Search results for ""spck publishing""

"A breath, a gust, a positive whoosh of fresh air. Made me laugh, made me think, made me cry." Adrian Plass In the last decade, atheism has leapt from obscurity to the front pages: producing best-selling books, making movies, and plastering adverts on the side of buses. There's an energy and a confidence to contemporary atheism: many people now assume that a godless scepticism is the default position, indeed the only position for anybody wishing to appear educated, contemporary, and urbane. Atheism is hip, religion is boring. Yet when one pokes at popular atheism, many of the arguments used to prop it up quickly unravel. The Atheist Who Didn't Exist is designed to expose some of the loose threads on the cardigan of atheism, tug a little, and see what happens. Blending humour with serious thought, Andy Bannister helps the reader question everything, assume nothing and, above all, recognise lazy scepticism and bad arguments. Be an atheist by all means: but do be a thought-through one.

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The SPCK Lectionary provides a completely redesigned and clearly laid-out presentation of the Common Worship calendar and lectionary, with BCP readings on the same page. Sundays and major festivals are covered, as well as weekday

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First published in 1931, Aulén's historical study of the doctrine of the Atonement continues to be essential reading for those studying theology. His survey of the three main Atonement theories 'Ransom Theory' 'Satisfaction' or 'Penal Substitution Theory' and the 'Moral Influence' theory as well as his own unique contribution to the debate means that this book has become an enduring classic.

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What happens next?

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The Church Pocket Book and Diary 2022 is the perfect church diary for anyone looking for a compact sized diary that follows the Common Worship calendar and includes lectionary readings. This 14 month diary has a clear, spacious week to view layout, beginning with Sunday, that offers plenty of room for keeping track of appointments while still being a convenient pocket size that’s easy to carry around. It also features two ribbon markers to keep your place throughout the year. Beginning in December 2021 and running to January 2023, it covers the entirety of the approaching Advent season. It also has all of the titles for the Sundays throughout the church calendar and the dates of festivals to correspond with the Common Worship calendar and lectionary and the Book of Common Prayer, making it an essential purchase for clergy and churchgoers wanting a Christian diary. Your important contact details and to-do lists will be at your fingertips as well with this little pocket diary – it includes pages at the back for personal memos, addresses and telephone numbers alongside the complete Common Worship Calendar and Lectionary readings for Advent 2021 - Advent 2022 and includes the BCP scheme. With information on every UK Anglican Diocese and those in the Republic of Ireland plus the names and addresses of all major Christian societies, charities and organisations covering all mainstream denominations, the Church Pocket Book and Diary 2022 is ideal for ministers and congregations needing to stay organised on to go. This edition of the Church Pocket Book and Diary 2022 features a beautiful soft-tone cover in royal purple, inlaid with gold foil, and matching purple and gold ribbon markers.

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The diary pages are laid out with one week to view, beginning with Sunday (which has a double-size space) and including the whole of December and Advent. Titles of Sundays and dates of festivals correspond to the Common Worship Calendar and Lectionary and the Book of Common Prayer. There are pages at the back for personal memoranda, addresses and telephone numbers. Also includes: Complete Common Worship Calendar and Lectionary for Advent 2020 to Advent 2021, with Sunday names for Common Worship and BCP schemes Information on every Anglican Diocese in the UK and the Republic of Ireland Names and addresses of major Christian societies, charities and other organizations, including all mainstream denominations

