Religious ministry and clergy Books

Book SynopsisIt's easy for Christians in our day to become fearful and confused. From doctrinal debates to culture wars, some Christians feel like they move from one crisis to another. Christ didn't die and rise for us to live afraid, however, and our crucified and risen Savior ascended to rule all things for our good. We are not a people without hope. We have Christ. Let the Bird Fly reminds readers that we are a free people, bought with the price of Christ's own blood. We are free to weigh the issues of the day, to engage our neighbor, to live out our callings, and know who we are no matter what: redeemed children of God. At the heart of the Christian life is a spoken word, God's absolution, the declaration that Christ's righteousness is our own through faith. From this our Christian life flows and in this we find our confidence to live, love, and labor for our neighbor. Law and gospel become lenses through which we see our world and others. Together with the two kinds of righteousness, civil and divine, Christians have a sort of diagnostic tool for navigating life in a world given back to us as a penultimate gift. We are graced to live beyond ourselves and the here and now. We are gifted to consider and look forward to more than those live without the optimism and freedom of sins forgiven. We are turned outside of ourselves and grounded, even as we are made new and set loose to dare to live as though there is more to life than this life. In short, precisely when fear seems most tempting, Christ calls us to let the bird fly.

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Book SynopsisWho am I? What's my purpose in life? How should I live? This book invites you to explore your identity through your callings, to imagine living virtuously for others, and to discover deep meaning and satisfaction in life. You'll look at many vocations that young people have or will have later in life. Callings covered include being a student, citizen, neighbor, worker, care-taker of nature, husband, wife, boyfriend, girlfriend, parent, child, sibling, saint and priest, and friend. Chapters on these callings examine the nature and responsibilities of these roles in light of human and divine wisdom found in the liberal arts tradition and the Bible. You'll also entertain the role that avocations play in life and how such enthusiastic pursuits can renew and equip you. Each chapter contains exercises for reflection and discussion that can be done privately, with a partner, or in a group.

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Book SynopsisUsing a variety of sources and disciplinary angles, this book shows the many and varied ways in which pastoral care came to play such an important role in the day to day lives of medieval people. 1 volume, 335-page, 17-chapter, English-language survey of study of medieval pastors (priests, bishops, abbots, abbesses, popes, etc.) and their relationship to their respective congregations (1215-1536).Trade Review"This volume has much to offer. [...] the individual essays in this collection will surely enrich our understanding of medieval pastoral care, the transmission of religious knowledge, and the nature of lay-clerical interactions." Adam Davis, Denison University. In: The Medieval Review, 11.03.20. "des analyses pointues de dossiers d’archives (notamment pour les conflits opposant les fidèles à leur curé), de textes extrêmement variés, de traités théologiques les plus savants aux recueils d’exempla en vernaculaire, permettent de repérer des manières locales et évolutives de s’approprier les pastoralia, de les enseigner, les recevoir et mettre en pratique leurs conseils touchant autant aux dogmes et croyances qu’aux pratiques et gestes de piété." Marie-Anne Polo de Beaulieu, in Revue d'Histoire Eccléstastique 2012, pp. 466-468.Table of ContentsGeneral Introduction – Ronald J. Stansbury 1. Historiography and the work of Lenoard Boyle – Joseph Goering PASTORAL CARE AND THE LAITY 2. Teaching the Creed and Articles of Faith in England: 1215-1281 – Andrew Reeves 3. Preaching and Pastoral Care in the Thirteenth Century – Ronald J. Stansbury 4. The Sheep as Shepherds: Lay Leadership in Pastoral Care – William Dohar 5. The Role of Ritual Purity in the 13th Century Attempt to Reform Pastoral Care – C. Colt Anderson 6. Implicit Anti-Semitism in Explicit Pastoral Care: The Role of the Eucharist in Spreading Common