You may be interested in…
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The Inner Voice of Love: A journey through anguish to freedom
Influences & Suggested Reading, The Inner JourneyThis is Henri Nouwen's 'secret journal'. It was wrtten during the most difficult period of his life, when, following the breakdown of a close relationship, he suddenly lost his self-esteem, his energy to live and work, his sense of being loved, even his hope in God. Although he experienced excruciating anguish and despair, he was stilla ble to keep a journal in which he wrote eah day a spiritual imperative to himself, which emerged from his conversations with friends. For more than eight years, Henri Nouwen felt that what he wrote was too raw and private to share with others. Instead he published The Return of the Prodigal Son in which he expressed some of the insights gained during his mental and spiritual crisis. But then friends asked hi,, 'Why keep your anguish hidden from the many people who have been nurtured by your writing? Wouldn't it be of consolation for many to know about the fierce inner battle that lies underneath many of your spiritual insights? For the countless men and women who have to live through the pain of broken relationship, or who suffer from the loss of a loved one, this book offers new courage, new hope, even new life.£9.99 -
At Home in Exile: the journey towards a new paradigm
Re-imagining ChurchThe numbers of people attending church are declining. Churches are closing and the influence the church once had in society is waning. The natural response is to immediately look for solutions to the problems. However, finding appropriate solutions depends on a correct understanding of the problem. In 'At Home in Exile', Peter McDowell shows how the experience of exiles in the Old Testament can provide a way for the church to understand its current experience of marginalisation. The feelings associated with the three stages of the exile experience resonate with our current experience. The first stage is entering exile, and has associated feelings of shock and denial. The second stage, being in exile, has feelings of anger and depression. The third stage, departing from exile, is associated with acceptance and integration.£5.00 -
Multicoloured Christmas
Advent & Christmas, Creativity, Resources for the Christian YearMulticoloured Christmas is an A5 (14.8x21cm) sized book and contains sixteen colouring pages which are all based around Christmas themes.£4.49 -
The Selfless Way of Christ
Spiritual Growth, The Inner JourneyDownward Mobility and the Spiritual Life by Henri Nouwen In these short reflections Herne Nouwen explores the theme of downward mobility as the way of Christ, and the things that tempt us away from it, namely, the lure of success, of power, of being needed and important. Originally serialized in the magazine Sojourners, Nouwen wrote the articles during his years as a professor at Yale Divinity School. There he enjoyed academic success and found fame as a spiritual writer, but was struggling to find his true vocation. Here he seeks to explain for himself and his readers how choosing the downwardly mobile path can, conversely, be the means of growth and new life in Christ.£8.99 -
Celtic Parables: Stories, Poems and Prayers
Celtic Prayer, Celtic Studies, Celtic Studies & Spirituality, Scripture & Prayer, Spiritual GrowthNever mock what others say. Perhaps their words are full of nonsense. Perhaps they are trying to puff themselves up. Perhaps they like hearing the sound of their voices. Perhaps they are trying to deceive their hearers. Perhaps they are foolish and dim. Perhaps they are more clever than wise. Yet amidst the useless clay You may find jewels beyond price. The word of God is in every heart, And can speak through every voice. Never mock (p.104) This collection of stories, meditations, poems and prayers evokes the authentic spirit of Celtic Christianity. Capturing the atmosphere of parables passed down through generations, it shows the human warmth, respect for the natural world and robust, down-to-earth qualities for which Celtic spirituality is so greatly valued. With its rich treasury of material – most of it previously unavailable in modern editions – Celtic Parables offers a fresh lively introduction to the Celtic world. It will appeal to all those fascinated by our Celtic heritage and the way it speaks directly to us today.£10.99 -
Life of the Beloved and Our Greatest Gift
Influences & Suggested Reading, The Inner JourneyThe real 'work' of prayer is to become silent and listen to the voice that says good things about me. The late Henri Nouwen was one of the twentieth century's greatest spiritual writers, and this book brings together two of his most inspirational pastoral works, reissued to mark the twentieth anniversary of his death. Life of the Beloved asks how one can live a spiritual life in a completely secular culture. The greatest challenge, concludes Nouwen, is to bridge the gap between secular and sacred within the human self as a human being beloved of God. Our Greatest Gift is a mediation on dying. Dying and death can often bring fear, but the experience of dying and caring for the dying can become the deepest experience of love. Now encourages us to ask, 'How can my death become fruitful in the loves of others?'. Ultimately, it is the greatest gift we have to offer.£10.99 -
The Advent Creative Retreat Activity Book
