This is a collection of readings for individual or group reflection throughout the four weeks of Advent. This book does not advocate a 'cosy' view of Christmas but rather urges people to use this season to address some of the most important issues of our time. To do so the author makes creative use of quotes from the other sources, interspersed with her own perspective on the subjects under consideration.

Religion African-American StudiesLet It Shine! probes the distinctive contribution of black Catholics to the life of the American church, and to the unfolding of lived Christianity in the United States. This im, portyant book explores the powerful spiritual renaissance that has marked African American life and self-understanding over the last several decades by examining one critical dimension: the forging of new expressions of Catholic worship rooted in the larger Catholic tradition, yet shaped in unique ways by African American religious culture.Starting with the 1960s, the book traces the dynamic interplay of social change, cultural awakening, and charismatic leadership that have sparked the emergence of distinctive styles of black Catholic worship. In their historical overview, McGann and Eva Marie Lumas chronicle the liturgical and pastoral issues of a Black Catholic liturgical movement that has transformed the larger American church. McGann then examines the foundational vision of Rev. Clarence R. J. Rivers, who promoted forms of black worship, music, preaching, and prayer that have enabled African American Catholics to reclaim the fullness of their religious identity. Finally, Harbor constructs a black Catholic aesthetic based on the theological, ethical, and liturgical insights of four African American scholars and expressed through twenty-three performative values. This liturgical aesthetic illuminates the distinctive gift of black Catholics to the multicultural tapestry of lived faith in the American church, and can also serve as a pastoral model for other cultural communities. Blending history, theology, and liturgy, Let It Shine! is a valuable resource for scholars, teachers, and students and a practical pastoral guide to bringing African American spirituality more firmly into the sacramental life of American parishes.

Religion African-American StudiesLet It Shine! probes the distinctive contribution of black Catholics to the life of the American church, and to the unfolding of lived Christianity in the United States. This im, portyant book explores the powerful spiritual renaissance that has marked African American life and self-understanding over the last several decades by examining one critical dimension: the forging of new expressions of Catholic worship rooted in the larger Catholic tradition, yet shaped in unique ways by African American religious culture.Starting with the 1960s, the book traces the dynamic interplay of social change, cultural awakening, and charismatic leadership that have sparked the emergence of distinctive styles of black Catholic worship. In their historical overview, McGann and Eva Marie Lumas chronicle the liturgical and pastoral issues of a Black Catholic liturgical movement that has transformed the larger American church. McGann then examines the foundational vision of Rev. Clarence R. J. Rivers, who promoted forms of black worship, music, preaching, and prayer that have enabled African American Catholics to reclaim the fullness of their religious identity. Finally, Harbor constructs a black Catholic aesthetic based on the theological, ethical, and liturgical insights of four African American scholars and expressed through twenty-three performative values. This liturgical aesthetic illuminates the distinctive gift of black Catholics to the multicultural tapestry of lived faith in the American church, and can also serve as a pastoral model for other cultural communities. Blending history, theology, and liturgy, Let It Shine! is a valuable resource for scholars, teachers, and students and a practical pastoral guide to bringing African American spirituality more firmly into the sacramental life of American parishes.

Want the children in your congregation to leave with God's Word on their lips and in their hearts? This collection of The Revised Common Lectionary readings (Old Testament, Psalm, New Testament, and Gospel), are paraphrased for children to be read aloud in Sunday morning worship, will help kids easily read and understand the word God has for their lives. This collection of lectionary paraphrases is written in a child's speaking voice, NOT as an adult telling a story to the children. The psalms include a refrain for the entire congregation that closely parallels to the Book of Common Prayer's version.