Stereotypes – Timothy M. Kovalcik 7. Conflict in the Parish: Antagonistic Relations Between Clerics and Parishioners – Michelle Armstrong-Partida 8. Guido of Monte Rochen’s Manipulus Curatorum and Sermonic Intention – Anne Thayer 9. Three’s a Crowd: Women, Men, and Priests in the Late Medieval Confessional – Beth Allison Barr 10. Grazing in Many Fields and Drinking Bitter Waters: Robert Grosseteste’s Theology of the Pastoral Care – James R. Ginther PASTORAL CARE IN MALE AND FEMALE RELIGIOUS LIFE 11. “‘Pure religion and undefiled… is this’: Religious Orders and Pastoral Care in the Late Middle Ages – Greg Peters 12. Spiritual Role Models: How Monks Thought Nuns Should Interpret the Old Testament – Laura Michele Diener 13. Crux a cruciatu dicitur: Preaching Self-Torture as Pastoral Care in Twelfth-Century Religious Houses.” – C. Matthew Phillips 14. An Illiterate Pope and his Book: Pope Celestine V and Pastoral Care – George Ferzoco 15. The Informiringheboeck (1510): Spiritual Guidelines for Religious Women – Sabrina Corbellini 16. Practical Pastoral Care: Vowesses in Northern England in the Later Middle Ages – Susan M. B. Steuer 17. ‘Persevere! … God Will Help You!’: Thomas a Kempis’s Sermons for the Novices – Mathilde van Dijk Bibliography of all Works Cited (Primary and Secondary Sources) Index

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Book SynopsisIn A Companion to Priesthood and Holy Orders in the Middle Ages, a select group of scholars explain the rise and function of priests and deacons in the Middle Ages. Though priests were sometimes viewed through the lens of function, the medieval priesthood was also defined ontologically–those marked by God who performed the sacraments and confected the Eucharist. While their role grew in importance, medieval priests continued to fulfil the role of preacher, confessor and provider of pastoral care. As the concept of ordination changed theologically the practices and status of bishops, priests and deacons continued to be refined, with many of these medieval discussions continuing to the present day.Table of ContentsList of Abbreviations 1 Introduction Greg Peters 2 Apostolic Successors: Priests and Priesthood, Bishops and Episcopacy in Medieval Western Europe Robert Swanson 3 Ordinatio and the Priesthood in the Early Middle Ages and its Visual Depiction Roger E. Reynolds 4 Priesthood in the Byzantine Empire Augustine Casiday 5 Married Clergy in Eastern and Western Christianity David Hunter 6 The Imago Christi in the Bishop, Priest and Clergy Roger E. Reynolds 7 Priests and the Eucharist in the Middle Ages John F. Romano 8 The Priesthood and the Sacrament of Marriage Charles J. Reid, Jr. 9 Teaching Confession in Thirteenth-Century England: Priests and Laity Andrew Reeves 10 Reforming Priests and the Diverse Rhetorics of Ordination and Office from 1123-1418 C. Colt Anderson 11 The Radical Renewal of Pastoral Care in the Italian Communes, 1150-1250: Prelates, Secular Clergy, and the Mendicant Orders Michael F. Cusato, O.F.M. 12 Priesthood and Holy Orders in the Middle Ages From Function to Ontology: The Shifting Diaconate of the Middle Ages William T. Ditewig Index

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Book SynopsisIn Lewi Pethrus’ Ecclesiological Thought 1911-1974: A Transdenominational Pentecostal Ecclesiology, Tommy Davidsson presents a chronological survey of the ecclesiology of the Swedish Pentecostal pioneer, Lewi Pethrus (1884-1974). The presentation is the first study of its kind and it demonstrates by means of a historical analysis the underlying factors that contributed to the formation of ecclesiological beliefs among Pentecostals. The insights from the historical analysis are then applied to a global setting. By employing Roger Haight’s Transdenominational Ecclesiology, Davidsson proposes a methodology that serves as a helpful tool when assessing the unifying values that characterise highly diverse Pentecostal communities worldwide.Trade Review"Gerade darin liegt jedocht der besondere Wert des Buchs: Neben den materialen (Neu-)Erkenntnissen zur Geschichte von Pethrus' Theologie regt es dazu an, ein analytisch schärferes Instrumentarium zum Umgang mit dem Universalismus/Partikularismus-Problem innerhalb der Pentkostalismusstudien zu erarbeiten und Darstellungsformen zu finden, die der Komplexität des Forschungsgegenstands gerecht werden." - Giovanni Maltese, Theologische Literaturzeitung Vol. 141 (2017) 5.