Advent & Christmas, Creativity, Resources for the Christian YearThe Advent Creative Retreat Activity Book is one of a series of Retreat books written and illustrated by Mary & Mark Fleeson. It's an A6 format, 20 page book with readings, prayers and activities split into sections to help you to take time out with God. This book gives an opportunity to discover some of the things that the approach to Christmas can teach us. It includes excerpts from Henry Van Dyke’s short story ‘The Other Wise Man’, come and join him as he seeks the King! The Advent Creative Retreat Activity Book offers a combination of meditations, prayers and activities. Some to challenge and some to help you relax and clear your mind and always to encourage you to hear the ‘still, small voice’.£3.99 -
Show me: A6 greetings card
Creativity, Spiritual GrowthWords: Lord Jesus show me Your way Background: This piece was inspired by the lighthouse beam I see each night. It cuts through the darkness like a sword, like the word of God. It is a guide, a warning, a comfort and a reassurance. Printing and Sizing: This item is 105mmX148mm and is printed on 300gsm gloss card stock. Each card is blank inside, has its title and copyright details on the back and is individually wrapped in cellophane with an envelope.£2.25 -
Advent and Christmas Wisdom with Thomas Merton
Advent & Christmas, Resources for the Christian YearAdvent and Christmas are special times for all Christians. The spiritual longing of the Advent season can only be satisfied by the joy and celebration of a Christmas focused on Jesus' birth in our hearts. Advent and Christmas Wisdom with Thomas Merton give readers the opportunity to experience Advent and Christmas in a way that unwraps the spiritual joy, allowing it to shine brighter that all the tinsel and trappings that can blind our eyes to the deeper meaning of the season. This book is arranged for use on every day of the Advent and Christmas seasons. Each day's reflection begins with a scriptural quotation, continues with a thought from the writings of Thomas Merton, and concludes with a prayer for the day. Merton's writing capture the familiar themes of the season: the Incarnation, anticipation, angels, giving, and many others - each drawing us closer to the joy of welcoming the Saviour into our lives. An appendix includes a suggested plan for using each day's meditation as part of a morning or evening prayer.£11.99 -
Multicoloured Advent
CreativityA collection of designs to colour in, with a Bible meditation for each. Use this book to guide your thoughts and meditations in the run-up to Christmas.£3.99 -
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Sister Wendy’s Bible Treasury: Stories and wisdom through the eyes of great painters
Creativity, The Inner JourneyFrom the majesty of Genesis to the mystery of Revelation, the Bible contains some of the world's most powerful stories and sublime wisdom. It is also the inspiration for some the greatest pictures ever painted. Adan and Eve expelled from Paradise, Jacob wrestling with the angel, God appearing to Moses in the burning bush, Samson betrayed by Delilah, David slaying Goliath, the beauty of Bathsheba, the wisdom of Solomon: these are among the dramatic episodes and memorable characters from the Old Testament, portrayed here by artists such as Masaccio, Raphael, Rubens, Degas and Rembrandt Then, in the New Testament, the figure of Jesus takes centre stage, with his compelling parables and miracles depicted by artists such as Poussin, Delacroix and van Gogh, and with major events in his ministry – from the nativity to the resurrection – painted by Botticelli, Piero, Duccio, Leonardo, Giotto, Titian and Craigie Aitchison. Commenting on these and many other fine works, Sister Wendy takes you on a journey into the heart of the Bible and of biblical art, making this a book you will want to turn to again and again.£9.99 -
Home Tonight: Further Reflections on the Parable of the Prodigal Son
Influences & Suggested Reading, The Inner JourneyPrior to writing his great classic, The Return of the Prodigal Son, Henri Nouwen suffered an enormous personal loss and breakdown that took him away from his home in the L'Arche Daybreak community for a period of seven months. His thoughts were intense, raw and deeply private, and ultimately revealed to him the passionate drama of parenthood, filial duty, rivalry, anger and unconditional live on display in Rembrandt's painting. On his return from solitude, Henri held small private workshops on his revelations that were recorded in audio. The material of those extremely personal talks has now been formed into a unique work. Home Tonight brings to light Nouwen's lectures on the Prodigal Son in a powerful guide for spiritual reflection. Providing exercises, suggestions for times of solitude, questions for pondering, simple prayers, and aids for personal journalling, Home Tonight leads readers to commune with God through spiritual listening. A practical guide for the inner journey home, this important book will give those who adore Nouwen's works the chance to hear his voice anew on his most popular topic.£9.99 -
The Tenderness of God
