Bücher veröffentlicht von Canterbury Press

We think of love as being selfless and unsullied, but when is it not mixed up with something else - such as the desire to possess, the need to control, the need to be needed or the instinct to foster our own self interest? In these meditations on the Passion narratives in John's Gospel, Martin L. Smith shows how, in the Christian mystery, love as we often understand it must die in order to be reborn as the grace of communion, as love set free. As Mary the mother of Jesus and the Beloved Disciple pledge themselves to each other's care at the foot of the cross, we see Jesus' new commandment that we love one another placed directly in the vortex of his death and self-offering. Here, all sentimental or selfish notions of love are transformed. As the Beloved Disciple takes Mary into his home, this book shows us a model household of faith from which the church's authentic identity derives its origin.

The bestselling writer Paula Gooder continues her exploration of the Christian year, with its different seasons and moods, and the varying messages they convey. Here, she explores the longest period of the liturgical year, ordinary time - 33 weeks where no great dramas occur.We live in a culture that revels in the special, the extraordinary, the new, the unusual. This can relegate ordinary life to a bland 'in between-ness' as we look for the next excitement or novelty. This is a tendency that affects the church as much as wider culture as it seeks new ways of doing the familiar old things and reinventing itself. Yet, 'the ordinary' is the very essence of life. The point of special occasions is not to lift us out of humdrum existence but to embed us more powerfully in ordinary, day to day life. We need to learn how to live ordinary life in an extraordinary way. This book explores how to do this through reflections on 33 biblical texts reflecting on how God breaks into everyday life, transforming it into the most extraordinary existence possible.

Colin Buchanan has for over forty years collected and edited eucharistic liturgies from round the Anglican Communion, always striving for a comprehensive, even exhaustive, presentation of the liturgical texts, so as to provide a reliable set of reference works for scholars and others engaged in liturgical research and/or actual revision. This is his 4th collection and 30 years have elapsed since the previous volume. Recent years have seen many new developments and many new eucharistic rites, like Common Worship, which has encouraged the use of varying texts in worship. This volume brings these together, displaying them in a standardized way, and with introductory material. Clergy and worship leaders will find in this a rich source of prayers and other liturgical texts that they can draw on.

This comprehensive guide focuses on much more than the practicalities of preaching and will be welcomed by clergy, ordinands and lay preachers from all denominations. It emphasises the spiritual formation of preachers by the Bible, by life experience and by the Christian tradition and the development of wonder and discusses the many resources available for this before going on to examine the significance of the liturgical and pastoral contexts in which preaching takes place. An overview of past approaches to preaching includes an examination of various strands in the transformation of preaching over the last forty years and consideration of theologies of preaching. From these wide resources, various methodologies are explored culminating in a worked example of the practicalities of preparing and giving a sermon, from first engagement with the Scripture readings to voice control.

With its two great cycles of incarnation and redemption, centred on Christmas and Easter, it is the church's time-honoured way of ensuring that the whole story of salvation is retold in all its fullness every year. This resource helps you discover the richness and depth of the Christian year, focusing on the seasons and the calendar.