The dramatic events of the days leading up to Easter Sunday are expressed through biblical readings and the reflections of several well-known Iona Community members: Ruth Burgess - Jan Sutch Pickard - Tom Gordon - Brian Woodcock - Peter Millar - Kathy Galloway - Leith Fisher - Joy Mead - John Davies - Yvonne Morland Connecting the denials, betrayals, suffering and eventual new dawn of this life-changing week with what is happening in our own world today, this book accompanies the reader as an insightful guide. To travel through Holy Week with awareness leads to a greater understanding of God and ourselves.

In some respects, the contrasts of Christmas are what make it the most delightful time of the year. It is a time of generosity, kindness and peace on earth, with broad permission to indulge in food, drink and gifts. On the other hand, Christmas has become a battleground for raging culture wars, marred by debates about how it should be celebrated and acknowledged as a uniquely Christian holiday. This text argues that much of the animosity is based on a fundamental misunderstanding of the holiday's core character. By tracing Christmas' origins as a pagan celebration of the winter solstice and its development in Europe's Christianization, this history explains that the true "reason for the season" has as much to do with the earth's movement around the sun as with the birth of Christ. Chapters chronicle how Christmas's magic and misrule link to the nativity, and why the carnival side of the holiday appears so separated from traditional Christian beliefs.

Invites readers to use their own voices to enliven personal and collective worship. What ideas, hopes, dreams, and laments do the words of worship stir in our hearts and minds? What images of God swirl up out of our communal prayers and hymns to shape what we believe and who we are as people of faith? We know that words can heal and draw us together, or words can hurt and divide. Christian communities proclaim and embody this wisdom each time we celebrate God's Word made flesh in Jesus. Words for worship that arise from worshiping communities themselves, that give voice to their particular laments and joys, hold an oft-overlooked power. These communal words are both shaped by and spiral out to speak to global concerns. Leaders and worshipers in differing contexts write and speak in a wide variety of ways. As such, this book is for pastoral leaders, chaplains, and other ministers who imagine, craft, and offer worship words for each Sunday-and in the diversity of everyday moments.

What would it look like if women built a lectionary focusing on women's stories? What does it look like to tell the good news through the stories of women who are often on the margins of scripture and often set up to represent bad news? How would a lectionary centering women's stories, chosen with womanist and feminist commitments in mind, frame the presentation of the scriptures for proclamation and teaching? The scriptures are androcentric, male-focused, as is the lectionary that is dependent upon them. As a result, many congregants know only the biblical men's stories told in the Sunday lectionary read in their churches. A more expansive, more inclusive lectionary will remedy that by introducing readers and hearers of scripture to "women's stories" in the scriptures. A Women's Lectionary for the Whole Church, when completed, will be a three-year lectionary accompanied by a stand-alone single year lectionary, Year W, that covers all four gospels. Year A features the Gospel of Matthew with John interwoven as is the case in the Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) and Episcopal Lectionary.

The Sacraments of baptism and confirmation are called the sacraments of enlightenment. They are called this because they illuminate the Christian heart and invite us into a community of enlightenment and wisdom. They are the essential passages through which Christians pass in their progressive understanding of the divine. In Come to the Light, Richard Fragomeni meditates on the meaning of the elements that make up baptism and confirmation: water, fire, and oil. Water is the wave into which we are plunged that brings both life and death, that draws us down deep into God. Fire is the refining purity and the passion for God that transforms our souls. The oil is the balm that soothes us and anoints us as we move to a different state in our relationship with God.

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.

SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER 'Steele writes with an infectious understanding of her subject' MARK OAKLEY, CHURCH TIMES How can we convey the love of God to our neighbours in a post-Christian world that has largely forgotten the gospel of Jesus Christ? In Living His Story, the Archbishop of Canterbury's Lent Book 2021, Hannah Steele uncovers liberating and practical ways of sharing the gospel story afresh. With warmth and encouragement, she shows us how we can live Jesus' story in our own lives simply by being the people God made us and allowing people to be drawn to him through our natural gifts. Living His Story is a Lent devotional that will change the way you think about evangelism, show how ideally suited it is for the world we live in and fill you with confidence in sharing God's love with the people around you. Set out in six sessions to take you through Lent, each chapter of the 2021 Archbishop of Canterbury's Lent book can be used as a single study for individuals or small groups to prepare for Easter. It will help you find space to see evangelism from a new practical perspective.

