What are clergy for? In this lively and provocative book, Alan Billings argues that they serve the mission and ministry of the Church, which is to make God possible (or findable).

Although organized religion is in serious decline, most people still turn to the Church when they arrange a funeral. As a result, they receive help and comfort when someone close to them dies. But what can Christianity say about death that might carry conviction in today's increasingly secularized society? And how should pastoral practice change to meet changing needs? This sobering yet engagingly written book aims first of all to set dying and grieving in context. It gives those involved in or training for pastoral ministries, whether ordained or lay, a sense of how the place of religion, the nature of the funeral service and patterns of dying, mourning and grieving have changed in Britain over the past fifty years. Interspersed throughout are autobiographical stories, which earth the theoretical text and encourage readers to reflec on how they might reasonably respond to some of the difficult contemporary issues likely to arise in their own ministry. The result is a book which, in combining insights from social history, sociology, psychology and theology, makes a fresh contribution to pastoral practice today.

In trying to understand the relationship of the British people to religion - specifically Christianity - we tend to say that people: believe - or do not; attend - or do not. The argument of Lost Church is that the majority of people do not really fit either of these categories. Rather, they 'belong' - in the sense that they feel some affinity to Christianity and the Church; they are not hostile to its ministers; they do not find churches alien places to be, and they turn to the Church and its clergy on specific occasions. But they do not want to attend regularly and their beliefs may be incoherent or even nonexistent, and often flicker on and off like a badly wired lamp. This absorbing and encouraging volume is a call to lay Christians and clergy to take stock of what is happening and to recover an understanding of the Church that will not alienate those who 'belong' but rather enable ministry to them to continue.

For Theology Students, Scholars and Professors. Are you looking to understand the complexity of peace keeping, and the vital role of praying for those in authority? After reading you'll have a greater understanding of the complexity of peace keeping. The Dove, the Fig Leaf and the Sword' is a fascinating critique of the Church's varying response to the use of force over the centuries that gives Christians a greater understanding of the complexity of peace keeping, and stresses the vital role of praying for those in authority. Alan Billings is an Anglican priest and a former Director of the Centre for Ethics and Religion at Lancaster University. In recent years he has taught the ethics of war to chaplains to the forces at the UK Defence Academy, Amport, and on military bases in England and Germany. ' The Dove, the Fig Leaf and the Sword' is a highly informative, well-researched and systematic approach to historically changing Christian views around war and peace is an excellent overview that does not flinch from also facing the contentious contemporary context. Billings believes Christianity must engage both ethically and realistically if its message is going to have any relevance in the arena of war and the spectrum of other military operational options with those who bear the weight of making those life-changing and responsible choices.