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2020 and sadly the Tales from Lindford came to an end, but the pandemic did not, and neither did the lives of our valiant Lindchester community. Return to Lindchester once more with The Company of Heaven, the fifth in the beloved series of novels from Catherine Fox. Valiantly written in real time in the midst of the pandemic, this entertaining book captures the difficulties of 2021 with heart, humour and insight. Perfect for Lindchester fans, it's also the ideal novel for anyone seeking comfort and a way of understanding all that has happened. In The Company of Heaven, we re-join our Lindchester friends on Easter Monday 2021, just as the third lockdown in our Covid winter of discontent draws to a close. The new paschal candles have been lit. The endless snowy ghastliness of January, February, and March are behind us now. Shake out your wings and fly once more across the Diocese of Lindfordshire, as we launch out on Pandemic, Part II. We will catch up with old friends and make new ones. Skeletons will tumble from cupboards, and not everyone will behave themselves as well as they ought (this is Lindchester after all). A twenty-first century Barchester that fans of Barbara Pym and the BBC's Rev will love, this new volume in the Lindchester Chronicles is contemporary Christian fiction at its finest. Sharp-eyed, witty and compassionate, Catherine Fox once again helps us make sense of real-life events and challenges, while weaving through a series of heart-stopping storylines. The Company of Heaven will make you laugh, cry and leave you with hope that grace can be found even in the darkest times.

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This book helps Christians to understand the Buddhist mind-set and world view, and to see where there are useful points of comparison and contact. Steve explains the concerns, fears and stresses that Buddhists experience - Buddhism is not a way of harmony and cosmic unity, as Westerners tend to think - and suggests what Christians truly have to offer. Buddhism is a rapidly rising religion in the West. But few Westerners know what Buddhism is like from the inside. Steve, who made the journey from Buddhism to Christ, sets himself to compare the two faiths. The book is studded with stories, parables and illuminating observations. It is remarkably easy to read, and Steve is an engaging and original guide.

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'Mel Starr's writing is superb. And the stories themselves are captivating. Highly recommended.' Davis Bunn, internationally bestselling author To bring justice, Master Hugh must foil the corrupt power of great men. Many medieval scholars discontinued their university studies before completing their degree. Some lacked funds; others became bored with a scholar's life. Occasionally these young men formed lawless bands, robbing and raping and creating chaos. They were called goliards. In Deeds of Darkness Master Hugh learns that the Bampton coroner, an old friend, has been slain while traveling to Oxford. As he seeks the killer (or killers) he discovers a band of goliards in the area between Oxford and Bampton. But how to apprehend these youths? They have protectors far above Hugh's station. He must deal with the claims of justice on the one hand and the power of great men to protect their henchmen on the other.

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Mel Starr's latest novel is a thoroughly enjoyable medieval crime mystery. It may be enjoyed as complete in itself, or as part of the Hugh de Singleton series. When Hugh and Kate's new-born son is taken to the church to be baptized, they are astounded to find that the locked font is completely dry. The possibility of a leak is quickly ruled out, and just as Hugh is beginning to wonder if there may be a sinister explanation for the stolen holy water, Fr Robert is found lying motionless by the rood screen in a pool of blood... Meanwhile, parliament has passed a poll tax, stipulating everyone above the age of 14 is to be taxed equally. Folk are soon scrambling to find the money to pay and, inevitably, unscrupulous elements in society see an opportunity to feed off people's desperation and make some cash... But what connection can there possibly between this and events at Bampton?

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If the book of Isaiah doesn't make your head hurt then you are not reading it properly. It was designed to stretch your mind and blow your senses with the greatness of God. Isaiah's vision of God changed everything for him and it will do the same for us. It shows us that God is far bigger than we thought. God inspired the Bible for a reason. He wants you read it and let it change your life. If you are willing to take this challenge seriously, then you will love Phil Moore’s devotional commentaries. Their bite-sized chapters are punchy and relevant, yet crammed with fascinating scholarship. Welcome to a new way of reading the Bible. Welcome to the Straight to the Heart series.

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'This book will educate you in the care of your spouse,' explains Dr Willard Harley. 'Once you have learned its lessons, your spouse will find you irresistible, a condition that's essential to a happy and successful marriage.' This fresh and highly entertaining book identifies the ten most important needs within marriage for husbands and wives. It teaches you how to fulfil each other's needs. Couples who find each other irresistible during the early years of their marriage may become incompatible if they fail to meet these central needs. According to Dr Harley, the needs of men and women are similar, but their priorities are vastly different. Are you able to identify which of the following needs are his and which are hers? In what order would you place them? Admiration, Affection, An attractive spouse,Conversation, Domestic support, Family commitment, Financial support, Honesty and openness, Recreational companionship, Sexual fulfillment

