With this twelve-volume series, Westminster John Knox Press offers one of the most extensive and well-respected resources for preaching on the market today. The twelve volumes cover all of the Sundays in the three-year lectionary cycle, along with moveable occasions. The page layout is truly unique. For each lectionary text, preachers will find brief essays--one each on the exegetical, theological, pastoral, and homiletical challenges of the text. Each volume also contains an index of biblical passages so that nonlectionary preachers may make use of it.

Our culture has undergone a major shift: younger generations have less and less interest in the printed word as they become predominantly image oriented. In response, as congregations increasingly learn to be more sophisticated in using newer electronic technologies, they are finding themselves at different places in the quest to understand, acquire, manage, and benefit from the technology boom. Worship leaders in congregations already using some electronic media are realizing that they could be doing more with it, and are seeking new ideas. Congregational leaders scrambling to catch up with a worship committee that has decided it's time for a change aren't sure of the next steps. Or maybe there's been a gift to the congregation to be spent on electronics, and no one is quite sure how best to use the money. Michael Bausch's book grows out of several years' of conversation, personal experimentation, and experience with multimedia worship in one modest-sized, small-town church, while also drawing on the experiences and work of other churches learning to use electronic media in worship. Bausch balances concern for practical issues, such as finances and architecture, with attention to theological integrity and the challenges of sustaining media-enhanced worship. He skillfully shows how the artistic resources of the world around us can enhance our awareness of God's presence in worship.

With this new lectionary commentary series, Westminster John Knox offers the most extensive resource for preaching on the market today. When complete, the twelve volumes of the series will cover all the Sundays in the three-year lectionary cycle, along with movable occasions, such as Christmas Day, Epiphany, Holy Week, and All Saints' Day. For each lectionary text, preachers will find four brief essays--one each on the theological, pastoral, exegetical, and homiletical challenges of the text. This gives preachers sixteen different approaches to the proclaimation of the Word on any given occasion. The editors and contributors to this series are world-class scholars, pastors, and writers representing a variety of denominations and traditions. And while the twelve volumes of the series will follow the pattern of the Revised Common Lectionary, each volume will contain an index of biblical passages so that nonlectionary preachers, as well as teachers and students, may make use of its contents.

One woman's personal account of Saint Ignatius' Spiritual Exercisesin her own prayer life. This book is the result of an improbable friendship, she admits from the outset, Mine with St. Ignatius Loyola.The book grew out of a 30-day retreat the author took away from her busy life as a wife, theology student in pastoral education, translator and mother of two little boys. Yet nothing had prepared me for the experience. I had thought this would be a nice project for Lent. Lent began and ended, but the project went on, and radically changed my way of seeing things. In a sense I never finished them. They have become a part of me, the meditations being a kind of horizon against which I can see and reflect upon the course of my life, and to which I return again and again

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

Best-selling author Richard J. Foster offers a warm, compelling, and sensitive primer on prayer, helping us to understand, experience, and practice it in its many forms-from the simple prayer of beginning again to unceasing prayer. He clarifies the prayer process, answers common misconceptions, and shows the way into prayers of contemplation, healing, blessing, forgiveness, and rest.

Coming to prayer is like coming home, Foster says. "Nothing feels more right, more like what we are created to be and to do. Yet at the same time we are confronted with great mysteries. Who hasn't struggled with the puzzle of unanswered prayer? Who hasn't wondered how a finite person can commune with the infinite Creator of the universe? Who hasn't questioned whether prayer isn't merely psychological manipulation after all? We do our best, of course, to answer these knotty questions but when all is said and done, there is a sense in which these mysteries remain unanswered and unanswerable . . . At such times we must learn to become comfortable with the mystery."

Foster shows how prayer can move us inward into personal transformation, upward toward intimacy with God, and outward to minister to others. He leads us beyond questions to a deeper understanding and practice of prayer, bringing us closer to God, to ourselves, and to our community.

The Altar Call is a thorough examination of the public invitation practice within Christian evangelism. In addition to giving a comprehensive historical background that spans three continents, The Altar Call also poses the following question: If John Wesley, George Whitefield , and Jonathan Edwards are regarded as the great figures of modern evangelicalism, why did none of these important leaders practice the invitation system that became so important in so many later evangelical groups? This important study will be of interest to both religious scholars and lay people, who are curious about the antecedents, development, and current use of the altar call.

This book provides Catholics who pray before the Real Presence with a new and unique resource to deepen their adoration experience and do so within the Franciscan tradition. Each of 52 reflections for Eucharistic Adoration--one for each week of the year--features four parts that address the spiritual advice of St. Clare to gaze, consider, contemplate, and imitate Christ. Each reflection encourages us to:

Today's rapid, deep, and pervasive changes in North American culture present myriad challenges for faith communities now and in the years ahead. Oswald explores the use of rituals as spiritually healing practices for the home, congregation, and broader community. He teaches congregational leaders how individuals and groups can use familiar new rituals to name, evaluate, live out, celebrate, and grow through change.

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.

Con Laudes, Visperas y Completas. Shortened Liturgy of the Hours with Laudes, Vespers, and Compline.

In Being in Love, William Johnston addresses the question of the purpose of prayer. He shares with the reader the discovery of new ways to a prayerful life that is both meditative and active. His message is to surrender in love to God, to love God with one's own being, through prayer. Here Being in Love shows us how to pray-with heart, mind, intellect and body-as a form of communicating with God, one another, and the world around us. Johnston reveals, using his relationship with the Eastern traditions as a backdrop, the need and importance of finding stillness in our inner lives. He demonstrates in a clear and practical way, how we can make prayer a place for meditation and personal growth.

