A vital help for your Passion Play Oberammergau 2020 visit, this handy guide enables you to make the most of your time during your stay. It includes the historical background, traditions, and development of the Passion Play from 1634 to its relevance today, the organization and administration of the Play, and its impact on the village and the area. It looks behind the scenes to the wardrobe rooms and props, the stage, the history of the building, and the recent renovations and alterations. Meet the creative team behind the play and the leading actors. A synopsis of the play, including the sequence of the acts and scenes with the Old Testament Tableaux, is described. Suggestions on what to see in the village and the surrounding area include many of the places holidaymakers will visit en route to or from Oberammergau. The new expanded edition includes more of the Romantic Road, Munich, and the Austrian Tyrol.

Christian Worship: Postcolonial Perspectives critically surveys and scrutinizes the terrain of liturgical theology through postcolonial optics. In doing so, it breaks new ground by bringing together for the first time liturgical studies and postcolonial criticism. This book provides an important enrichment - and long overdue corrective - to literature on the liturgical ordo, which has not yet learned to engage postcolonial perspectives. The volume also offers useful resources to those familiar with the more established field of postcolonial biblical/theological criticism by expanding the burgeoning academic debate about postcolonialism into the environment of worship. It therefore seeks to be a resource that will bring postcolonial perspectives to a wider audience: the church, much of which has been bypassed by the academic trajectory postcolonial criticism in theology has so far taken. Because of its inter-disciplinary nature, this book advances significant innovative material. The particular ways that material from each discipline is juxtaposed is itself highly original, and the challenges of appropriating postcolonial theological perspectives in Christian worship and liturgical practice will be met by the provision of strategies and resources to face this task. This important work of theology is, therefore, crafted to praxis in assemblies of the church as well as suitable for study in universities and seminary classrooms.

At its best, all Christian worship is led by the Holy Spirit. But is there a distinctive theology of Pentecostal worship? The Pentecostal church or the renewal movement is among the fastest-growing parts of the body of Christ around the world, which makes understanding its theology and practice critical for the future of the church. In this volume in IVP Academic's Dynamics of Christian Worship (DCW) series, theologian Steven Felix-Jager offers a theology of renewal worship, including its biblical foundations, how its global nature is expressed in particular localities, and how charismatic worship distinctively shapes the community of faith. With his guidance, the whole church might understand better what it means to pray, "Come, Holy Spirit!" The Dynamics of Christian Worship series draws from a wide range of worshiping contexts and denominational backgrounds to unpack the many dynamics of Christian worship-including prayer, reading the Bible, preaching, baptism, the Lord's Supper, music, visual art, architecture, and more-to deepen both the theology and practice of Christian worship for the life of the church.

Pam Rhodes is a passionate advocate for our heritage of splendid hymns. Hymns, she explains, help us respond to God: they are "prayers in our pockets". With her warm personal touch she describes how these hymns came to be written, and considers the perceptions they contain. This book is a treasury of fascinating detail, but it is also a source of devotion: as you consider each hymn and the story behind it you will be drawn into worship. Each reflection concludes with a short prayer.

Stephen Cherry's latest book is a sequence of beautifully crafted prayer-meditations, providing simple yet profound spiritual nourishment for the Lenten season. The book gives an engaging introduction to the different ways that prayer can work in the lives of the busiest of Christians. Barefoot Prayers is ideal for people who may have little time for sitting and reading but more time for thinking and reflecting.

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.

When Christine Morgan got Richard Coles, Kate Bottley and Giles Fraser together in a studio, all she had to do was plug them in and let them go. The dynamic between the three meant there were moments of real connection and poignancy alongside the laughter: 'I'm exaggerating for comic effect,' Kate announced after one particularly outrageous anecdote, 'It's one of the reasons we're here.' Each realized in the course of conversation that they favoured one of the three rites of passage: Giles: Baptism because you enter into the body of Christ Richard: Funerals because they take you into the mystery of God Kate: Weddings because you get to wear nice shoes Engagingly introduced by Christine Morgan, the book ends with the profoundly moving episode (recorded remotely in the three vicars' homes) that was broadcast on Easter Sunday 2020, to a world in crisis.

For five consecutive years Dublin-based photojournalists Tomasz Bereska and Tomasz Szustek have travelled to Croagh Patrick on Reek Sunday to take photographic portraits of some of the 20,000+ pilgrims who climb the 'Holy Mountain', focusing on the incredible diversity and different backgrounds of the participants. In Atlantic Tabor they present 60 stunning colour portraits of the pilgrims, plus an additional 60 atmospheric B&W photos that add to the story. To complement the beautiful images, the photographers invited Dr Patrick Claffey, Adjunct Assistant Professor at the Department for Study of Religions and Theology at Trinity College Dublin to contribute to the project. Dr Claffey provides a brilliant analysis of pilgrimage phenomena in general terms worldwide, as well as more detailed exploration of Croagh Patrick in particular. He explains how pilgrimages were once primarily sacred but increasingly have become secular; he lists many of the holy mountains of the world and their associated pilgrimages; he describes the myths, prehistory and early history associated with Croagh Patrick; he defines the role 'the Reek' has played over the centuries in Connaught Catholicism; and he shows in detail the various paths one can take to climb Croagh Patrick and what to expect at the summit.