I am often disturbed or disappointed by what I experience when I "go to church",' says David Peterson. 'At first glance the issues seem to be practical... Mostly, however, these practical failings seem to reveal a poor understanding of why we gather, little awareness of how to lead a gathering effectively, and an inadequate grasp of what we should expect from our time together.' In response, Peterson offers this accessible and stimulating exposition, intended to help everyone involved in planning and leading church services think more biblically and creatively about this important ministry. Our ultimate aim should be to honour and glorify God as we take our part in the edification of his church. 'We encounter God by listening to what he has revealed to us in Scripture and by responding to the work of his Son, as the gospel directs. The gift of his Spirit enables us to minister his truth to one another and to take our part in the building of his church. In biblically informed singing, in reading and reflecting on the Bible together, in biblically driven prayer and praise, and in sharing the Lord's Supper together, God confronts us with his character and will for us and makes it possible for us to submit to and serve him appropriately in every area of our lives.'

Cotter gracefully merges the beauty and poetry of the original Psalms with the reality of today's world in well-crafted, contemporary language.

A little God time is what all mothers need but can rarely find in the craziness of everyday life. This daily devotional encourages mothers of all ages to carve out some time for the refreshment and renewal found in God's presence. When life demands your attention, find some time in your day to reflect on the God who truly desires to be with you.

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is the mother of all the churches, erected on the spot where Jesus Christ was crucified and rose from the dead and where every Christian was born. In 1927, Jerusalem was struck by a powerful earthquake, and for decades this venerable structure stood perilously close to collapse. In Saving the Holy Sepulchre , Raymond Cohen tells the engaging story of how three major Christian traditions - Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Armenian Orthodox - each with jealously guarded claims to the church, struggled to restore one of the great shrines of civilization. It almost didn't happen. For centuries the communities had lived together in an atmosphere of tension and mistrust based on differences of theology, language, and culture-differences so sharp that fistfights were not uncommon. And the project of restoration became embroiled in interchurch disputes and great power politics. Cohen shows how the repair of the dilapidated basilica was the result of unprecedented cooperation among the three churches. It was tortuous at times - one French monk involved in the restoration exclaimed: "I can't take any more of it. Latins - Armenians - Greeks - it is too much. I am bent over double." But thanks to the dedicated efforts of a cast of kings, popes, patriarchs, governors, monks, and architects, the deadlock was eventually broken on the eve of Pope Paul VI's historic pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1964. Today, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is in better shape than it has been for five hundred years. Light and space have returned to its ancient halls, and its walls and pillars stand sound and true. Saving the Holy Sepulchre is the riveting story of how Christians put aside centuries of division to make this dream a reality.

The Christian faith depends to a great degree on persuasion. In one of his letters to early Christians, the apostle Paul wrote, "Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer everyone" (Col. 4:6). Yet rhetoric-the art of persuasion-has been largely ignored by most Christians. In this book, James Beitler seeks to renew interest in and hunger for an effective Christian rhetoric by closely considering the work of five beloved Christian communicators: C. S. Lewis, Dorothy L. Sayers, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Desmond Tutu, and Marilynne Robinson. Moreover, he situates these reflections within the Christian liturgical seasons for the essential truths they convey. These writers collectively demonstrate that being a master of rhetoric is not antithetical to authentic Christian witness. Indeed, being a faithful disciple of Christ means practicing a rhetoric that beneficially and persuasively imparts the surprising truth of the gospel. It means having seasoned speech.

"Hymns are prayers in our pockets", writes Pam Rhodes, expressing how hymns help us to respond to God. Pam brings together reflections on some of her favourite hymns. Drawing on her experience of presenting Songs of Praise and sharing the stories of hymn writers past and present, she helps us to make use of their words in expressing our joys and sorrows to God, and finding hope and inspiration in them. Whatever our circumstances, these hymns turn us again to the God who created, knows and sustains us with that "love so amazing" described in the immortal words of hymn writer Isaac Watts.

