Since David Sheppard and Derek Worlock's previous book, Better Together published in 1988, six years in Merseyside had brought many about many changes. However, their unique partnership continued to deepen to their commitment to the gospel, to Liverpool and to social justice. With Hope In Our Hearts is in a fascinating insight into their combined thoughts on then contemporary issues, including ecumenism, urban regeneration, the tragedies of Hillsborough and James Bulger, apartheid and unem...

In the late 1980s, David Sheppard and Derek Worlock formed an alliance of genuine Christian unity in Liverpool, then a city of strong sectarian loyalties and bitter deprivation. Their partnership was tried and tested in the furnace of an inner city close to bankruptcy. Working together as Anglican and Roman Catholic, the two bishops found a void at the heart of the city in crisis, a gap that had to be bridged by hands reaching not only across the torn community but also upwards to God. The...

Rowan Williams retired as Archbishop of Canterbury on 31 December 2012, and the Crown Nominations Commission elected the Rt Revd Justin Welby as his successor, enthroned at Canterbury Cathedral in March 2013.The Archbishop of Canterbury has an international profile and influence. In this short, lively and informative book, Andrew Atherstone, explores Welby’s life from his formative years, education, and eleven year career in the oil industry to his ministry, as well as his theology...

Out of nowhere in 2004, an obscure religious sect burst onto the political stage in Australia. Almost unheard of until then, the Exclusive Brethren was suddenly spending up big in election advertising in support of conservative political parties. But its members were shy to the point of paranoia about who they were — preferring, as they said, to ‘fly under the radar’. Brethren members assiduously lobbied politicians, but did not vote. And they were very close to the-then prime minister Joh...

What is Anglicanism? How is it different from other forms of Christianity, and how did it come to have so many different versions throughout the world? Although originally united by location and a common belief, Anglicanism has gradually lost its pre-eminence as the English state church due to increasing pluralisation and secularisation. While there are distinctive themes and emphases which emerge from its early history and theology, there is little sense of unity in Anglicanism today. In ...

First published as part of the best-selling The Oxford Illustrated History of Britain, John Morrill's Very Short Introduction to Stuart Britain sets the Revolution into its political, religious, social, economic, intellectual, and cultural contexts. It thus seeks to integrate what most other surveys pull apart. It gives a graphic account of the effects of a century-long period during which population was growing inexorably and faster than both the food supply and the empl...

The Church of England still seemed an essential part of Englishness, and even of the British state, when Mrs Thatcher was elected in 1979. The decades which followed saw a seismic shift in the foundations of the C of E, leading to the loss of more than half its members and much of its influence. In England today 'religion' has become a toxic brand, and Anglicanism something done by other people. How did this happen? Is there any way back?This 'relentlessly honest' and surprisingly ...

How Christianity Made The Modern World - The Legacy of Christian Liberty: How the Bible Inspired Freedom, Shaped Western Civilization, Revolutionized Human Rights, Transformed Democracy and Why Free People Owe So Much to their Christian Heritage.What has Christianity ever done for the world? The answer is both profound and inexhaustible. Discover how Christianity became the most important factor in the creation of the modern world by shaping our values, beliefs and civilization. Fi...

‘Throughout his long life Lloyd Geering has wrestled with ‘God’, the deepest fundamental questions of human identity and making sense of living in this world in relationship with others.’ Allan K. DavidsonThe events surrounding the ‘trial’ of Lloyd Geering for heresy in the late 1960s were unprecedented in New Zealand. Charged with ‘doctrinal error’ and ‘disturbing the peace and unity of the church’, Geering was thrust into the heat of public debate. Sourced from his autobiography Wrestlin...

In 1940, when Hitlers bombers reduced Coventrys ancient cathedral to ruins, he coined a new word. He threatened to coventrate all of Britain. Coventry thus was given an iconic status as a symbol of the triumph of good over evil, of forgiveness over revenge, of reconciliation and peace over division and conflict. The ruins are still there today as a warning, but the new and magnificent new cathedral has become the powerhouse of a ministry both to the city and to international conflicts. The...

Starting out as a small but energetic and, above all, committed group of parents in County Down in the early 1970s, All Children Together (ACT) believed that, as long as children continued to be educated separately, there was little hope of healing the festering wounds in a society blighted by bitter division. This is the story of the pioneers of the integrated education movement in Northern Ireland.The book chronicles how ACT faced powerful establishment resistance – both clerical...

The best-loved politician and social reformer of nineteenth century England, Lord Shaftesbury's deep compassion for the poor became legendary. He campaigned tirelessly to limit factory hours, to stop the use of boys as chimney sweeps and children in coalmines, and to develop universal education. As a result he changed the character of English society forever. Areas covered in this important new biography include his upbringing and education; his work as a politician and his campaign for me...