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The Lion Handbook to the Bible was first published in 1973 and has been continuously in print ever since, selling over 3 million copies worldwide. This fascinating guide to the book that has intrigued and inspired millions of people for thousands of years comprises an authoritative yet accessible commentary on the Bible, book by book and chapter by chapter, alongside over 100 articles by leading scholars around the world on areas of special interest. Beautifully illustrated throughout with more than 700 photographs, maps and illustrations, the Handbook is a pleasure to browse and read, and a mine of information and insight about this crucially important book. This new fifth edition has a total refresh of over 700 photographs, maps, and illustrations.

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Now you can journey through the Bible from your living room chair! Journey through the Bible is a unique resource that approaches the Bible story by story. In these pages you will discover around 250 of our favourite Bible stories presented with background information in word and picture. This storehouse of authentic material includes these features: - OVER 400 COLOURFUL PAGES OF PHOTOGRAPHS, DRAWINGS, MAPS, AND CHARTS - MORE THAN 100 DRAWINGS FROM OBJECTS OR MONUMENTS OF BIBLE TIMES - OVER 200 PHOTOGRAPHS OF BIBLE LANDS TODAY - PHOTOGRAPHS OF MORE THAN 50 ARCHAEOLOGICAL DISCOVERIES - SCORES OF RECONSTRUCTIONS AND DIAGRAMS - DOZENS OF COLOURFUL MAPS. This easy-to-read, visual exploration of the Bible allows you to follow the narrative from Genesis to Revelation. The stories of Scripture will come alive as you travel through Bible lands and times. You will discover how ancient people really lived - the foods they ate, the homes they lived in, the clothes they wore, the work they performed. Every library - home, church, and school - will want this complete reference work on its shelves. It will enrich children's and youth session preparation, Bible storytelling, family devotions, and Bible study. Journey through the Bible is unparalleled as a user-friendly resource.

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An introduction to religion and worldviews through the explanation of keywords to inform and expand understanding. Find out about the beliefs and practices of the six main world religions: Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism, and also beliefs held by different worldviews, such as Humanism. Discover the meaning of key terms such as enlightenment, covenant and paradise. Provides a quick and accessible reference to places of worship, festivals, holy books, main prayers, and viewpoints. The Keywords series is written and designed to support children develop good reference skills through asking questions and clearly identifying key terms, so that the information needed is quickly found on a page. Facts are presented in easy-to-read bite-size explanations with visuals. Includes contents page, index and glossary for children to access the information and definitions, expand vocabulary and engage with the topic.

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Following on from the successful One-Stop Bible Guide and One-Stop Bible Atlas, this guide to world religions is divided into chapters on each of the major religions, with a spread-by-spread approach to different aspects of the faith in question. Colour illustrated throughout with stunning images, it focuses not only on established religions but also has a dedicated chapter on new religions. Key religions included are: Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Zoroastrianism, Bahai, Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism and Shinto.

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This book has the colour illustration, textual simplicity and styling to appeal to very young children - from the time they are 2 to about 5. It includes simple prayers, of the sort that are useful to commit to memory and to say at bedtime, along with very simply expressed statements of Christian belief that are appropriate to the age range. The dominant message is one of God's eternal love and care.

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Whacky poems that take a roller-coaster ride from the crazy corners of dreams to the big questions of life. Steve Turners first collection of poetry for children is regularly in the best-seller lists. The poems make an instant impact on children, and the themes and ideas in them give lots of food for thought.