Scripture & Prayer, The Inner JourneyThe tenderness of God is not a theme that can be approached just to satisfy our intellectual curiosity, but is an unfathomable mystery that leads us deep into the heart of God. A deep thirst for tenderness means that many, both young and old, are prepared to do almost anything if only this thirst can be quenched. Many of us go far astray without knowing or even suspecting that the most extraordinary tenderness is that of God, and that indeed he is the source of all tenderness. This volume is the fruit of many years of prayer and thought. Throughout these meditations on lesser-known biblical texts, the reader will engage with the compassionate, merciful God, a God with all the tenderness of both mother and father. In this way, the reader will be opened up to new vistas onto the mystery of God's humble, delicate tenderness. Today the world suffers such a deep wound that only one remedy will suffice: the balm of God's tenderness. Daniel Bourguet, in the spirit of the Great Physician, applies the salve of three achingly beautiful OT texts--good news of God's infinite mercy and compassion--with a tone befitting the deep need of the hour.£17.00 -
Cadences of Home : Preaching Among Exiles
Church & LeadershipMany of today's churchgoers wander in a world that was once structured and reliable, but now feels meaningless and incoherent. In this book, Walter Brueggemann argues for a dynamic transformation of preaching to help people find their spiritual home and to proclaim to the world that there is a home for all people.£17.99 -
Leaving Church: A Memoir of Faith
Church & Leadership, Everyday Life, Influences & Suggested Reading, The Inner JourneyIn the words of Frederick Buechner: 'This beautiful book is rich with wit and humanness and honesty and loving detail. It is a book about the wonderful mess of being alive in this world, and about the wonderful and terrible things that happen to us in it, and about the dream of God. I cannot overstate how liberating and transforming I have founs Leaving Church to be.'£12.99 -
Multicoloured Meditations
CreativityA beautiful collection of 16 outlines to colour in, designed by Mary Fleeson, companion of the Northumbria Community, and produced by the Lindsifarne Scriptorium.£4.49 -
Photographic Prayers 2: the Holy Island of Lindisarne through images and words.
Celtic Sites & Saints, Celtic Studies & SpiritualityThis second book from Mary, Mark and Aurian Fleeson contains a further selection of stunning images and words exploring the land and sea around Lindisfarne.£7.99 -
Radical Leadership : In The New Testament And Today
Church & LeadershipHow did Jesus lead? What are the key principles of leadership that he encouraged in his disciples? Michael Green draws out the radical teaching of the New Testament, and explains why a recovery of that teaching is so vital if Christianity is to grow and thrive, and not just survive.£10.99 -
The Creative Pilgrimage Activity Book
CreativityThis little book has been created to inspire the would-be pilgrim, as a companion for the travelling pilgrim and as an introduction to making a pilgrimage to the Holy Island of Lindisfarne. Included are prayers and activities to help you focus on your journey whether your pilgrimage is part of your inward journey or a physical journey to a sacred place.£3.99 -
Multicoloured Stations. A pocket-sized colouring book based on The Scriptural way of the Cross by Mary Fleeson
Creativity, Lent & Easter, Resources for the Christian YearAn A6 colouring book containing a series of 15 images that depict the events from The Garden of Gethsemane through to the Resurrection. The images are based on a form of devotions called "The Scriptural way of the Cross" to which one more image has been added - "Risen". Each image includes the Bible passage and a suggested action to complete as well as colouring the image.£3.99 -
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The Anointing to Heal
Church & LeadershipAnointing to Heal is imperative reading for all individuals, churches or groups who wish to be involved in Jesus ministry of preaching the Kingdom and healing the sick.Original price was: £7.99.£5.99Current price is: £5.99. -
Freehand Celtic Knot Manual
CreativityA practical manual for creating Freehand Celtic Knots. All you need is paper, a pencil, a plastic eraser and some colouring pens or pencils. There are aso ideas for using the knot in meditation and prayer. Mary Fleeson has developed the technique and use of the Freehand Celtic Knot and has been using it in her artwork since she founded Lindisfarne Scriptorium in the late nineties. Mary teaches workshops and leads retreats on the Holy Island of Lindisfarne where whe has lived since 1997.£4.99 -
A Blessing and Comfort Prayer Book
Creativity, Scripture & PrayerA collection of original prayers and complementary Bible passages. Use the prayers in this book to bless people at significant moments in their lives, the words of comfort in the second part of the book may be used at any time. The booklet comprises of prayers, Bible passages and pictures which can be coloured in.£3.99 -
Alone Together CD
Music & Creativity, Northumbria Community Resources & TeachingAn eclectic collection of music written and performed by Community musicians and singers. The musical styles represented in these 19 tracks include a capella, chant, folk, rock, instrumentals - from solo sitar to string quartet - and a children's song. Over 50 Community folk, from USA, Scotland, England, the Netherlands and Germany, have sung in English, Old English, Gaelic and Dutch to create this eclectic collection that forms a snapshot of the diversity that is Northumbria Community. The lyrics for the CD can also be downloaded from our website. You can also download this album via iTunes or at Amazon (MP3) [playlist images="false" ids="6001,6003,6004,8435,8437,8439,8441,8443,8445,8447,8449,8451,8453,8455,8458,8460,8464,8466,8468"]£7.50 -
