Bücher der Reihe SCM Research

How are cathedrals and churches understood? Are they shop windows, through which to gaze at the riches on offer within the Christian life? Are they flagships of the Spirit? Are they both sacred spaces and community utilities?'Shop-window, flagship, common ground' views the rich ministry and innovative mission of cathedrals through the novel lens of metaphor; and it offers comparative insights on cathedrals and cathedral-like churches.Located in the emerging international field of cathedral studies, the book explores the usage and inferences of a range of metaphors, including 'shop-windows of the Church of England', 'flagships of the Spirit', 'beacons of the Christian faith', 'magnets', and 'sacred space, common ground'.This volume also shows how such metaphors can stimulate different types of research about the function of cathedral and church buildings.With a Foreword by Professor Grace Davie, the book suggests that cathedrals and cathedral-like churches may play a role within 'vicarious religion' theory. It will provide a thought-provoking critique for practitioners and a valuable contribution for scholars of cathedral studies, congregational studies and ecclesiology.

This ground-breaking study provides a unique contribution to the field of Anglican Studies: a detailed historical examination of the development of metropolitical authority and provincial polity within international Anglicanism.

Applying a methodology rooted in Action Research as way of Doing Theology (ART), and drawn from the author's own research within a specific 'community of practice', "The Naked Preacher" demonstrates for preachers and ministers new ways to be critically and constructively self-aware.

The Trinity: A Philosophical Investigation considers the competing accounts of the Trinity doctrine, whether orthodox or heterodox, and aims to respond to objections and explicate their motivations and entailments.

There is a clear lack in the Church of England of a coherent and thought through treatment of evil and the devil within the texts which the Church of England traditionally identifies as the repositories of doctrine. Focusing on initiation, healing and deliverance liturgies within the church, Fight Valiantly seeks to rectify that deficit, considering the Church of England's liturgical practice in the parishes, and highlighting the present danger of worshippers receiving an inconsistent and potentially incoherent account of the relationship with evil.

Aiming to engage in a process which breaks free from traditional academic norms, Undoing Theology explores three life stories: an intersex-identifying Catholic, a former 'ex-gay' minister and a Christian who engages in bondage and fetishist practices.