A guide to liturgy and worship in the Church of England within the framework of 'Common Worship', which combines theory, theology and history with a strong sense of the realities of parish life and pastoral practice. It explores the way in which liturgy can reflect the life of the church and the wider world, and the new opportunities for churches at a local level to own and shape the liturgy they use. This book is essential reading for anyone involved in worship in the Church of England, and who wants the worship of their church to be the best they can offer, based on clear liturgical principles. It is also practical and detailed - Michael Perham covers clothing and colours, children's role in worship, the cycle of the Christian year, the timing of services, the use of church space and other elements that go to make up the feel of an individual church. The book has its roots in two of Michael Perham's earlier works, 'Liturgy Pastoral and Parochial' and 'Lively Sacrifice', though much of the material is quite new, and fills its role as key texts for anyone interested in the liturgy of the Church of England.

The clergy today faces mounting challenges in an increasingly secular world, where declining prestige makes it more difficult to attract the best and the brightest young Americans to the ministry. As Christian churches dramatically adapt to modern changes, some are asking whether there is a clergy crisis as well. Whatever the future of the clergy, the fate of millions of churchgoers also will be at stake.
In Who Shall Lead Them?, prizewinning journalist Larry Witham takes the pulse of both the Protestant and Catholic ministry in America and provides a mixed diagnosis of the calling's health. Drawing on dozens of interviews with clergy, seminarians and laity, and using newly available survey data including the 2000 Census, Witham reveals the trends in a variety of traditions. While evangelicals are finding innovative paths to ministry, the Catholic priesthood faces a severe shortage. In mainline Protestantism, ministry as a second career has become a prominent feature. Ordination ages in the Episcopal and United Methodist churches average in the 40s today. The quest by female clergy to lead from the pulpit, meanwhile, has hit a "stained glass ceiling" as churches still prefer a man as the principal minister. While deeply motivated by the mystery of their "call" to ministry, America's priests, pastors, and ministers are reassessing their roles in a world of new debates on leadership, morality, and the powers of the mass media.
Who Shall Lead Them? offers a valuable snapshot of this contemporary clergy drama. It will be required reading for everyone concerned about the rapidly shifting ground of our churches and the health of religion in America.

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 SPCK Lectionary provides a completely redesigned and clearly laid-out presentation of the Common Worship calendar and lectionary, with BCP readings on the same page. Sundays and major festivals are covered, as well as weekday

A classic and indispensable resource for public worship and private devotion that speaks to people across a range of traditions - both within and beyond the church. Composed in response to the desire for worship language of worship that's inclusive of women's experience yet deeply rooted in the words, stories, and images of Scripture, they have resonated not only with women, but with all who love the Bible and who want to pray with honesty and directness. This new edition introduces a fresh selection of material on themes of global justice, as well as a contemporary Eucharist and prayers that coincide with the Revised Common Lectionary.

In his thirteen years as Vicar, popular author David Adam welcomed over 1 million pilgrims to the Holy Island of Lindesfarne in Northumberland. Each pilgrim had a story to tell and each came for a different reason. Some radiated a sense of God's presence, and others were simply too hurried to do anything but look around quickly and move on to the next site.

Using the stories of pilgrims Adam encountered on Holy Island, he explores how we can approach our own lives as pilgrimage, without ever leaving the comfort of our homes. How can we move beyond what is safe in our world and encounter the Mystery? How can we learn to disconnect from all the technology that keeps us multi-tasking all day and all night? How can we rediscover awe in the world around us?

In the wonderful prose and poetry for which he is so well-loved, David Adam helps us get on the road of life, even when we don't have time to travel to distant lands.

