journey to Rome . Obligations and Privileges . Rome of the Pilgrim I . Rome of the Pilgrim II . Welfare Provisions for Pilgrims in Rome . The Popularity of Pilgrimage to Rome in the 12th Century . The 13th-Century Revival.

Bread of Life, Cup of Salvation is an invitation to a deeper appreciation for the celebration of the Mass and a greater conviction of its importance for our ordinary living-out of Christian faith in daily life. Taking into account the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the new edition of the General Instruction on the Roman Missal, Fr. John Baldovin, S.J., centers his lucid commentary on the Mass around the most recent official documents and provides an up-to-date survey of the historical development of the Mass from the New Testament to the present. Clear, concise, and accessible, Bread of Life, Cup of Salvation is an informative and powerful reflection on the meaning of the Eucharist for us today. This book responds to questions such as What are the orgins of the Mass? How did the Mass develop into what we know today? Why do we have several readings from Scripture at every Mass? Why do we always read a passage from the Gospels last? Why is the Eucharistic Prayer called the center and highpoint of the celebration of the Eucharist? What difference does it make if communion is distributed from the tabernacle or consecrated at the Mass at which people are receiving? Why do we have more than one Eucharistic Prayer? Is it important that people are offered communion in both kinds-the Body and the Blood of Christ? Why did the Mass get its popular name from the dismissal (missa)? Why was it important to recover the exchange of peace?

One of the great achievements of twentieth-century theology, Joseph Jungmann's work is a comprehensive study of the origins, evolution, and theology of the Mass from its earliest forms to the dawn of Vatican II. With a revised chapter previously unavailable in the two-volume edition.

Lectionary texts for reading the daily office using the Revised Standard Version translation of the Bible.

Here is a summons to pray with twenty great women of faith_from Hildegard of Bingen to Dorothy Day. Brief biographies are followed by commentary, prayer experiences, questions for reflection, and suggestions for action. Meehan brings these women to life, allowing their example to inspire, encourage, and empower you. Meet women who will change your life and enrich your spiritual journey with new possibilities of self-discovery, wisdom, creativity, and friendship. Reminding us that abundance is all around us, and challenging us to make a difference, this book is filled with stories of visionary women with whom we can share the longings that lie deep within us for divine love, deep tranquility, and human intimacy.

Exploring the unity of the practice of prayer and the practice of theology, this book draws together insights from world-class theologians including Rowan Williams, Andrew Louth, Frances Young, Margaret R. Miles, Sebastian Brock, and Nicholai Sakharov. Offering glimpses of the prayer-life and witness that undergirds theological endeavour, some authors approach the topic in a deeply personal way while others express the unity of prayer and the theologian in a traditionally scholarly manner. No matter what the denomination of the Christian theologian - Greek or Russian Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Anglican, Methodist - authors demonstrate that the discipline of theology cannot properly be practiced apart from the prayer life of the theologian. The prayer of the theologian shapes her or his approach to theology. Whether it be preaching, teaching, writing or research, the deep soundings of prayer inform and embrace all.

This book shows how necessary ritual is to human freedom and to social processes of liberation. It aims to reflect upon the deep human longing for ritual and to interpret it in the light of our physical, social, political, sexual, moral, aesthetic, and religious existence. .

Celebrating Series Celebrating the Rites of Initiation continues the standard of scholarship set by Patrick Malloy s Celebrating the Eucharist, and offers similar aids around issues of baptism and confirmation. It is an ideal book for students and practicing clergy who seek to strengthen their knowledge and parochial practice of baptismal theology."