What happens when two bishops known for their liturgical sensibilities travel to study alternative Christian communities on two continents?Bishops Mary Gray-Reeves and Michael Perham traveled throughout the U.S. and U.K. to study fresh expressions of church and identify the principles that link these new forms of worship and community. The Hospitality of God captures their practical and inspiring findings and builds a bridge between fresh new voices and the institutional church.

Isn't it a mind-blowing thought that God, the creator of all that is, wants to be our friend? Friendship means an intimacy and an understanding that few of us associate with God. For many, playing the servant to Jesus' master may sound like the easier option. Yet Jesus holds out the hand of friendship to all of us. Michael Perham tells the beautiful story of how the friendship between Jesus and Simon Peter developed. This book traces Peter's journey from the moment he answered Jesus' call ...

The focal point of Pope Francis’ Church is mercy: in the dialogue between human fragility and God’s mercy the Church has to welcome and help everyone to find the ‘good news’ of Christian hope. As part of his revolutionary new vision for the Church, Francis calls on all believers to be ‘full-time Christians’ and not ‘living-room Christians’, and to struggle against the trappings of power, and the worship of money and careerism. Francis has spoken and written widely on these themes during hi...

David Pawson presents a unique overview of both the Old and New Testaments.Unlocking the Bible opens up the word of God in a fresh and powerful way, explaining the sweep of biblical history and its implications for our lives.David Pawson, widely respected as an international writer and speaker, brings a lifetime’s worth of insights into the meaning of the Bible. Explaining the culture, historical background and spiritual significance of all the important events, Unlocking t...

'It has been slowly dawning on me over many years that there is a fundamental problem deep at the heart of Christian faith and practice as I have known them . . . we have all forgotten what the four Gospels are about.'With that surprising assertion, Tom Wright launches this ground-breaking work in which he helps us to see the gospel story in radically a new light, and to acknowledge that, for many generations, the Church has been avoiding its full impact and holdin...

Whatever else one might say about Emergence Christianity, says Phyllis Tickle, one must agree it is shifting and re-configuring itself in such a prodigious way as to defy any final assessments or absolute pronouncements. Yet the insightful and well-read Tickle offers us a dispatch from the field to keep us informed of where Emergence Christianity now stands, where it may be going, and how it is aligning itself with other parts of God's church. Through her careful study and culture-watching...

This book comes out of years of reflection, failures, and some successes in the task of reaching out to others with the gospel. Many Christians think of the task of mission as an entirely verbal activity, when perhaps the best kept secret of New Testament teaching about mission is that it involves a whole range of activities that explicitly promote Christ to the world and draw others to him, and only a few of them involve speaking. Without diminishing or downplaying the importance of speak...

"The first thing to say in our exploration of priesthood is this: priesthood is a fundamental and inescapable part of being human. All human beings, knowingly or not, minister as priests to one another. All of us, knowingly or not, receive priestly ministrations from one another. Unless we begin here, we are not likely to understand the confusions and uncertainties and opportunities we have been encountering in the life of the church itself in recent years. We shall be in danger, in fact, ...

By exploring the Episcopal Church’s mission and precepts in the context of 21st century and its challenges, this thoughtful book deepens the Church’s relationship with its people and makes the faith more relevant.Society and culture are constantly evolving so must religion and its mission to remain meaningful. The legacies of establishment, benefactor approaches to mission, and the ‘national church’ ideal are no longer adequate for the challenges and opportunities ...

In this compelling book, Mark Stibbe argues that God wants to use Christians to speak prophetically into the lives of unbelievers, waking them up to the fact that Jesus is alive and he knows their every thought, word and action.There are many biblical examples of God's people using prophecy in their witness to unbelievers. Jesus used prophecy in His ministry to seekers. After Pentecost, God gave the gift of prophecy to believers as one resource among many in their witness to the wo...

Each topic raised by Kervin in this collection of discussion starters for worship planners is a catalyst for a new kind of thinking around how we frame our worship. Creeds, intercultural worship, architecture, language, song, new technology...whatever the subject, Kervin combines an enlightening appreciation for liturgical traditions with the conviction that everyone in the church has experience and opinions and this grassroots input can enrich our common experience.Concise and accessible,...

Todays Catholic Church faces a major decline, and a dramatic renewal is needed to facilitate positive change.In Wake Up, Lazarus! author Pierre Hegy documents the most important issues facing modern Catholicism and presents a convincing argument for renewal in the Catholic Church.Wake Up, Lazarus! examines three general factors that contribute to the spiritual decline of all mainline churches and three factors that are special to the Catholic Church. Hegy ...