This A-Z of the Christian faith is written for beginners of all ages. It suitable for anyone aged 9 - 90. It introduces the key words and concepts of the Christian faith and tells the story of how God's heart's is open to everyone through the life, death and resurrection of his Son, Jesus Christ.

Ethnomusicology and its Intimacies situates intimacy, a concept that encompasses a wide range of often informal social practices and processes for building closeness and relationality, within the ethnomusicological study of music and sound. These scholarly essays reflect on a range of interactions between individuals and communities that deepen connections and associations, and which may be played out relatively briefly or nurtured over time. Three major sections on Performance, Auto/biographical strategies, and Film are each prefaced by an interview with a scholar or practitioner with close knowledge of the subject that links the chapters in that section. Often drawing directly on fieldwork experience in a variety of contexts, authors consider how concepts of intimacy can illuminate the ethnographic study of music, addressing questions such as: how can we understand ethnomusicological and ethnographic research and performance as processes of musically-mediated intimacy? How are the longstanding relationships we develop with others particularly intimated by and through musicking? How do we understand the musically intimate relationships of others and how do these inflect our own musical intimacies? How does music represent, inscribe, constrain or provoke social or personal intimacies in particular contexts? The volume will appeal to all scholars with interests in music and how it is used to construct relationships in different contexts around the world.

This Lent book offers imaginative reflections on Christ's crucifixion. Each of the seven chapters is focused on a different key character, who describes his or her experience of the Passion. The nails used to crucify Christ are used as a jumping off point for their reflections. Each character considers the questions, 'who killed Christ' and 'who was responsible' Each chapter includes a Biblical passage, a meditative hymn, a reflection from the point of view of the character, and a short prayer. The book finishes with practical suggestions on how it can be used as a Lent study course. It is ideal for individual reflection or group study, and can also readily be adapted for use as a Good Friday liturgy.

Narrating the story from the perspective of key characters gives us insights into its many horrors and uncertainties as well as its joys

This volume brings together leading voices from the new wave of research on musical instruments to consider how we can connect the material aspects of instruments with their social function, approaches that have been otherwise too frequently separated in musical scholarship. Shaping Sound and Society: The Cultural Study of Musical Instruments locates the instruments at the center of cultural interactions. With contributions from ten scholars spanning a variety of methodologies and a wide range of both contemporary and historic music cultures, the volume is divided into three sections. Contributors discuss the relationships between makers, performers and their local communities, the different meanings that instruments accrue as they travel over time and place, and the manner in which instruments throw new light on historic music cultures. Alongside the scholarly chapters, the volume also includes a selection of shorter interludes based on interviews with makers of comparatively new instruments, offering further insights into the process of musical instrument innovation. An essential read for students and academics in the fields of music and ethnomusicology, this volume will also interest anyone looking to understand how the cultural interaction of musical instruments is deeply informed and influenced by social, technological, and cultural change.

The Sleepy Shepherd is so dozy he completely misses the visit of the angels . . . and the chance to greet the Christ-child in Bethlehem. But one crucial night, years later, he makes an important decision - to be a real shepherd to a man whose friends have all fallen asleep . . .

Popular, highly respected author

In this attractive illustrated book, Stephen Cottrell reflects on five of the Christ in the Wilderness paintings, and reveals them to be a rich source of spiritual wisdom and nourishment. He invites us to slow down and enter into the stillness of Stanley Spencer's vision. By dwelling in the wilderness of these evocative portraits, Stephen Cottrell encourages us to refine our own discipleship and learn again what it means to follow Christ.

Professional Music-Making in London is an engaging yet innovative study which examines the lives and work of Western art musicians from an ethnographic perspective. Drawing in part on his own professional experience, Stephen Cottrell considers to what extent musicians in Western society conform to Alan Merriam's paradigmatic assessment of them as having low status yet high respect, as well as being given an unusual degree of licence to deviate from convention. The book draws on a wide variety of approaches from scholars elsewhere: from ethnomusicologists such as Bruno Nettl and Henry Kingsbury, performance theorists such as Richard Schechner and Victor Turner, as well as psychologists such as Sigmund Freud and Melanie Klein. This rich intellectual heritage provides the framework for discussion of a variety of themes, including how musicians conceive their self identity and how this is negotiated in the professional musical world; how the deputy system facilitates musical exchange and engenders gift relationships; how humour lubricates social and musical relationships and mitigates the stresses of musicians' lives; and how the events in which musicians participate can be viewed as quasi-rituals, and thus related to analogous events in non-Western cultures. The focus of this study is on professional music-making in London, one of the world's busiest centres of musical performance. Yet the issues raised and explored are deeply relevant to other major centres of Western art music, such as New York, Berlin or Sydney. Ethnomusicologists, anthropologists, musicologists, performers, teachers and concert-goers will find this book a stimulating insight into, and investigation of, Western art musicians and their place in today's world.