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Book SynopsisMultiple forms of oppression, injustice, and violence today have roots in histories of colonialism. This connection to the past feels familiar for some and less relevant for others. Understanding and responding to these connections is more crucial than ever, yet some resist rather than face this task directly. Others resist oppressive postcolonial conditions. Using intercultural stories and pastoral care scholarship, this book charts pathways through five resistances (not me, not here, not now, not relevant, not possible) to awaken creative pastoral care in a postcolonial world. McGarrah Sharp recommends practices that everyone can do: believing in each other, revisiting how histories are taught, imagining more passable futures, heeding prophetic poets, and crossing borders with healthy boundaries.Table of ContentsContents Acknowledgements Illustrations Resistance Is Many Things  1 Resourcing Resistances: a Fable  2 Joining the Resistance  3 Resisting Means Many Things  4 Resisting as Pastoral Care  5 Guide to the Book  6 Invitation to Readers  7 Introduction Discussion Questions 1 Unlocking Disbeliefs: Moving through “Not Me” Resistances  1 Encountering “Not Me” Resistances  2 Unlocking Disbeliefs: Resisting Injustices in Everyday Life  3 Resistance Movements that Loosen Hinges of Healing in Everyday Life  4 Summary and Conclusion  5 Chapter 1 Discussion Questions 2 Remembering Pasts: Moving through “Not Here” Resistances  1 Encountering “Not Here” Resistances  2 Re-Membering Past “Not Here” Resistances  3 Practicing Resistance Movements: Role Playing Role Playing  4 Inviting “The Living Me” Here (without the Sugar-Coating)  5 Chapter 2 Discussion Questions 3 Re-Storying Impassable Futures: Moving through “Not Now” Resistances  1 Encountering “Not Now” Resistances: Adjudicating Possibilities, Legislating Futures  2 Re-Storying Impassable Futures  3 Pastoral Care as Resistance That Restores Possibilities and Re-Stories Dreams  4 Chapter 3 Discussion Questions 4 Amplifying Phoenix Poets: Moving through “Not Relevant” Resistances  1 Confronting “Not Relevant” Resistances  2 Vulnerabilities and Values of Resisting as Pastoral Care  3 Learning That Resistance Movements Create Dangerously  4 Moving in Search of the Phoenix Poet (or, a Necessarily Fragmentary Conclusion)  5 Chapter 4 Discussion Questions 5 Crossing Borders with Healthy Boundaries: Moving through “Not Possible” Resistances  1 I Am the Resistance  2 Border Crossing without Healthy Boundaries: Confronting “Not Possible” Resistances  3 Ethics Conundrums in an Intercultural Paradigm of Pastoral Care  4 Postcolonializing Ethics in Intercultural Pastoral Care: Soul Work  5 Learning Creative Possibilities  6 Making Resistance as Prophetic Pastoral Care  7 Conclusion  8 Chapter 5 Discussion Questions Widening the Scope: Seven Contributions and Connections to Pastoral and Practical  1 Pastoral Care Begins with a Question: “What Are You Going through?”  2 Resisting in Pastoral Care and Pastoral Theology: a Brief Historical Trajectory  3 Multiple Methodological Belonging  4 Intercultural Paradigm of Pastoral Care  5 Postcolonializing Pastoral Care: an Ongoing Creative Collaboration  6 Living Postcolonializing Processes in Practice(s)  7 Widening the Scope More: Decolonizing Theological Education Epilogue Bibliography Index of Terms and Names Index of Practices Index of Biblical Citations

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Book SynopsisIn Theology, Empowerment, and Prison Ministry Meins G.S. Coetsier offers a new scholarly account of Karl Rahner’s theological anthropology and the prison pastorate with a contemporary expansion for meaning, seeking an antidote to the suffering and isolation of those incarcerated with a “theology of empowerment.” Drawing on prison ministry theorists and practitioners, and on the experiences of Viktor Frankl, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and Etty Hillesum, the book argues that Rahner’s views on prison ministry are significant and encouraging but limited regarding the needs and demands of 21st-century prison ministry. In a