Search results for ""Author Magdalen Smith""

‘Saints are people of unearthly beauty who show us a deep understanding of the fluid nature of divine grace.’ This warm-hearted book is for those of us who enter Advent longing for spiritual sustenance to balance the worldly charms of the Christmas season. Jesus’ arrival in poverty and vulnerability provoked feelings of unease as well as expectation and hope . . . How will we keep the faith as Christians called to live distinctively in an age of anxiety? Magdalen Smith believes we can be inspired by people from the past – those whose names are familiar or less so – whom the Church calls ‘saints’. In these wide-ranging devotions, full of contemporary stories and enjoyable cultural allusions, she introduces 24 characters who manifest a mysterious dynamic . . . and enable us to glimpse holiness in a new way. ‘With heartfelt honesty, clarity and humanity, Magdalen Smith challenges the Church to see the journey ahead with new eyes. This book is a timely prophetic call to be refreshed by our inheritance in ways that renew integrity and hope.’ Libby Lane, Bishop of Stockport ‘A treasure chest of gems.’ Jill Duff, Director of St Mellitus North West training course

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Fragile Mystics reworks traditional concepts of prayer and gives them a contemporary ‘spin’. Like Steel Angels, it draws on the author’s own experience as a Christian priest and offers illustrations from the world of visual arts, film and contemporary culture. It includes some biblical examples, and connects present day yearnings and wrestling’s as a ‘person who wants to pray better’ with those of the mystics and holy people from the Christian past. It is about ‘reclaiming’ and transforming our inner spaces so that we have a renewed and hopeful approach to life and ministry. Each chapter has a short, sharp contemporary title, with a further subtitle to unpack the content, and ends with ideas for both individuals and leaders on how to put the concept under discussion into practice.

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The nine criteria the Church of England uses to discern potential vocations to the priesthood are explored, and linked with personal qualities that are necessary for new, but also existing, leaders in a church and culture which has changed much over the last 50 years.

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