The narrative of Holy Week is powerful and painful, and because we know how the story ends it's easy to gloss over the difficult details, and stay in the comfort zone of our understanding. Stephen Cottrell brings home, vividly and poignantly, the physical reality of the passion story. This is a book to stimulate thought, provoke discussion and create space for contemplation. 'In order to understand the cross you need to stand under it . . . with the imagination as well as the mind . . . This book aims to help in that process . . . But however you use it - on your own or with others - I hope you will receive some small appreciation of just how much the cross weighs, and maybe even pick it up yourself.' From the Introduction

The ancient poems we call Psalms are over 2000 years old. They were written in very different times from our own when humans could travel at the speed of a camel, not at the speed of sound. But these songs have stood the test of time for they address many of the problems we still face: violence, injustice, anger and bewilderment. Why do the wicked prosper? Where is God when we suffer? In this 5 session course, Bishop Stephen Cottrell, a prolific and popular author, reflects on the psalms in general, and five psalms in particular. He invites us to join him as he does so. This York Course is available in the following formats: Course Book (Paperback 9781909107106) Course Book (eBook 9781909107632 both ePub and Mobi files provided) Audio Book of Interview to support The Psalms York Course (CD 9781909107458) Audio Book of Interview (Digital Download 9781909107618) Transcript of interview to support The Psalms York Course (Paperback 9781909107113) Transcript of interview (eBook 9781909107649 both ePub and Mobi files provided) Book Pack (9781909107465 Featuring Paperback Course Book, Audio Book on CD and Paperback Transcript of Interview) Large print (9781909107625) The five sessions focus on: SESSION 1: Know that the Lord is God (Psalm 100) SESSION 2: Out of the depths have I cried (Psalm 130) SESSION 3: How long, O Lord? (Psalm 13) SESSION 4: You spread a table before me (Psalm 23) SESSION 5: Unless the Lord builds the house (Psalm 127) The participants on the course audio are the Dominican Friar Fr Timothy Radcliffe; the Revd John Bell of the Iona Community; the Bishop of Dover, Rose-Hudson Wilkin and Revd Dr Jane Leach, the Principal of Wesley House Cambridge.

Professional Music-Making in London is an engaging yet innovative study which examines the lives and work of Western art musicians from an ethnographic perspective. Drawing in part on his own professional experience, Stephen Cottrell considers to what extent musicians in Western society conform to Alan Merriam's paradigmatic assessment of them as having low status yet high respect, as well as being given an unusual degree of licence to deviate from convention. The book draws on a wide variety of approaches from scholars elsewhere: from ethnomusicologists such as Bruno Nettl and Henry Kingsbury, performance theorists such as Richard Schechner and Victor Turner, as well as psychologists such as Sigmund Freud and Melanie Klein. This rich intellectual heritage provides the framework for discussion of a variety of themes, including how musicians conceive their self identity and how this is negotiated in the professional musical world; how the deputy system facilitates musical exchange and engenders gift relationships; how humour lubricates social and musical relationships and mitigates the stresses of musicians' lives; and how the events in which musicians participate can be viewed as quasi-rituals, and thus related to analogous events in non-Western cultures. The focus of this study is on professional music-making in London, one of the world's busiest centres of musical performance. Yet the issues raised and explored are deeply relevant to other major centres of Western art music, such as New York, Berlin or Sydney. Ethnomusicologists, anthropologists, musicologists, performers, teachers and concert-goers will find this book a stimulating insight into, and investigation of, Western art musicians and their place in today's world.

In returning and rest you shall be saved. Isaiah 30:15

When was the last time you had a real day off? Ditched the to do lists? Switched off the phone? Unplugged the alarm clock? Sat in the bath until the water went cold?

Most of us live at breakneck speed. Busy lives work, family, friends, endless tasks leave us with little time to sleep, never mind stopping and reflecting. We urgently need to stop imagining that everything is so urgent. We need to learn to nurture our inner slob.