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This 14 month diary has a clear, spacious week to view layout, beginning with Sunday, that offers plenty of room for keeping track of appointments while still being a convenient pocket size that's easy to carry around. It also features one ribbon marker to keep your place throughout the year. Beginning in December 2023 and running to January 2025, it covers the entirety of the approaching Advent season. It also has all of the titles for the Sundays throughout the church calendar and the dates of festivals to correspond with the Common Worship calendar and lectionary and the Book of Common Prayer, making it an essential purchase for clergy and churchgoers wanting a Christian diary. Your important contact details and to-do lists will be at your fingertips as well with this little pocket diary - it includes pages at the back for personal memos, addresses and telephone numbers alongside the complete Common Worship Calendar and Lectionary readings for Advent 2023 - Advent 2024 and includes the BCP scheme. With information on every UK Anglican Diocese and those in the Republic of Ireland plus the names and addresses of all major Christian societies, charities and organisations covering all mainstream denominations, the Church Pocket Book and Diary 2024 is ideal for ministers and congregations needing to stay organised on to go. This edition of the Church Pocket Book and Diary 2024 features a durable hardcover that will last you all year, and a matching ribbon marker.

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'Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith. He was even called the friend of God.' (James 2.23) Abraham is the only character in the Bible to be described as a 'friend of God', and John C. Lennox shows us why. Throughout the Bible, Abraham is seen as a pivotal figure in God's plan of salvation, and, in Friend of God, Professor Lennox helps us to see through the mists of the past to the real flesh-and-blood man with all his strengths and weaknesses. This study guide to Friend of God is packed with thought-provoking suggestions for private reflection or group discussion, drawing out the many ways in which the story of Abraham can teach us how to live faithfully in a world of religious doubt and scepticism today.

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‘Almost before I had begun this wonderful book, I was hooked’ STEPHEN COTTRELL ‘Robyn Wrigley-Carr has produced a masterpiece of insight and wisdom’ CLARION JOURNAL ‘Nourishment for the soul on every page’ AYLA LEPINE, CHURCH TIMES ‘Wrigley-Carr illustrates how Underhill wonderfully unites reflection and prayer’ DANA GREENE Beloved spiritual writer Evelyn Underhill believed that God does not just come to us at special times, but is always coming to us. But how do we recognise his coming and make ourselves open to it? In Music of Eternity, the Archbishop of York’s Advent Book 2021, Robyn Wrigley-Carr shares a series of meditations exploring the nature God’s comings. Skilfully weaving together Underhill’s writings with the psalms and short prayers, she shows how, as Christians, we can embrace God’s coming and be transformed by them in order to better love others. Full of rich warmth and encouragement, these Christian meditations will help you make the most of the Advent season and more able to connect with God at all times. Set out in four parts to take you through Advent and with questions for reflection, the Archbishop of York’s Advent book can be used as a study for individuals or small groups to prepare for Christmas. Music of Eternity will help you find space to deepen your relationship with God, and to understand what Evelyn Underhill called the ‘many-sided truth of God’s perpetual coming to His creatures’.

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Here is a collection of brilliant and poignant parables and stories, for personal reading and public use. Each offers a penetrating insight into some aspect of the human condition. They include: The Spider Who Believed in Himself: a cautionary tale for millennials. An Artist Tries to Create the World: she tries and tries again . . . but she still can’t get it right. The Divine Call Centre: ‘Your call is important to God. Please don’t hang up.’ An Atheist Troubled by His Doubts: he just wishes that he had the simple faith of other atheists.

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NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - 'A meditation on sense-making when there's no sense to be made, on letting go when we can't hold on, and on being unafraid even when we're terrified.' LUCY KALANITHI 'Belongs on the shelf alongside other terrific books about this difficult subject, like Paul Kalanithi's When Breath Becomes Air and Atul Gawande's Being Mortal.' BILL GATES NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY REAL SIMPLE London-born Kate Bowler, a thirty-five year-old professor at the school of divinity at Duke, had finally had a baby with her childhood sweetheart when she began to feel jabbing pains in her stomach. She lost thirty pounds, guzzled antacid, and visited doctors for three months before she was finally diagnosed with Stage IV colon cancer. As Kate navigates the aftermath of her diagnosis, she pulls the reader into her life and her history – affectionately filled with a colourful retinue of friends, mega-church preachers, parents, and doctors – and shares her irreverent, laser-sharp reflections on faith, friendship, love, and death. She wonders why suffering makes her feel like a loser and explores the burden of positivity. Trying to relish the time she still has with her son and husband, she realizes she must cure her habit of ‘skipping to the end’ and planning the next move. An historian of the American Prosperity Gospel (the creed of the megachurches that promises believers a cure for tragedy, if they just want it badly enough) Kate finds that she craves these same 'outrageous certainties'. Why is it so hard to surrender when she knows there are no spiritual guarantees? In Everything Happens for Reason we encounter one of the talented, courageous few who - like Paul Kalanithi - can articulate the grief we feel as we contemplate our own mortality.