The clergy today faces mounting challenges in an increasingly secular world, where declining prestige makes it more difficult to attract the best and the brightest young Americans to the ministry. As Christian churches dramatically adapt to modern changes, some are asking whether there is a clergy crisis as well. Whatever the future of the clergy, the fate of millions of churchgoers also will be at stake. In Who Shall Lead Them?, prizewinning journalist Larry Witham takes the pulse of both the Protestant and Catholic ministry in America and provides a mixed diagnosis of the calling's health. Drawing on dozens of interviews with clergy, seminarians and laity, and using newly available survey data including the 2000 Census, Witham reveals the trends in a variety of traditions. While evangelicals are finding innovative paths to ministry, the Catholic priesthood faces a severe shortage. In mainline Protestantism, ministry as a second career has become a prominent feature. Ordination ages in the Episcopal and United Methodist churches average in the 40s today. The quest by female clergy to lead from the pulpit, meanwhile, has hit a "stained glass ceiling" as churches still prefer a man as the principal minister. While deeply motivated by the mystery of their "call" to ministry, America's priests, pastors, and ministers are reassessing their roles in a world of new debates on leadership, morality, and the powers of the mass media. Who Shall Lead Them? offers a valuable snapshot of this contemporary clergy drama. It will be required reading for everyone concerned about the rapidly shifting ground of our churches and the health of religion in America.

This text-only printing of one hundred of the best loved hymns is spiral bound for easy use. Designed in collaboration with the Episcopal Society for Ministry on Aging, Inc., this volume is a companion to The Book of Common Prayer, Selections in Large Print. (144 pp)

A gift edition of Daily Prayer For All Seasons, with a bonded leather cover, two ribbon bookmarks, gilded edges, a presentation page, and shrink-wrapped in gift box. People in all kinds of religious traditions, including Judaism and Christianity, have been marking time with prayer for almost as long as we've divided the day into hours. "Praying the hours," as it's called, has always reminded us that God walks with us throughout each day; "praying the hours" is also a way that the community of faith comes together, whether we're united all in one place or scattered like raindrops. In the Episcopal Church, the Book of Common Prayer offers beautiful services for morning, noon, evening, and nighttime in a section called "The Daily Office" (pp 35-146). Daily Prayer for All Seasons offers a variation on that theme, where a complete service covers one or two pages, thereby eliminating the need to shuffle prayer books and hymnals. Daily Prayer for All Seasons works for individuals, small groups, and/or congregations. This prayer book presents a variety of images of God, uses inclusive and expansive language for and about God, and presents a rich variety of language, including poetry, meditation, and prayers from the broader community of faith.

The twin concepts of kinship and pilgrimage have deep roots in Protestant culture. This cultural anthropological study, based in part on the author's own fieldwork, argues that in Reformed Protestantism, the Catholic custom of making pilgrimages to sacred spots has been replaced by the custom of "reunion," in which scattered members of a family or group return each year to their place of origin to take part in a quasi-sacred ritual meal and other ritual activities. Neville discusses open air services and kin-based gatherings in the Southern United States and Scotland as examples of symbolic forms that express certain themes in Northern European Protestant culture, contrasting these forms with the symbolic social statements in the Roman Catholic liturgical world of medieval Europe and traditional Mediterranean Catholicism. According to Neville, Protestant rituals of reunion such as family reunion, church homecoming, cemetery association day, camp meeting, and denomination conference center are part of an institutionalized pilgrimage complex that comments on Protestant culture and belief while presenting a symbolic inversion of the pilgrimage and the culture of Roman Catholic tradition.

Jerusalem has long been one of the most sought-after destinations for the followers of three world faiths and for secularists alike. For Jews, it has the Western (Wailing) Wall; for Christians, it is where Christ suffered and triumphed; for Muslims, it offers the Dome of the Rock; and for secularists, it is an archeological challenge and a place of tragedy and beauty. This work concentrates on Jewish, Christian, Muslim, and secular pilgrimages to Jerusalem over the last three millennia, drawing from over 165 accounts of travels to the ancient city. Chapters are devoted to ghostly and other pilgrims, the significance of Jerusalem, the beginnings of the pilgrimage in the time of kings David and Solomon, pilgrimages under Roman and Byzantine rule, Christian and Muslim pilgrimages in the early Islamic period, pilgrimages in the First Crusade and its aftermath, more crusades and pilgrims during the Ayyubid and Mamluk dynasties, pilgrimages under Ottoman rule, pilgrimages under the British and Israelis, and the unity among pilgrims and the symbolism of the journey.