convincing, perceptive, and groundbreaking study, Coetsier goes beyond Rahner with ecumenical and interreligious perspectives, reminding us all of our human dignity, of meaning and transformation, of our liberation, creativity, hope and community.Table of ContentsPreface Acknowledgements List of Illustrations Abbreviations Introduction 1 Karl Rahner’s Anthropology and Gaudium et Spes  Introduction  1 Karl Rahner’s Theological Anthropology  2 Anthropology of Gaudium et Spes  3 Anonymous Christianity  Conclusion 2 Karl Rahner on the Prison Pastorate  Introduction  1 Finding Christ in Prisoners (Christus in den Gefangenen)  2 Finding Ourselves in the Prisoners  3 The Hidden Truth of Our Own Situation  Conclusion 3 Rahner’s Limitations – Responses and Challenges  Introduction  1 Where Rahner’s Anthropology and “The Prison Pastorate” Fall Short  2 Response to Rahner’s Limitations  3 Two Further Questions  Conclusion 4 Rahner’s Edges – Incarceration from a Prisoner’s Perspective  Introduction  1 The Will to Meaning  2 Three Mental Stages  3 Prison Perspectives  Conclusion 5 Beyond Rahner – Towards a Theology of Prison Ministry  Introduction  1 The Situation of Prisoners Today  2 The Need for a Theology of Empowerment  3 Elements of a Theology of Empowerment (Theologie der Stärkung)  Conclusion Conclusion Chronology Bibliography Plates Index

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Book SynopsisWas the Catholic Church responsible for European imperialism? Activists say yes, the Church says no. This book examines the key papal document from 1493. It finds that the Church played no role in English colonization. However, Pope Alexander VI may have intended to bless Spanish imperialism. Either way, over the next 150 years, Spain saw its empire as a gift from him. For many imperialists and many colonial subjects, Spain received its right to rule Indigenous lands straight from the Pope’s hand.Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Abstract Keywords  Inter caetera Introduced: Pope Francis Confronts Colonial History in Canada  1 Inter caetera Remembered: Current Catholic-Indigenous Controversies  2 Inter caetera Complicated: the Plural Rationales for European Colonization  3 Inter caetera Situated: Canonical, Historical, and Geopolitical Contexts  4 Inter caetera Interpreted: Debate across the Atlantic  5 Inter caetera Inverted: Las Casas (Mid-1500s)  Inter caetera Assessed: Alexander’s Enduring Role in Spanish Imperialism

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Book SynopsisGathering together thoughts and visions of experienced practitioners, academics, educators and strategic leaders from around the world, this edited volume sheds light on the nature of chaplaincy and its role and significance within ever-changing contemporary healthcare systems.A wide range of issues central to spiritual care delivery are covered, including reflections on what it feels like to be cared for by a chaplain through illness; the nature of chaplaincy as a profession; and how chaplains can engage with healthcare institutions in ways that have integrity yet are also deeply spiritual. The focus throughout is that chaplaincy should not only be guidance for people in distress, as a form of crisis intervention, but is rather about helping to promote wellbeing and enhance people's quality of life.Where specialisms tend to fragment systems and individuals, this book seeks to show that true health and wellbeing can only be found through a holistic approach, and shows how chaplaincy can bring this to the table. This book is for anyone who recognises the centrality of spirituality for wellbeing, and wishes to see what that might look like in practice.Trade ReviewThere is by now absolutely no doubt that the profession of chaplaincy (in an increasingly complex and secular world) is facing a watershed - with an ocean of creativity, relevance and sustainability on one side and a rapidly-drying riverbed of outdated approaches on the other. This new volume is a wide-ranging and well-informed look at the most relevant challenges, as well as possibilities, for influencing which way things will ultimately flow. If you are in the