In this generous, life-affirming book, Cottrell invites us to slow down and stop breathe and start an adventure of self-discovery and renewed creativity that will improve the way we see life and help us catch a glimpse of God. "

The follow-up to the author's highly successful The Things He Carried, this book takes the post-resurrection sayings of Jesus as starting-points and uses the same reflection format. The meaning and significance of the resurrection, how it was first communicated and how it is communicated to us today, are explored by piecing together these sayings of Jesus. However, the content may not quite be what we imagine. Following the resurrection, we would expect the triumphant 'I have risen from the dead'. Yet Jesus' statements are so different, so apparently innocuous, that they are often overlooked. The Christian faith stands or falls on the resurrection of Jesus; without it, says St Paul, we are to be most pitied. In this revelatory book of surprising reflections, Stephen Cottrell's retelling of the Easter story encourages us to slow down and hear it properly - perhaps for the very first time.

The ancient poems we call Psalms are over 2000 years old. They were written in very different times from our own when humans could travel at the speed of a camel, not at the speed of sound. But these songs have stood the test of time for they address many of the problems we still face: violence, injustice, anger and bewilderment. Why do the wicked prosper? Where is God when we suffer? In this 5 session course, Bishop Stephen Cottrell, a prolific and popular author, reflects on the psalms in general, and five psalms in particular. He invites us to join him as he does so. This York Course is available in the following formats: Course Book (Paperback 9781909107106) Course Book (eBook 9781909107632 both ePub and Mobi files provided) Audio Book of Interview to support The Psalms York Course (CD 9781909107458) Audio Book of Interview (Digital Download 9781909107618) Transcript of interview to support The Psalms York Course (Paperback 9781909107113) Transcript of interview (eBook 9781909107649 both ePub and Mobi files provided) Book Pack (9781909107465 Featuring Paperback Course Book, Audio Book on CD and Paperback Transcript of Interview) Large print (9781909107625) The five sessions focus on: SESSION 1: Know that the Lord is God (Psalm 100) SESSION 2: Out of the depths have I cried (Psalm 130) SESSION 3: How long, O Lord? (Psalm 13) SESSION 4: You spread a table before me (Psalm 23) SESSION 5: Unless the Lord builds the house (Psalm 127) The participants on the course audio are the Dominican Friar Fr Timothy Radcliffe; the Revd John Bell of the Iona Community; the Bishop of Dover, Rose-Hudson Wilkin and Revd Dr Jane Leach, the Principal of Wesley House Cambridge.

Found in Common Worship: Times and Seasons, The Way of the Cross is a series of scripture-based devotions for personal or group use in Lent and Holy Week. Similar in intent to the traditional Stations of the Cross, it focuses wholly on the biblical narrative of the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus. This seasonal companion provides the sequence of fifteen meditations appears in full, including opening and concluding prayers. Each is accompanied by three short reflections from different perspectives by three of today's very best spiritual writers: - Paula Gooder offers reflections on the scriptural narratives; - Stephen Cottrell considers the story from the perspective of personal discipleship; - Philip North explores the story's challenge to mission and witness.

In the Gospel of Mark's account of the Passion narrative, Jesus calls out from the cross 'Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?' which is the Aramaic for 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?' - the first line of Psalm 22. It's an anguished expression - traditionally ascribed to King David - of defeat, failure, abandonment and despair. This series of reflections, written for Lent and Holy Week 2023 by the Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell, ponders the significance of these words. What does it mean for Jesus to have quoted them, at the very end of his life? What do those words mean for us? This is a beautiful and compelling exploration of the dark, suffering side of the Passion - and how Jesus' words lead us to the greatest hope of all.

Reflections for Daily Prayer has nourished thousands of Christians for a decade with its inspiring and informed weekday Bible reflections. Now, in response to demand, Reflections for Sundays combines material from over the years with new writing to provide high-quality reflections on the Principal Readings for Sundays and major Holy Days. Contributors include some of the very best writers from across the Anglican tradition who have helped to establish it as one of the leading daily devotional volumes today. For each Sunday and major Holy Day in Year C, Reflections for Sundays offers: * full lectionary details for the Principle Service * a reflection on the Old Testament reading * a reflection on the Epistle * a reflection on the Gospel It also contains a substantial introduction to the Gospels of Luke, written by renowned Bible teacher Paula Gooder.