Taking seriously the practice and not just the theory of music, this ground-breaking collection of essays establishes a new standard for the interdisciplinary conversation between theology, musicology, and liturgical studies. The public making of music in our society happens more often in the context of chapels, churches, and cathedrals than anywhere else. The command to sing and make music to God makes music an essential part of the DNA of Christian worship. The book's three main parts address questions about the history, the performative contexts, and the nature of music. Its opening four chapters traces how accounts of music and its relation to God, the cosmos, and the human person have changed dramatically through Western history, from the patristic period through medieval, Reformation and modern times. A second section examines the role of music in worship, and asks what-if anything-makes a piece of music suitable for religious use. The final part of the book shows how the serious discussion of music opens onto considerations of time, tradition, ontology, anthropology, providence, and the nature of God. A pioneering set of explorations by a distinguished group of international scholars, this book will be of interest to anyone interested in Christianity's long relationship with music, including those working in the fields of theology, musicology, and liturgical studies.

From the bestselling author of Wild Hope - a beautiful book for Advent. Open a window each day of Advent onto the natural world. Here are twenty-five fresh images of the foundational truth that lies beneath and within the Christ story. In twenty-five portraits depicting how wild animals of the northern hemisphere ingeniously adapt when darkness and cold descend, we see and hear as if for the first time the ancient wisdom of Advent: The dark is not an end but the way a new beginning comes. Short, daily reflections that paint vivid, poetic images of familiar animals, paired with charming original wood-cuts, will engage both children and adults. Anyone who does not want to be caught, again, in the consumer hype of "the holiday season" but rather to be taken up into the eternal truth the natural world reveals will welcome this book.

"John I believe God has called me―a layman―to disciple, encourage, and pray for pastors. And the reason I came here today is so that I could pray for you."

With those words, respected leader, speaker, and author John Maxwell saw his agenda replaced by God's agenda. The stranger who felt God's calling to pray for this pastor fulfilled a need in Maxwell that he didn't even know he had―and fourteen years later, the results are evident at the 5,500 member Skyline Wesleyan Church in San Diego, California.

"Partners in Prayer," the first book in the John Maxwell Church Resources series, shows church leaders and laypeople how to unleash the potential of prayer on behalf of themselves, one another, and the church. If your church―or private devotional life―is starving in the area of prayer and you want to tap into the power and protection prayer provides, Maxwell gives practical insight into

• the fundamentals of prayer
• improving personal prayer life
• praying for others, including church leaders
• building a prayer partners ministry in the local church
• encouraging prayer revival nationwide

Are you missing out on God's gift and blessing of prayer?Is there someone you know who would benefit from your committed prayers on their behalf? Despite God's promise of the power of prayer to change our world, many of us never experience it. John Maxwell shows you how to strentghen your prayer life and reap the benefits awaiting those who become "Partners in Prayer."

"I speak for thousands who will benefit from this book when I say, John Maxwell is a friend to all who dream of a growing Kingdom." ―Max Lucado From the Foreword

Together in one special volume, selections from the best of beloved bestselling author C. S. Lewis's classic works for readers contemplating the "grand miracle" of Jesus's resurrection. Preparing for Easter is a concise, handy companion for the faithful of all Christian traditions and the curious to help them deepen their knowledge and consideration of this holy season-a time of reflection as we consider Jesus's sacrifice and his joyous rise from the dead. Carefully curated, each selection in Preparing for Easter draws on a major theme in Lewis's writings on the Christian life, as well as others that consider why we can have confident faith in what happened on the cross.

In this addition to the 9Marks Building Healthy Churches series, Matt Merker explores the biblical understanding of corporate worship as an activity where God gathers the church by his grace, unto his glory, for their mutual good, and before the world's gaze.

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 date of Easter is different every year. Not only does the date change because Easter is always on a Sunday, but also because it's always the date of the first full moon after the spring equinox. That means it can be anytime between March 22 and April 25. Some people have argued that we should fix the date of Easter each year -- to the first or second Sunday in April -- so that school term dates, for example, could be consistent and predictable. This book explores the significance of keeping Easter as a movable festival. Based on his research into the importance of rhythm for human health and wellbeing, physician Walter Buhler demonstrates a profound connection between the complex rhythms of the sun and the moon and the historical events of Christ's death and resurrection. He argues that, in the same way the rhythm of day and night is reflected in waking and sleeping, celebrating Easter on a different date each year reflects the deep connection and harmony between human beings and the rhythms of the cosmos.

Known author and sure-footed Bible teacher

A quarter of all pilgrims arriving at Santiago start in Sarria: it provides the minimum distance required for a pilgrim to apply for a Compostela. This guidebook features all the information needed to complete the 7 stages from O Cebreiro to Santiago via Sarria, including maps and contour guides (stage by stage), town plans, alternate routes, accommodation, history, mythology and so much more...This guidebook also seeks to find a balance between the outer and inner journey, between the physical and spiritual, which is why it is subtitled A Practical & Mystical Manual - that we might find a place to eat and sleep at the end of a hard day's walk but also, and crucially, that we might find the courage to dive into the mystery of our own soul awakening.

The notebook comes in a sturdy three-ring binder making it useful for many occasions. The solid black front and back cover professionally compliments the use of the manual during special occasions.

TOM WRIGHT offers reflections on the Sunday readings in the Revised Common Lectionary for Years A, B & C. This volume, which brings together his widely read columns in the Church Times and also contains new material, covers all the Sundays and major festivals. Scholarship, history and insights into the world and language of the Bible are woven together to give a deeper understanding of the Word of the Lord. Twelve Months of Sundays will be invaluable to anyone who wants to gather their thoughts in preparation for Sunday worship, or for regular Bible study throughout the year.

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

Cities in all their diversity. Many are places of anonymity, violence and feelings of god forsakenness. But Steve Brady is convinced that God has an agenda for cities; the Bible is full of significant cities and the biblical story is full of imagery of cities - culminating in God's 'holy city', birthed in and through his people. Towards Jerusalem is a unique Lent book, a call to live for a vision bigger than ourselves, marching to a different drumbeat to 'Zion', God's New Jerusalem and all that that means in transformative terms for today's Christian believer.