Sunset on Lindisfarne: Greetings card
Creativity, Spiritual GrowthGreetings card with a beautiful photograph by Lindsay Grant of a spectacular sunset on Lindisfarne. Blank inside for your own message.£2.00 -
The Wounded Healer
Influences & Suggested Reading, The Inner JourneyWhat does it mean to be a healer in the modern world? In this hope-filled and profoundly simple book, Henri Nouwen offers a radically fresh interpretation of modern ministry. Here he inspires devoted men and women who want to be of service in their church or community, but have found the traditional ways of ministry alienating and ineffective. According to Nouwen, ministers are called to identify the suffering in their own hearts and make that recognition the starting point of their service. For Nouwen, ministers must be willing to go beyond their professional, somewhat aloof role and leave themselves open as fellow human beings with the same wounds and suffering as those they serve. In other words, we heal from our wounds. Generally recognized as one of Nouwen’s finest works, this book is a modern classic.£10.99 -
The Holiday Creative Retreat Activity Book
CreativityThis book has been designed to help you make the most of your holiday whether you have a long weekend or two weeks away. It offers a combination of prayers and activities. Some to challenge and some to help you relax and clear your mind and always to encourage you to hear the 'still, small voice'.£3.99 -
The Contemplative Minister : Learning to lead from the still centre
Church & LeadershipThere was a time where Christian ministry offered the opportunity to spend your life in the study of God's word, in reading and reflection, in prayer and sermon preparation, and in the quiet and faithful pastoral care of a community. The world has changed, and with it most of the expectations that govern church appointments. These days there are very few jobs in full time ministry which do not require a heroic combination of stamina, multi-tasking and change management. This book gives practical advice on how to nurture faith and a sense of calling amid the hectic life that is ministry today. Drawing on his experience of developing and leading training programmes in this area, Ian Cowley assesses the stresses and pressures of the job and shows how to grow into being a 'contemplative minister', prioritising a relationship of deepening love with God. He also offers guidance on leading others into that same relationship, without your own spiritual life running dry.£8.99 -
Advent and Christmas Wisdom with Henri Nouwen
Advent & Christmas, Resources for the Christian YearHenri J. M. Nouwen is one of the most beloved and well-read spiritual authors of our time. His works are popular among Christians of all denominations. This book of Advent and Christmas Wisdom will both challenge you and warm your heart during your annual preparation for the Lord's coming. Through the quotes, Nouwen share with the reader his own journey of waiting while seeking the Lord. Advent is that period of great anticipatory joy to prepare for the celebration of Christ's arrival in Bethlehem as a helpless infant. The date commemorating his birth begins the Christmas cycle of the liturgical year, a cycle that runs through the Sunday after the feast of the Epiphany. This book is designed to be used during the entire period from the First Sunday of Advent to the end of the Christmas season. Reflections for each day in this book begin with the words of Henri Nouwen taken from various sources of his writings. Following that quotation is an excerpt from Scripture related to the quote. Next is a small prayer based on the quote and the Scripture passage. Finally, an activity is suggested for applying the messages to one's daily life. All devotees of Nouwen will appreciate the applications made of his words of wisdom for daily living. Any Christian who is serious about his or her search for the Lord will cherish this book and want to use it from year to year.£12.50 -
The Love Is Activity Book
CreativityThis little book contains meditations, prayers and activities about Love, inspired by the verses in the book of Corinthians. In Paul's first letter to the Christians of Corinth in Greece, he spends a long time instructing, advising, challenging and encouraging the young church there. He hasn't visited for a few years and he knows of the immorality in the wealthy pagan city and the divisions that have emerged within the church. Although he aims not to diminish the message of the cross with 'wisdom and eloquence', he gave us, in chapter thirteen, some of the most powerful and well-known verses of the New Testament.£3.99 -
Home by another way: Biblical meditations through the Christian year
Daily Readings, Everyday Life, The Inner JourneyWritten by one of the world's greatest preachers, these insightful meditations began their life as beautifully crafted sermons that explore the meanings of the major seasons and holy days of the Christian year. Reviewer Lucy Winkett, Rector of St James's Picadilly, writes: "This is a deeply compassionate book that takes seriously what it's like to live in the world now, while holding out the scriptural hope of a life not yet imagined. Barbara Brown Taylor tells new parables that reveal meaning in everyday holiness, and the thoroughly human states of confusion, suffering and joy of which she is keenly aware.This book is for all who want to believe but can't quite get there, or for those whose jaded spirit needs a long cool drink at a freshwater spring. Reading these reflections is like being drenched in grace." Recently voted one of the world's top ten contemporary spiritual sages, Barbara Brown Taylor is Professor of Religion and Philosophy at Piedmont College in Demorest, Georgia. Her previous books include An Altar in the World and Leaving Church.£13.99 -