The Gospel Coaltion Award of Distinction-Arts and Culture ECPA Top Shelf Award Winner For practitioners and fans, jazz expresses the deepest meanings of life. Its rich history and its distinctive elements like improvisation and syncopation unite to create an unrepeatable and inexpressible aesthetic experience. But for others, jazz is an enigma. Might jazz be better appreciated and understood in relation to the Christian faith? In this volume, theologian and jazz pianist William Edgar argues that the music of jazz cannot be properly understood apart from the Christian gospel, which like jazz moves from deep lament to inextinguishable joy. By tracing the development of jazz, placing it within the context of the African American experience, and exploring the work of jazz musicians like Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, John Coltrane, Ella Fitzgerald, and Louis Armstrong, Edgar argues that jazz deeply resonates with the hope that is ultimately found in the good news of Jesus Christ. Grab a table. The show is about to begin.

Serena Fass has attempted to illustrate Jesus' Great Commission: "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptised will be saved." (Mark 16: 15 - 16) and has presented a balance between the many different strands of the Christian faith, for each century, from the earliest Christians in Pompeii until today, and criss-crossing the globe from North to South: from Norway to Mozambique - and West to East: from Peru to Australia. Categories include architecture, painting, sculpture, ivories, textiles, metalwork, jewellery and portraits of people wearing crosses, as well as examples of the cross in nature.

Coronations are the grandest of all state occasions. This is the first comprehensive in-depth study of the music that was performed at British coronations from 1603 to the present, encompassing the sixteen coronations that have taken place in Westminster Abbey and the last two Scottish coronations. Range describes how music played a crucial role at the coronations and how the practical requirements of the ceremonial proceedings affected its structure and performance. The programme of music at each coronation is reconstructed, accompanied by a wealth of transcriptions of newly discovered primary source material, revealing findings that lead to fresh conclusions about performance practices. The coronation ceremonies are placed in their historical context, including the political background and the concept of invented traditions. The study is an invaluable resource not only for musicologists and historians, but also for performers, providing a fascinating insight into the greatest of all Royal events.

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.

This study proceeds historically, from the origins of the Eucharist up to our own day. Unlike most studies of this kind, it includes an introduction to and developmental summary of the diverse Eucharistic liturgies of the Christian East. It also explores the various Western rites (Ambrosian, Gallican, and Mozarabic) in addition to the Roman. With regard to theological themes, the authors give special attention to the topics of real presence (including the "consecration" of the bread and wine) and eucharistic sacrifice, the most central and most ecumenically challenging issues since the sixteenth-century Reformations. Making the book especially teacher- and student-friendly are the summary points at the end of each chapter. Each chapter also contains an abundance of liturgical texts for ease of reference.

Looking for a special card to give to your loved ones this Christmas? These cards are crafted with you in mind. Simple, special, personal and plainspoken - with their beautiful designs, these cards do all the talking. Sustainably sourced, the cards come in packs of 10 with envelopes included. Comes in two typographic designs, one featuring the word 'Holy Night' in large, blue text with the other containing 'Joy to the World' in red over red. The interior message reads Happy Christmas.