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'I cannot put this book down' – BONO ‘One of the most influential speakers in the world’ - OPRAH WINFREY In his decades as a globally recognized teacher, Richard Rohr has helped millions realize what is at stake in matters of faith and spirituality. Yet Rohr has never written on the most perennially talked about topic in Christianity: Jesus. Most know who Jesus was, but who was Christ? Is the word simply Jesus’ last name? Too often, Rohr writes, our understanding has been limited by culture, religious squabbling, and the human tendency to put ourselves at the centre. Drawing on scripture, history and spiritual practice, Rohr articulates a transformative view of Jesus Christ as a portrait of God’s constant, unfolding work in the world. ‘God loves things by becoming them,' he writes, and Jesus’ life was meant to declare that humanity has never been separate from God – except by its own negative choice. When we recover this fundamental truth, faith becomes less about proving Jesus was God, and more about learning to recognize the Creator’s presence all around us and in everyone we meet. Thought-provoking, practical and full of deep hope and vision, The Universal Christ is a landmark book from one of our most beloved spiritual writers, and an invitation to contemplate how God liberates and loves all that is.

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The claim that the events of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection took place ‘according to the Scriptures’ stands at the heart of the New Testament's earliest message. All four canonical Gospels declare that the Torah, Prophets and Psalms mysteriously prefigure Jesus. In this ground-breaking new book, Hays traces the strategies the Gospel writers employ to ‘read backwards’, showing how the Old Testament figuratively discloses the astonishing truth about Jesus' identity.

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Sometimes Christians assume that people 'out there' are eager to listen to what the Church has to offer. But why should those we try to evangelize want to hear the gospel? Surely people will only be intrigued by Christian life and community when they see something provocative or attractive. Then they will want to know what's going on. The Provocative Church offers a liberating understanding of evangelism as a corporate activity, in which all the gifts needed to enact the life of the kingdom - to stir people into asking, 'What does this mean?' - are spread throughout the whole Church. It encourages the development of a theology of conversion that sees beyond 'becoming a Christian' to bring each individual life increasingly under the rule of God.

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This is a textbook with an international slant, blending established and young experts, and covering a much wider, and less historical, focus than The Study of Liturgy. This reflects the way the subject has changed, from one based upon a historical narrative to one drawing additionally on the social sciences. This new Guide draws upon the valuable approach contained in the old book - short accessible chapters by leading liturgical scholars, which provide sufficient introduction to a topic and advice on further research.

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Only John's Gospel says that Jesus was crucified as Jesus the Nazorean, the King of the Jews. Jesus was the keeper of the ways of the first temple in Jerusalem. These had almost been lost when the Moses traditions came to dominate in the second-temple period. Jesus' mission was to restore the ways of the original temple. He entrusted his visions to John the Elder, a priestly disciple in Jerusalem, and John compiled them into the Book of Revelation. Later, John wrote his Gospel to show how the visions had been fulfilled. The background to the Fourth Gospel is temple tradition. John shows how Jesus' debates with the Jews centred on the great difference between the world of the second temple and the world of the priest-kings of the first temple from which Christianity emerged. The Johannine community were the Hebrew disciples of Jesus who saw themselves as the true high priesthood restored.

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Can an orthodox Christian, committed to the historic faith of the Church and the authority of the Bible, be a universalist? Is it possible to believe that salvation is found only by grace, through faith in Christ, and yet to maintain that in the end all people will be saved? Can one believe passionately in mission if one does not think that anyone will be lost forever? Could universalism be consistent with the teachings of the Bible? This book argues that the answer is 'yes' to all of these questions. Weaving together philosophical, theological and biblical considerations, the author shows that being a universalist is consistent with the central teachings of the Bible and of historic Christian theology.