Sacred Strangers: what the Bible’s outsiders can teach Christians
Culture & Mission, Everyday Life, Scripture & PrayerThe Bible is laced with stories in which strangers behave better than believers. What do these encounters with "others"--people from different cultures, religions, genders, economic and social classes--teach us about our own spiritual values, about the faith and God behind them? In Sacred Strangers, Nancy Haught leads readers through these stories, line by line, offering insight to open hearts to sacred strangers at a time when personal encounters can make us or break us--as people and citizens of the world.£10.99 -
Celtic Advent: 40 days of devotions to Christmas
Advent & Christmas, Celtic Prayer, Celtic Studies, Celtic Studies & Spirituality, Resources for the Christian YearThis inspirational book takes the reader through Advent to the celebration of Christmas through the eyes and beliefs of Celtic Christianity. Starting on 15 November – the beginning of Celtic Advent – and reflecting on Jesus' coming at his birth as well as into our lives by the Holy Spirit and at the world's end, the author offers a unique approach to the season to help you gain a new sense of wonder in the birth of Jesus, the Saviour of the world.£8.99 -
Multicoloured Life
CreativityA pocket collection of designs to colour in. Used Multicoloured Life for relaxation, prayer or meditation, on holiday or retreat.£3.49 -
The Way of the Heart
Desert Monasticism, Influences & Suggested ReadingThe words flee, be silent and pray summarise the spirituality of the desert. They indicate the three ways of preventing the world from shaping us in its image and are thus the three ways to life in the Spirit.' How can Christians live as God wants in today's world? Henri Nouwen seeks his answer from an unlikely source - the example of the fifth-century Egyptian Desert Fathers and Mothers. Their experience in the desert taught them that true Christian living in possible only if we find a place in our lives for solitude, silence and prayer. The Way of the Heart in a perfect book for prayerful meditation. Compassionate yet challenging, it will enable us not only to appreciate the teaching of the Desert Fathers and Mothers, but to apply it to our daily lives.£15.99 -
Calm me O Lord A6 greetings card
Celtic Daily Prayer & Liturgy, Music & Creativity, Northumbria Community Resources & TeachingThese words by David Adam form part of the Felgild Compline (for Wednesday each week) in Celtic Daily Prayer. This calligraphic design by Pam French us also available as an A4 poster, an A5 poster and an A6 Greetings card.£1.20 -
The Return of the Prodigal Son
Influences & Suggested Reading, Spiritual GrowthThe Return of the Prodigal Son by Henri Nouwen A chance encounter with a reproduction of Rembrandt’s The Return of the Prodigal Son catapulted Henri Nouwen on a long spiritual adventure. Here he shares the deeply personal and resonant meditation that led him to discover the place within which God has chosen to dwell. In seizing the inspiration that came to him through Rembrandt’s depiction of the powerful Gospel story, Henri Nouwen probes the several movements of the parable: the younger son’s return, the father’s restoration of sonship, the elder son’s vengefulness, and the father’s compassion. In his reflection on Rembrandt in light of his own life journey, the author evokes the powerful drama of the parable in a rich, captivating way that is sure to reverberate in the hearts of readers. The themes of homecoming, affirmation, and reconciliation will be newly discovered by all who have known loneliness, dejection, jealousy, or anger. The challenge to love as the father and be loved as the son will be seen as the ultimate revelation of the parable known to Christians through time, and here represented with a vigour and power fresh for our times.£11.99 -
A Labyrinth Prayer Handbook: creative resources for worship and reflection
Creativity, Music & Creativity, Scripture & Prayer, Spiritual Exercises, The Inner JourneyAn imaginitive and practical resource for using the labyrinth in worship, spiritual practice and pastoral care. It offers many ideas for using labyrinths with individuals and groups in different settings, including schools, hospitals and hospices, residential care, mental health care, adults with learning disabilities, retreats and quiet days, and in seasonal worship throughout the church year. It offers complete outlines for themed worship and workshops, focussing on such subjects as life stages, pilgrimage and vocations, and includes prayers, simple liturgies, suggestions for music and creative ideas for responding to walking the labyrinths. This inviting book also shows how to create your own labyrinth, whether a small hand-held one, or a temporary or permanent installation, indoors or outdoors.£14.99 -
Journaling as a Spiritual Practice: Encountering God Through Attentive Writing