The second of four volumes containing the edited texts, commentaries and source notes for each of the nearly nine hundred occasions of special worship and for each of the annual commemorations in England and Wales, Scotland, and Ireland. Since the sixteenth century, the governments and established churches of the British Isles have summoned the nation to special acts of public worship during periods of anxiety and crisis, at times of celebration, or for annual commemoration and remembrance. These special prayers, special days of worship and anniversary commemorations were national events, reaching into every parish in England and Wales, in Scotland, and in Ireland. They had considerable religious, ecclesiastical, political, ideological, moral and social significance, and they produced important texts: proclamations, council orders, addresses and - in England and Wales, and in Ireland - prayers or complete liturgieswhich for specified periods supplemented or replaced the services in the Book of Common Prayer. Many of these acts of special worship and most of the texts have escaped historical notice. National Prayers. Special Worship since the Reformation, in four volumes, provides the edited texts, commentaries and source notes for each of the nearly nine hundred occasions of special worship, and for each of the annual commemorations. The second volume,General Fasts, Thanksgivings and Special Prayers in the British Isles 1689-1870, contains the texts and commentaries for the numerous and frequent special prayers, fast days and thanksgivings during the wars which consolidated the 1688 revolution, through the long imperial wars of the eighteenth century, and the wars against revolutionary and Napoleonic France, as well as prayers and thanksgivings associated with Jacobite risings, epidemics, socialunrest, and episodes in the lives of the kings and queens.

In a culture that prizes keeping one's options open, making commitments offers something more valuable. The consumerism and instant gratification of "liquid modernity" feed a general reluctance to make commitments, a refusal to be pinned down for the long term. Consider the decline of three forms of commitment that involve giving up options: marriage, military service, and monastic life. Yet increasing numbers of people question whether unprecedented freedom might be leading to less flourishing, not more. They are dissatisfied with an atomized way of life that offers endless choices of goods, services, and experiences but undermines ties of solidarity and mutuality. They yearn for more heroic virtues, more sacrificial commitments, more comprehensive visions of the individual and common good. It turns out that the American Founders were right: the Creator did endow us with an unalienable right of liberty. But he has endowed us with something else as well, a gift that is equally unalienable: desire for unreserved commitment of all we have and are. Our liberty is given us so that we in turn can freely dedicate ourselves to something greater. Ultimately, to take a leap of commitment, even without knowing where one will land, is the way to a happiness worth everything. On this theme: - Lydia S. Dugdale asks what happened to the Hippocratic Oath in modern medicine. - Caitrin Keiper looks at competing vows in Victor Hugo's Les Miserables. - Kelsey Osgood, an Orthodox Jew, asks why lifestyle discipline is admired in sports but not religion. - Wendell Berry says being on the side of love does not allow one to have enemies. - Phil Christman spoofs the New York Times Vows column. - Andreas Knapp tells why he chose poverty. - Norann Voll recounts the places a vow of obedience took her. - Carino Hodder says chastity is for everyone, not just nuns. - Dori Moody revisits her grandparents' broken but faithful marriage. - Randall Gauger, a Bruderhof pastor, finds that lifelong vows make faithfulness possible. - King-Ho Leung looks at vows, oaths, promises, and covenants in the Bible. Also in the issue: - A young Black pastor reads Clarence Jordan today. - Activists discuss the pro-life movement after Roe and Dobbs. - Children learn from King Arthur, Robin Hood, and the occasional cowboy. - Original poetry by Ned Balbo - Reviews of Montgomery and Bikle's What Your Food Ate, Mohsin Hamid's The Last White Man, and Bonnie Kristian's Untrustworthy - A profile of Sadhu Sundar Singh Plough Quarterly features stories, ideas, and culture for people eager to apply their faith to the challenges we face. Each issue includes in-depth articles, interviews, poetry, book reviews, and art.

Lent is traditionally a time of repentance and penitence but it also offers an opportunity to see the world afresh, with a new sense of wonder. These readings, up to Easter and beyond, encourage us not only to regard ourselves with a healthy realism and accept responsibility for our shortcomings, but also to recognise the nature and purposes of God and the never-ending renewal of possibility, both within ourselves and in the world.

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.

"Bible-Based Prayer Power" features a new technique for talking to God that's as old as the Bible. Ken Anderson teaches readers the unique STEPS approach to prayer and gives them a topically arranged resource for incorporating the approach into their prayer lives. STEPS is an acronym for "Scripture Teaches Effective Prayer Strategy," a principle based on John 15:7 ("If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.") "Bible-Based Prayer Power" moves readers into a more vibrant prayer life by making Bible promises practical and personal.