In Being in Love, William Johnston addresses the question of the purpose of prayer. He shares with the reader the discovery of new ways to a prayerful life that is both meditative and active. His message is to surrender in love to God, to love God with one's own being, through prayer. Here Being in Love shows us how to pray-with heart, mind, intellect and body-as a form of communicating with God, one another, and the world around us. Johnston reveals, using his relationship with the Eastern traditions as a backdrop, the need and importance of finding stillness in our inner lives. He demonstrates in a clear and practical way, how we can make prayer a place for meditation and personal growth.

When C. W. McPherson asked the members of his congregation to practice just ten minutes of silence each day during Advent, it seemed like a simple task. "It sounded easy, " said one of his parishioners, "but then I actually tried to do it."

This concise, conversational, and engaging book is for those who find it difficult or even impossible to slow down and be quiet. But if we can't learn how to be still in the midst of a noisy world, we will have a hard time listening for God's voice and guidance in our lives.

McPherson explores the positive effects that practicing silence has on body, soul, and mind. He provides historical background and easy-to-follow instructions for a variety of Christian practices. Among the practices included are Benedictine rumination, psalm repetition, the Jesus Prayer, Ignatian meditation, meditation on icons or candles, walking the labyrinth or the Stations of the Cross, and more. This valuable book is written to be used by individuals or groups.

This guide for clergy, parish musicians, lay readers, and congregational representatives covers all the stages of organizing worship services for the entire year. Using The Book of Common Prayer and Hymnal 1982 as primary resources, it explores the rich variety of options both time-honored traditions and accepted innovations.

Times and seasons covered in depth include Advent, the Twelve Days of Christmas, Lent and Holy Week, Easter and the Great Fifty Days, and the Sundays after Epiphany and Pentecost. Planning the Church Year explains the preparations that make for meaningful holy days and special occasions, such as Lesser Feasts, Thanksgiving Day, Vigils, Michaelmas, All Saints Day, the bishop s visitation, the Patronal and Dedication Festivals. "

Building on the interest generated by Sullivan s previous art and spirituality title, Windows into the Soul, this book focuses on the journey from darkness to light inherent in Lent. By using an easily accessible liturgical format, the book provides a pathway for those who walk from Ash Wednesday to the empty tomb of Easter. Organized around holy days and Sundays in Lent, chapters begin with a prayer or poetic excerpt, followed by scripture for the day or week. A narrative then expands on the themes introduced by the prayer and scripture. Exercises following the narratives are simple mostly collage exercises using differing techniques and are accessible to a wide audience. Soul Questions, popular with readers, guide the spiritual exercise following the narrative, and Thoughts for the Journey, also popular with Windows readers, complete each chapter with suggestions for further reflection.

Vestments -- the robes, stoles or other items worn by clergy, or cloths used at the altar -- not only add beauty to a worship service, but are visual clues to the liturgical season and to the tone of a particular service. The most beautiful and meaningful vestments are often those made for a particular priest, serving in a specific sanctuary. But many shy away from trying to sew vestments, which seem too complicated and difficult to make.

In Vestments for All Seasons, Barbara Baumgarten demystifies the making of vestments -- from designing and fitting patterns, to fabric and color selection, to putting on the finishing touches. She provides patterns and directions for producing special vestments for Advent and Lent, Easter, and Pentecost, and general instructions for designing and making vestments completely from scratch. A history of the development of vestments from Roman times to the present is included, as well as a full glossary describing the various vestments worn by clergy, bishops, deacons, and choir.

Through hymns, poems, and the lens of personal experience, a leading spiritual director and author takes a thoughtful, in-depth look at the Cross as a focal point for theology, spirituality, Christian symbolism, and discipleship, providing a probing and disturbing resource for group study during Lent.

The third edition is updated to the Revised Common Lectionary

Many of us have difficulty hearing the Bible as it is read to us in church Sunday after Sunday through the year. Even with the best intentions we come to the Word of God cold because we have not been given the skills and the preparation to hear and understand the content of Scripture.

These brief and insightful introductions to all the readings of the church s three-year lectionary cycle are designed to sharpen our listening and increase comprehension of Scripture by summarizing each passage, setting it in a liturgical and historical context, connecting it to the season, and drawing out its relevance to our lives and faith, week by week.

This is an ideal tool for Christian formation as well as homiletical preparation. The style is clear, straightforward, well grounded in biblical scholarship, and Anglican in its theological approach. Extra features include an essay on the Bible and Christian formation, five brief use guides, an index to the biblical readings, and a summary of the seven most common Bible translations used in church services. "

This is the indispensable companion for worship planning for the Episcopal Church. Following the three-year Revised Common Lectionary cycle and the church calendar year, this is the all-in-one liturgical season planner for worship. Included are suggestions for each season: rites, blessings, prayers, litanies, pageants. Readings, psalms, worship, and formation, and hymn suggestions are compiled for each Sunday and holy day. Presiders and preachers, worship team leaders, musicians, Christian educators, sacristans, and altar guilds will find this to be the perfect resource, putting all the elements for planning worship and seasonal observances in one handy volume.

Advent is a time of preparation, of patience, of remembering what grounds and sustains us. Advent reminds us who God is and who we are meant to be. This book offers a new look at Advent by seeing the four weeks through the lens of morning, mid-day, late afternoon and evening, and night. Photographs, stories, and perspectives enrich our travel and invite us to other dimensions of experiencing Advent, as a season and as a resource in our daily living. The book can serve as a devotional for individuals and small-group study for the Advent season, with a particular focus on the Year C Gospel readings from Luke. * Advent devotion for individuals or small groups, with an Advent poster-calendar sold separately * Photographs and stories from daily life, for daily Christian living * Study guide included