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The Gospel of Thomas is the most controversial of the non-canonical gospels and the most important source outside the Gospels for our understanding of the historical Jesus and Christianity's origins. Mark Goodacre makes a detailed and compelling case that the author of The Gospel of Thomas is, after all, familiar with the Synoptic Gospels. He shows that the arguments for independence are inadequate and that the degree of agreement between Thomas and the Synoptics is far too great to be mediated by oral tradition. He suggests that Thomas features tell-tale signs of Matthew's and Luke's redactions and that the Gospel should be dated to the early to middle second century, when its author was looking for a means of lending the voice of his enigmatic Jesus an authoritative, Synopic-sounding legitimacy.

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The Rule of Taize was written by Brother Roger, its founder, during the winter of 1952-3. His intention was to express for the young men who had committed themselves to the group 'for their whole life in celibacy and to a life together in great simplicity', 'the essential that makes the common life possible'. The community has since become one of the world's most important sites of Christian pilgrimage. Over 100,000 young people from around the world travel there each year for prayer, Bible study, sharing, and communal work. Through the community's ecumenical outlook, they are encouraged to live in the spirit of kindness, simplicity and reconciliation. This is an updated version of the English-French edition first published in 1968.

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'This resource provides careful teaching in the very best traditions of SPCK. It is both detailed and readable, and provides a comprehensive introduction to the Christian faith as lived out through the Church. I commend it to all those seeking to establish deep foundations on which to build their faith.' John Sentamu, Archbishop of York 'One of the joys of being a bishop is to preside at a confirmation. The joy is greater when the candidates have been well prepared and are full of expectancy and a desire to grow in faith. Faith Confirmed will help produce confirmands like that. It is a wonderful resource. ' Michael Perham, Bishop of Gloucester and President of Affirming Catholicism Faith Confirmed is an introduction to what Anglican Christians believe. It is written for those preparing for confirmation in the Anglican Church and for all those who want to know more about the essentials of the Christian faith. This revised edition has been completely updated for the twenty-first century.

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In Christmas the Original Story Margaret Barker explores the nature of the Christmas stories and the nature and use of Old Testament prophecy. Beginning with John's account, it then goes on to include Luke and Matthew, the apocryphal gospels, and the traditions of the Coptic Church, to throw light upon wise men and their gifts, the character of Herod, Matthew's use of prophecy, the holy family in Egypt. This book also discusses the stories we get from the Infancy Gospel of Jesus and the development of the Orthodox Christmas icon, as well as the Christmas story and the Mary material in the Koran. This is an accessible book based on scholarly work.

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Searching For Meaning introduces readers to the different methods used to interpret the New Testament. Top scholars give a short definition of a particular criticism and then Paula Gooder gives a practical example to demonstrate how that criticism can be applied to a biblical text. A very broad range of methods are introduced, from traditional criticisms such as source criticism and historical criticism tot he more modern methods such as feminist criticism and liberation criticism. Readers will understand how different meanings and emphases can be drawn out from a text depending upon the method of interpretation chosen. They will also be given the skills to start analysing and examining texts for themselves in a meaningful and insightful way.

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Was Jesus divine? Was Jesus human? Could God suffer? Can people save themselves by their own efforts? Do Christian ministers have to be perfect? These and other questions were answered by the early Christian Church so as to rule in certain orthodox beliefs and rule out certain heretical beliefs. Anyone could be a Christian, but a Christian could not believe simply anything. Here, twelve top theologians, all practising Christians, tackle ancient heresies and show why the contemporary Church still needs to know about them. The contributors argue that heresies are never finally defeated but always continue in some form or other as live options for belief. Christians therefore need to remember what these great early heresies were and why they were ruled out, or else risk falling prey to their modern-day manifestations. The essays included here are scholarly but accessible, academic but highly relevant. They show how attractive and plausible heresies are and how the Church has always required intellectual effort, moral courage and political skill to resist them.