Spiritual ExercisesWhether you are a longtime journal keeper or someone who has never kept a journal at all, this book will help you to go below the surface of your life with God. It is not about the art of writing, but about how journaling can form us spiritually. Every chapter combines descriptive text, illustrations from journals and the author's own experience with journaling practices integrated along the way to help you bring your own life and world into sharper focus. God wants to surprise you with the beauty of your own life, growing and alive, filled with movement, light and shadow. This is the book to do just that.£16.99 -
Learning to Walk in the Dark
Influences & Suggested Reading, The Inner JourneyNew from best-selling author Barbara Brown Taylor, perhaps best known for An Altar in the World, comes Learning to Walk in the Dark. In this hardback book she writes with wisdom, grace and beauty as she seeks to rehabilitate what we have learned to fear - the dark. Here she reflects on how our lives do not only work when everything is brightly lit; twilight and deep darkness have treasures of their own waiting to be discovered. Babara Brown Taylor writes: 'Darkness is shorthand for anything that scares me - either because I am sure that I do not have the resources to survive ti or because I do not want to have to find out. If I had my way, I would eliminate everything from chronic back pain ti the fear of the devil from my life ad the lives of those I love. At least I think I would. The problem is this: when, despite all my best efforts, the lights have gone off in my life, plunging me into the kind of darkness that turns my knees to water, I have not died. The monsters have not dragged me out of bed and taken me back to their lair. Instead, I have learned things in the dark that I could never have learned in the light, things that have saved my life over and over again, so that there is really only one logical conclusion. I need darkness as much as I need light. Learning to Walk in the Dark is a wise spiritual companion and guide for those times in life when we don't have all the answers. Recognising our tendency to associate all that is good with light, and all that is evil and dangerous with darkness, Barbara Brown Taylor asks whether God doesn't work at night too? With her characteristic grace and generosity, she invites us to put aside our fears and anxieties and to discover all that the darkness has to teach us. She takes us to underground caverns, subterranean chapels, basement night clubs and unlit cabins in the woods on moonless nights. Through darkness, we begin to see the world and sense God's presence around us in new ways, guiding us through things seen an unseen, and teaching us to find out footing in times of uncertainty. Like seeds buried in the ground, we will find how darkness is essential for our own growth and flourishing.£12.99 -
Discernment – reading the signs of daily life
Everyday Life, Influences & Suggested Reading, The Inner JourneyHenri Nouwen understood the spiritual life as a journey of faith and transformation that is deepened by accountability, community and relationships. And the practice of discernment is about how to read the 'signs of the times' in daily life in order to know what to do next. Nouwen believes our calling and mission may be made clear through the people we meet on our path, the circumstances that each day brings, the books and sacred texts we read and meditate on, and through current events. Discernment seeks the will of God, requiring the disciplines of contemplative prayer, compassionate action and theological reflection. Discernment has been compiled by two of Nouwen's longtime students, Michael Christensen and Rebecca Laird, from coursework, journals and unpublished writings.£13.99 -
Journey: A4 signed print
Creativity, Spiritual GrowthWords: None Background: Artist Mary Fleeson comments...'The design of ‘Journey’ was an experiment inspired by a manuscript at the British Library. The parchment I saw had been painted with a rich purple-red ink and the script was formed using gold ink which appeared coppery in colour. Therefore I formed my cross in a similar way and to achieve the layered textural depth effect I experimented with collage. The working title for the piece was ‘Unknown Journey’, its layers representing C.S Lewis’ view of death as an ‘onward and upward’ journey to a better, brighter, more ‘real’ place.' Printing and Sizing: This item is 210mm x 297mm and is printed on 300gsm card stock.£14.50 -
Accidental Saints. Finding God in All the Wrong People
Culture & Mission, The Inner JourneyWhat if the annoying person you try to avoid is actually seconds away from becoming an accidental saint in your life? What if, even in our persistent failings, holy moments are waiting to happen? In Accidental Saints, New York Times bestselling author Nadia Bolz-Weber invites readers into a surprising encounter with what she calls 'a religious but not-so-spiritual life.' Tattooed, angry, and profane, this unlikely priest stubbornly, sometimes hilariously, resists the God she feels called to serve. But God keeps showing up in the least likely of people―a church-loving agnostic, a drag queen, and a gun-toting member of the NRA. As she lives and worships alongside these 'accidental saints,' Nadia is swept into first-hand encounters with grace―a gift that often feels less like being wrapped in a warm blanket and more like being hit by a blunt instrument. But by this grace, people are transformed in ways they couldn't have been on their own. In a time when many have become disillusioned with Christianity, Accidental Saints demonstrates what happens when ordinary people share bread and wine, struggle with scripture together, and tell each other the truth about their real lives. This unforgettable account of their faltering steps toward wholeness will ring true for believer and sceptic alike. Told in Nadia’s trademark confessional style, Accidental Saints is the stunning next work from one of today’s most important religious voices.£12.99 -