professional chaplaincy field and care even one drop about our future, read this collection. -- Rev. Dr. Amy Greene, Director, Center for Spiritual Care, Cleveland Clinic Health System, and Board Chair, 2018-2019, ACPE: The Standard for Spiritual Care and EducationThe voices and needs of patients - the most important focus of chaplaincy in healthcare - are connected with the challenges for the profession of a chaplain. The experiences of patients, chaplaincy practice, outcome-oriented research by chaplains and a theoretical underpinning of the profession are all presented in a unique, patient-centered way, for a broad public. -- Simon Evers, coordinator of the European Network of Healthcare ChaplaincySwinton and Kelly have drawn together important voices in spiritual care to produce this timely, stimulating and necessary collection. Here is a 'must read' for anyone involved in Health and Social Care Chaplaincy, helpfully alerting the reader to contemporary questions in a way that will stimulate further thought and debate. -- Rev Canon Dr Iain Macritchie, Programme Director for Spiritual Care and Chaplaincy, NHS Education for ScotlandChaplains and health care leaders from across the globe passionately convey diverse perspectives and bold invitations that are thought provoking and deserving of critical consideration. A must read for front line chaplains and health care leaders confronting chaplaincy care challenges and opportunities in the 21st century. -- Stephen D. King, Manager: Spiritual Health, Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, and Chair, Joint Research CouncilKelly and Swinton have together produced a milestone publication in Healthcare Chaplaincy. 28 experienced authors, both co-creating and conflicting, address key issues facing Chaplaincy today as healthcare and social paradigms rapidly shift. Many offer important standalone contributions, but together they weave a landscape from which the future shape of our Profession may well emerge. -- Dr. Simon Harrison, President, College of Health Care ChaplainsTable of ContentsIntroduction - Ewan Kelly and John SwintonPart 1: The essence of healthcare chaplaincy? What does spiritual need feel like?1. Living with a chronic long-term condition: 'I can reflect with chaplains about things I cannot share with others.' - Eva Buelens (KU Leuven, Belgium)2. Experience of spiritual distress in an acute setting: Living with perinatal loss - Daniel Robert Nuzum (Healthcare Chaplain and Clinical Pastoral Education Supervisor, Cork University Hospital, Ireland; Lecturer, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University College Cork, Ireland)3. What does spiritual need feel like? Experience of chaplaincy and spiritual care in mental health - Madeleine Parkes (Hospital Chaplaincy Team, Birmingham, UK)Part 2: The art of chaplaincy: is chaplaincy an art or science?4. Healthcare chaplaincy as professional artistry - Mark Stobert (Chair of UK Board of Healthcare Chaplaincy)5. Different Trains: liminality and the chaplain - Kevin Franz (Former Lead Chaplain for Mental Healthcare, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, UK)6. The role of science in enhancing spiritual care practice - Daniel H. Grossoehme, Dmin, MS (Staff Scientist, Rebecca D. Considine Research Institute, Haslinger Family Pediatric Palliative Care Center, Akron Children's Hospital, USA)7. Outcomes in health and social care chaplaincy: core business or problematic necessity? - The Rev. George F. Handzo (Director, Health Services Research & Quality, HealthCare Chaplaincy Network, UK) and Steve Nolan (Princess Alice Hospice, UK)Part 3: Healthcare professionals? What kind of professionals are chaplains?8. Charting the journey towards professionalization in the UK - Derek Fraser (Cambridge University Hospitals, UK)9. We have taken off. Reflections on research and professionalization in healthcare chaplaincy in Europe - Anne Vandenhoeck (KU Leuven, Belgium)10. Contemporary sustainable building: architecture of chaplaincy and spiritual care - Hans Evers (Head Department of Pastoral Care, Leiden University Medical Center, Netherlands)11. A question of identity: What does it mean