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When people come together before their God and each other as an experience of community, we often find that the love and courage and truth which is released goes beyond the sum total of our human hopes. In rituals of healing and forgiveness there is also something of an enacting of faith. We, who find it hard to believe in our forgiveness, or healing, or some other hope, commit ourselves in faith to affirming before others that we are forgiven or healed or given a new hope'. This book offers inspiration for anyone involved in leading or preparing worship. Liberating and vivid, often drawing on the power of symbol and ritual, these prayers and liturgies show faith, forgiveness and healing affirmed and enacted in worship together.

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‘Lyrical, compelling and full of insight. I found this very hard to put down.’ KATIE FFORDE, THE SUNDAY TIMES NO. 1 BESTSELLING AUTHOR ‘Catherine Fox writes with immense compassion, unsentimental faith and an impressively undisciplined humour.’ ROWAN WILLIAMS, FORMER ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY January 2020. Freddie, Father Dominic, Jane and all the other residents of Lindfordshire are celebrating the New Year with parties and resolutions. None of them is aware of the trials and tribulations the coming months will bring – not least the horseman of the apocalypse who has set out quietly, with barely a jingle of harness, in a distance province of China . . . Return to Lindchester once more with Tales from Lindford, the fourth in the beloved series of novels from Catherine Fox. Valiantly written in real time in the midst of the pandemic, this entertaining book captures the difficulties of 2020 with heart, humour and insight. Perfect for Lindchester fans, it’s also the ideal novel for anyone seeking comfort and a way of understanding all that has been happening. A twenty-first century Barchester that fans of Barbara Pym and the BBC’s Rev will love, this new volume in the Lindchester Chronicles is contemporary Christian fiction at its finest. Tales from Lindford will make you laugh, cry and leave you with hope that grace can be found even in the darkest times.

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'The Light Keeper' is the debut novel by award-winning writer Cole Moreton. It is a story of faith and hope that follows themes of depression, love and loss, and redemption. Rich in prose throughout and written with sensitivity, Cole writes about difficult issues and themes with human warmth. Set in the South Coast of England, amongst the setting of Beachy Head and the South Downs National Park, 'The Light Keeper' contains compelling twists that keep the reader invested and guessing until the very end. Moreton explores the intimacy of relationships through husband and wife, Jack and Sarah. Sarah has run away from home to this wild, beautiful place to make a decision that is, for her, truly a matter of life and death. Pursued by Jack, he is desperate to find her on these hills before it is too late as the number of men and women going over the cliff edge has ominously increased of late. But does the secret lie with the Keeper who live alone in the old lighthouse, a few steps from the four-hundred-foot drop in this gorgeous, terrifying place? Cole Moreton's profound novel has endorsements from many respected authors from Matt Haig to Jane Fallon to Anthony Horrowitz.

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"... yet another superb and gripping novel about faith and forgiveness, love and loss, by the wife of the Dean of Liverpool." Paul Beasley-Murray; Ministry Today Isobel Knox is happy and confident in her new job and likes her single life, free as it is from confusing and complicating entanglements. Supressing her emotions and burying painful memories has become second nature to her, but it seems to work; after all, why should letting it all out necessarily be good for you? But there are two men who could shatter her calm, brittle world: Davy, a young policeman, who, despite Isobel's distance, falls in love with her, and Johnny Whitaker, a charismatic priest with a troubled marriage. As Isobel's feelings for Johnny become stronger and deeper, her facade begins to crack, and the memories and emotions of years before come back, overpowering her with feelings she had thought long past and dealt with.

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The idea that God is interested in us as individuals is an unfamiliar concept to many, while rejection has become a fact of life. This book encourages the reader to embrace the truth of a personal God; one with whom we do not need to struggle to gain recognition, who intervenes and acts on our behalf. A God who knows our name! Each of the six chapters contains two sections, dealing with situations of rejection. Each tells the story of an individual from the Bible narrative, explaining how God stepped in to change their situation, thus revealing how important they were to Him. The second, connecting story, tells of a present day individual in similar circumstances and how God also positively intervened in their lives. These are true stories, using carefully researched material for authenticity and accuracy. The stories are told with remarkable power and conviction.