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The Home Blessing Prayer Book
Creativity, Scripture & PrayerA selection of original blessings for the home - praying through your home and neighbourhood will make a difference. When we invite God into our everyday living space we invite God to participate in the little things of our life, the humdrum and the ordinary, even the boring. Those things probably won't suddenly be transformed into amazing spiritual experiences but there will be a difference.£3.99 -
The Artist’s Rule: nurturing your creative soul with monastic wisdom
Creativity, Monasticism & New Monasticism, Spiritual Exercises, Spiritual Growth, The Inner Journey, Traditional Monasticism, nature, solitude, artists, creativity The Artist's Rule: Nurturing Your Creative Soul with Monastic Wisdom by Christine Valters Paintner, author of Water, Wind, Earth, and Fire, invites readers to discover and develop their creative gifts in a spirit of prayer and reflection. This twelve-week course draws on the insights and practices of Benedictine spirituality to explore the interplay between contemplation and creativity. Sumarised in the phrase 'pray and work,' The Rule of St. Benedict provides the inspiration for Christine Valters Paintner's newest exploration of the mutually nourishing relationship between contemplative practices and creative expression. Artists of all stripes and stations in life - poets or painters, potters or photographers - will discover how traditions of Benedictine, Celtic, and desert spirituality can offer new sources of inspiration for their work. Themes like 'Sacred Tools and Sacred Space', 'Creative Solitude and Community,' and 'Nature as a Source of Revelation and Inspiration' are enriched by Paintner's perceptive discussion and enhanced by insightful quotations from well-known artists and writers. Ideally formatted for faith sharing groups and parish retreats, this guide offers suggestions for grounding both the creative and the spiritual life through three basic practices: walking, lectio divina, and journaling. The Artist's Rule is supplemented with online resources, including guided meditation podcasts, video lessons, and discussions.£14.99 -
Sustaining Leadership : You are more important than your ministry
Church & LeadershipMany books on leadership and ministry are written from the point of view of success and strength. In Sustaining Leadership Paul Swann writes out of the raw experience of failure, getting to the heart of who we are as leaders rather than what we do. From this he offers both hope and practical resources for sustaining effective long-term ministry, looking at self-care, balance and healthy ministry, feasting on divine love, and more. As he says, this is the best gift we can offer those we serve.£8.99 -
Aidan, Bede, Cuthbert: Three Inspirational Saints
Celtic Sites & Saints, Celtic Studies & SpiritualityIn this rousing book, David Adam celebrates the lives and interweaving stories of Aidan, Bede and Cuthbert. Recalling, in a personal introduction, his ordination to the pastoral ministry in Durham Cathedral (the burial place of Bede and Cuthbert) and his thirteen years as Vicar of the Holy Island of Lindisfarne (where Aidan lived), the author communicates clearly his appreciation of these three great saints. They have much to teach us, he believes, about vision – about expanding our spiritual awareness and deepening our love for God.£9.99 -
Eyes of the Heart; photography as Christian contemplative practice
Creativity, Spiritual ExercisesEyes of the Heart by Christine Valters Paintner explores photography as a spiritual practice from a Christian perspective. Christine builds on the process of contemplative creativity in her book The Artist’s Rule (also available from the community bookshop) by adapting the monastic practice of lectio divina (sacred reading) into a form of visio divina (sacred seeing). A spiritual director and Benedictine oblate, she guides readers through a new way of spiritual observation – through the lens of a camera – and in receiving images, not simply taking them. She writes that, ‘My hope is that, in exploring the language of photography, you [develop] new portals into the your own experience and awareness of God. Shadow and light, framing, colour, reflections, and mirrors all offer us metaphors for ways of understanding how we might move towards seeing ourselves and God with the eyes of the heart.’ She invites us to use our cameras to help us to release our expectations of what we think we ought to see and learn to discover what is actually there. And then helps us to bring this kind of interaction into our everyday lives.£12.99 -
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An Altar in the World