for chaplains to be healthcare professionals? - John SwintonPart 4: Researching Chaplaincy: what research is needed? How can it be grown?12. Advancing research in healthcare chaplaincy: why, how, who? - George Fitchett (Professor and Director of Research, Department of Religion, Health and Human Values, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois, USA)13. The story of the Scottish patient reported outcome measure (PROM): an example of innovation, collaboration and education in chaplaincy research - Professor Austyn Snowden (Chair in Mental Health, Edinburgh Napier University and visiting professor, Leuven University, Belgium) and Iain Telfer (Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh)Part 5: Creative engagements14. The chaplain and organizational spirituality of church-sponsored healthcare institutions - Neil Pembroke (School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry, The University of Queensland, Australia) and Raymond Reddicliffe (School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry, The University of Queensland, Australia)15. Chaplaincy and its potential contribution to cultural transformation - Dr Kenneth J Donaldson (Consultant Nephrologist and Medical Director at NHS Dumfries and Galloway, UK) and Ewan Kelly16. Spiritual care and a new art of dying - Carlo Leget (University of Humanistic Studies, Utrecht, Netherlands)Part 6: Caring well, caring spiritually17: From interventions during ill health to enabling well-being and resilience: Community Chaplaincy Listening (CCL) - Timothy P Bennison (Department of Spiritual Care, NHS Forth Valley, UK)18: From person-centred to people-centred spiritual care - Jo Kennedy (Faith, health and social care sectors, Scotland, UK) and Ian Stirling (Hospice chaplaincy and spiritual care in Scotland, UK)19: Co-production and promoting spiritual wellbeing in mental health - Julian Raffay (Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust, UK) and Don Bryant (Board of Mental Health Network)Part 7: Educating chaplains: what do chaplains need to learn to work in and influence 21st century healthcare systems?20: Formation and the intentional use of self: the chaplain's primary resource - Ewan Kelly21: Educating and equipping chaplains to practice in new paradigms - The Rev. David W. Fleenor (Director of Education, Center for Spirituality and Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, NY, USA) and Ewan KellyPart 8: Shaping the future22: Strategic leadership in healthcare chaplaincy - Cheryl Holmes (Chief Executive Officer, Spiritual Health Association, Australia) and Ewan Kelly 23: Future directions - posing and living with questions - Ewan Kelly and John Swinton

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Book SynopsisAs a sportsman, priest and bishop, David Sheppard played a significant role in British public life during the second half of the twentieth century, achieving household-name status in two entirely separate fields. There has been no previous biography.Trade ReviewAs Liverpool’s exceptional bishops, David Sheppard and Derek Worlock healed old wounds, championed great causes, and put faith into action in the city’s forgotten neighbourhoods. A first-class biography of David Sheppard is long overdue, and Andrew Bradstock has provided it. * David Alton (Lord Alton of Liverpool) *David Sheppard "stood out" in every sense of the term. He was unusually tall; played cricket for England; championed the disadvantaged; and turned a fiercely sectarian city into a beacon of ecumenism. This book tells us how. * Grace Davie, Professor Emeritus, University of Exeter *David Sheppard continually asked awkward questions, both of himself and others, but always in the context of an unshakeable faith. This is a book, and a life, we could all learn from. * David Puttnam (Baron Puttnam, CBE) *Bishop David Sheppard’s partnership with Archbishop Derek Worlock overcame the religious barriers as they led the fight against poverty and division in Liverpool, which has had a lasting effect and which is well documented in this publication. * The Most Rev’d Malcolm McMahon OP, Archbishop of Liverpool *This is a superb biography. At