Until relatively recently a Church of England funeral was the default option of the majority of the British population. This is no longer the case. Today, in some urban areas, secular or humanist funerals now account for 40% of funerals. The numbers of Anglican funerals are in free-fall. In exploring what makes a good funeral, this practical guide aims to rebuild the confidence of clergy in their funeral ministry and to equip them for transformative, missional pastoral engagement. This book grew out of diocesan consultation with funeral directors who identified three essential qualities that only the church offers: a distinctive understanding of death continuing pastoral care hope, not just empathy. Building on this foundation, Robert Atwell suggests many practical ways in which the church can become better at conducting funerals and engaging with those who seek pastoral support at critical points in their lives.

It was to George Bell, an English bishop, that Dietrich Bonhoeffer sent his last words before he was executed at the Flossenburg concentration camp in April 1945. Why he did so becomes clear from Andrew Chandler's new biography of George Kennedy Allen Bell (1883-1958). As he traces the arc of Bell's life, Chandler shows how his story reshapes our perspective on Bonhoeffer's life and times. In addition to serving as Bishop of Chichester, Bell was an internationalist and ecumenical leader, one of the great Christian humanists of the twentieth century, a tenacious critic of the obliteration bombing of enemy cities during World War II, and a key ally of those who struggled for years to resist Hitler in Germany itself. This inspiring biography raises important questions that still haunt the moral imagination today: When should the word of protest be spoken? When should nations go to war, and how should they fight? What are our obligations to the victims of dictators and international conflict?

Faithful and effective church leadership requires preparation in prayer, theological reflection and a wide range of pastoral, prophetic and practical skills in order to ensure that what the Church discerns as necessary the Church does. Faithful Improvisation? is both a contribution to a current and sometimes vigorous debate on how the Church trains its leaders and also a practical and theological resource for discerning what the Spirit is saying and then acting upon it in local church contexts. Part One includes the full text of the Senior Church Leadership report from the Faith and Order Commission. Part Two offers reflections by Cally Hammond, Thomas Seville, Charlotte Methuen, Jeremy Morris and David Hilborn, on practices, models and theologies of leadership in different periods of church history which informed the FAOC report. Part Three opens up a broader discussion about present and future leadership within the Church of England. Mike Higton sketches out a dialogue between Senior Church Leadership and Lord Green's report, Talent Management for Future Leaders; Tim Harle offers a personal reflection from the perspective of the community of leadership practitioners; and Rachel Treweek concludes with an exploration of the essentially relational character of leadership.

The Evangelical Revival of the mid-eighteenth century was a major turning point in Protestant history. In England, Wesleyan Methodists became a separate denomination around 1795, and Welsh Calvinistic Methodists became independent of the Church of England in 1811. By this point, evangelicalism had emerged as a major religious force across the British Isles, making inroads among Anglicans as well as Irish and Scottish Presbyterians. Evangelical Dissent proliferated through thousands of Methodist, Baptist, and Congregational churches; even Quakers were strongly influenced by evangelical religion. The evangelicals were often at odds with each other over matters of doctrine (like the 'five points' of Calvinism); ecclesiology (including the status of the established church); politics (as they reacted in various ways to the American and French Revolutions); and worship (with the boisterous, extemporary style of Primitive Methodists contrasting sharply with the sober piety of many Anglican advocates of 'vital religion'). What they shared was a cross-centred, Bible-based piety that stressed conversion and stimulated evangelism. But how was this generic evangelical ethos adopted and reconfigured by different denominations and in very different social contexts? Can we categorise different styles of 'heart religion'? To what extent was evangelical piety dependent on the phenomenon of 'revival'? And what practical difference did it make to the experience of dying, to the parish community, or to denominational politics? This collection addresses these questions in innovative ways. It examines neglected manuscript and print sources, including handbooks of piety, translations and abridgements, conversion narratives, journals, letters, hymns, sermons, and obituaries. It offers a variety of approaches, reflecting a range of disciplinary expertise-historical, literary, and theological. Together, the contributions point towards a new account of the roots and branches of evangelical piety, and offer fresh ways of analysing the history of Protestant spirituality.

Can simply bringing a young man to church incur the wrath of Satan? Although she believes in God, Joanna Sutton refuses to admit Satan exists until she begins to experience things he seems to be doing. Ball lightning hits her house, a demon appears at her doorstep, she falls asleep while driving and a benevolent ghost encourages her to open a small unused building behind the house she is renting. When the ghost disappears and she realizes that he not just a friendly neighbor, she calls Father Michael, the priest at her church. He helps her open the building and they find a tiny human skeleton inside. Father Michael and Joanna have a long talk, and she finally realizes that Satan is at work in her town and will try to destroy her and those she loves. Together they make plans to fight back.