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The 'Vicar of Baghdad' encounters daily tragedy. What happened to his faith when a young girl in his congregation died, after much hope and prayer? He has met the best and worst: articulate, agreeable imams and rabbis; Christian venality and dishonesty. What has kept him willing to see the best? Every time he returns to Iraq he may be saying goodbye to his family for the last time. What do they think? He suffers from MS. How does he remain cheerful despite his physical weakness, and its progression? What does he say to God, alone in his study, late at night? He has been caught up in momentous events. Can he see the hand of God? Looking ahead, can he be optimistic about the future? Where are his sources of spiritual energy? He solicits prayer: why? 'Not everything God calls us to do is painless,' he comments. 'Much of my work is simply about showing love to the unlovely.'

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This is the intensely dramatic story of how God took a young, half-starved boy from a poor village in Henan Province and used him mightily to preach the gospel, despite horrific opposition. Brother Yun is one of China's house church leaders, a man who despite his relative youth has suffered prolonged torture and imprisonment for his faith. Instead of focusing on the many miracles or experiences of suffering, however, Yun prefers to emphasise the character and beauty of Jesus. This astonishing book will form a watershed in your spiritual life.

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'Mel Starr has done it again with another brilliant Sir Hugh de Singleton medieval mystery to keep readers guessing until the very end. [.] I was there at the Queen's College, dining on pottage, getting soaked in the rain in fourteenth-century Oxford - Mel always draws you into the experience.' Toni Mount, author of the Sebastian Foxley murder mystery series One of Master John Wycliffe's scholars is found dead after a thunderstorm. Was he struck by lightning, or was there something more sinister to his death? Scholar Richard Sabyn, a particularly obnoxious fellow, was believed to have been struck by lightning. However, Master Wycliffe believes otherwise and calls upon Sir Hugh de Singleton for help. Sir Hugh shares Wycliffe's suspicions and launches a private investigation, learning that it might indeed be possible to make it look as though a man has died from a lightning strike. But who would go to all that effort, and why? When fellow scholar Simon Duby dies, it raises even more questions and suspicions. What is the connection between the two men? Sir Hugh believes a bronze pot, a bucket of urine, and a small quantity of charcoal and brimstone may hold the answer. During a bleak 1375, can he survive the insidious plague and several attempts on his life as he continues his quest for truth?

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Former special forces agent turned particle physicist Ben Holden is on the run. The New Caliphate will stop at nothing to get their hands on his wife’s scientific research, which is believed to hold the key to unleashing chaos in the West and advancing their cause. But in reality it’s Ben’s biometrics that have the potential to unlock the information they so desperately need. Within the oceanic world of Pelagia, in the year 2066, Ben finds sanctuary among the sea settlers of the South Pacific Pelagic Territory, but his respite is short-lived.

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To Rachel Keyte death is the enemy. The early loss of her beloved father from heart failure ignited a single-minded determination in her: to save as many patients as she can, and to become a consultant before the age of forty. Everything else – friendship, love, empathy – is sacrificed to her obsession. Now Rachel’s surgical skills are twelve-year-old Craig’s only hope for a normal life. His mother Eve holds a deep distrust of doctors, and her son is all she has. Reluctantly, she agrees for the operation to go ahead. But surgery is never predictable, nor is a devastated mother’s terrifying reaction. Eve, it seems, wants a life for a life...

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When the BBC Songs of Praise team decides to broadcast a Palm Sunday service from a small idyllic Suffolk village, not everyone is happy. The vicar, Clive, is amiably absent-minded, but his practical wife Helen gets on well with the television team - perhaps a little too well, where the charming, enigmatic Michael is concerned. Charles, the Parish Council chairman, is deeply opposed and resents the enthusiasm of other villagers - including his wife Betty. As the outside broadcast vehicles roll in, the emotional temperature rises...

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