the end of it you feel you know not only the man, with all his strengths and frailties, but also the times in which he lived, with all their challenges. * Stephen Chalke, cricket historian *With elegant prose and faithful reporting, Andrew Bradstock has produced an accurate portrait of the life and ministry of the David Sheppard I knew and admired. * Rt Revd Wilfred Wood, retired Bishop of Croydon *David Sheppard’s life is fully deserving of this detailed, even forensic, biography. His character fully epitomized the old adage for life, 'make a plan and stick to it'. He was a friend to me in my private life, as well as a stalwart partner on the cricket field – we put on 124 runs together on the final winning day of the Melbourne Test in 1963! * Ted Dexter, CBE, former captain, Sussex and England *David Sheppard, former England Cricket Captain, ought to have been Archbishop of Canterbury. He was a remarkable man, who did good wherever he went. This splendid work is the full-scale biography that we have long needed. * Peter Oborne, author, biographer of Basil D'Oliveira and political columnist for the Daily Mail and Middle East Eye. *David Sheppard: Batting for the Poor is an excellent biography dedicated to the life and times of outstanding English test batsman, captain and highly respected Anglican bishop, David Sheppard. David was a man of principle often facing difficult social times in ministry and sport. He lived his life in sacrificial service to others and for the glory of God. A wonderful opponent and encouraging Christian friend when the Ashes were played in true respect of cricket. An uplifting and challenging read. * Brian Booth, Australian test cricketer and captain *I was honoured to have known and worked with David Sheppard. At least I thought I knew him. What is clear to me from this not wholly uncritical yet authorised biography is that I had only the sketchiest knowledge of this remarkable man of God. And cricket. A fascinating read on many levels. * Jane Reed CBE, former editor, Woman’s Own *David Sheppard reshaped Church approaches to poverty, especially among evangelicals, paving the way for today’s foodbank movement. This great account of his eventful life underlines Sheppard’s lasting influence. * Rt Hon. Stephen Timms, MP *An excellent biography, well researched, well written. Bradstock explores the struggle between ambition and virtue in Sheppard’s life on the cricket field, in the church and in his family. This is fascinating not just for cricket-lovers but for everyone. * Brian Griffiths (Lord Griffiths of Fforestfach), Chairman, Centre for Enterprise, Markets and Ethics (CEME) *The picture that emerges in this book is of a man who far ahead of his time...A suitable memorial to a life well lived. Everyone reading it with any degree of self awareness is certain to be given a cause to reflect on their own beliefs and behaviours. -- Terry Wright * Deep Extra Cover *Compelling . . . This impeccably researched book does ample justice to Sheppard’s remarkable life as a cricketer and clergyman. * Wisden Cricketer’s Almanac 2020 *This is a biography of the very highest order: informed, inspiring and brilliantly crafted. * Christianity *Whatever one’s stance on the religious aspect, this is a superb book. * Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians *It is difficult to imagine a more enriching life than that lived by Sheppard and impossible to think a better book could be written about it than the one Bradstock has given us. * The Cricketer *A remarkable book about a remarkable man . . . a star who shone brighter than nearly all others and had three careers, as batsman, bishop, and peer. Bradstock has expertly woven diversity into a tapestry where a mass of detail, including pages of cricket scores, supports the big stories of personal theological growth, sporting prowess, passionate social concern, and extraordinary inner-city leadership. * Church Times *A fitting and timely tribute to a fine cricketer, albeit one who reserved his greatest achievements for life beyond the pages of Wisden. -- Martin Chandler * Cricket Web.net *

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