Church & Leadership, Everyday Life, Influences & Suggested Reading, The Inner JourneyIn this highly acclaimed and lyrical book, the best-selling author Barbara Brown Taylor reveals the countless ways we can discover divine depths in the small things we do and see every day. People go to extraordinary lenghts, she writes, to discover this treasure. 'They will spend hours launching prayers into the heavens. They will travel half way around the world to visit a monastery in India...The last place most people will look is right under their feet, in the everyday activities, accidents and encounters of their lives...the reason so many of us cannot see the red X marks the spot is because we're standing on it.' An Altar in the the World shows us how heaven and earth meet in such ordinary occurrences as hanging out the wahing, doing the supermarket shop, feeding an animal, losing our way. It will transfrom our understanding of ourselves and the word we live in and renew our sense of wonder at the extraordinary gift of life.£12.99 -
In This Light: Thoughts for Christmas
Advent & Christmas, Resources for the Christian YearChristmas should be a time of peace, togetherness and celebration; yet it can leave all too many of us feeling overwhelmed by loneliness, stress and worry. In This Light is a timely collection of thoughtful meditations, The Most Revd Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury, leads contributions from celebrities, business leaders, athletes, politicians and others, whose names you might not know but whose stories you will come to love. Alan Titchmarsh, Sally Phillips, Bear Grylls, Afua Hirsch, Bishop Michael Curry, Secretary John Kerry, Dany Cotton, Elif Shafak and Sally Lloyd-Jones – among others – offer their thoughts and insights as we reflect on this time of year. In a world that often seems in turmoil, these personal essays invite us to remember and rejoice in the true, timeless spirit of Christmas.£10.99 -
The Luminous Web: Faith, science and the experience of wonder
Influences & Suggested Reading, Scripture & Prayer, Spiritual Growth, The Inner JourneyThe renowned author Barbara Brown Taylor reflects on two different worlds knowledge, science and faith, that are often set in opposition to one another. The one is said to rely on observable fact; the other on subjective belief. With her customary skill and grace, Barbara Brown Taylor demonstrates that these distinctions do not hold. She seeks to discover what the insights of quantum physics, the new biology, and chaos theory can teach a person of faith, why scientists often sound like poets and why physicists call on the language of imagination, beauty and mystery that is also found in scripture. Both science and religion, she finds, are dedicated to searching for truth. Both experience awe. Both are vulnerable to error, but are open to the wonder of discovery. Both are prone to desiring certainty. Both admit that there is an essential messiness to life that makes it unpredictable, that experience will always trip us up no matter what our beliefs, yet both see a symmetry and order that holds things together. Whether our understanding of the origins of the world rests in theoretical physics or God, The Luminous Web opens our eyes afresh to the wonder of creation, where we each belong and where nothing – not even the hairs of our head or a butterfly's wings – is without immense significance.£12.99 -
Walking the Labyrinth: A Spiritual and Practical Guide
Spiritual Exercises, Spiritual Growth, The Inner JourneyA labyrinth is one of the most ancient tools for spiritual growth and development, dating back to medieval Christianity. Walking a labyrinth is like going on a pilgrimage where beautiful and unpredictable things can happen. Sometimes a burden is laid down; sometimes a challenge is picked up; sometimes just stopping at the centre is enough; sometimes we need to be turned around immediately. This inviting guide introduces the labyrinth and traces its history in the Christian spiritual tradition. It explores the different ways individuals and groups, including children, can use a labyrinth for prayer and reflection, and contains many idea for using the labyrinth in worship and mission. Some seasonal liturgies are also included. You can discover how to create your own labyrinth – in church, in an open space, or in miniature for your own personal use at home or on the move. Walking the labyrinth will take you beyond merely following a path to a deeper experience and understanding of this ancient devotional walking practice, which many have found to be nothing other than walking on holy ground.£10.99 -
Be stronger than each storm in me: Greetings card
Creativity, Spiritual GrowthGreetings card, supplied with envelope, featuring an original design by Lynda Owen-Hussey that reflects the story of St Brendan's journey of faith. Blank inside. The title is taken from Brendan - in exploration of a vision, a call to risky living in Celtic Daily Prayer Book 1: The Journey Begins.£2.20 -
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One Day Creative Retreat Activity Book
Creativity, Spiritual Exercises, The Inner JourneyThis book has been designed to guide you through a day long creative retreat or quiet day whether it be at home or away. It offers a combination of prayers and activities, some to challenge and some to help you relax and clear your mind and always to encourage you to hear the 'still, small voice.'£3.99 -
A Call To Be
Scripture & PrayerA Call to Be is a little 16-page book of prayers and liturgy for those who minister. Not just clergy but for everyone who hears God's call to be who He wants them to be. It is for:£3.50- people who visit,
- people who bake,
- people who pray,
- people who listen,
- people who teach,
- people who write,
- people who serve,
- people who give,
- people who put God and others first,
- people who love God and others unconditionally,
- people who have a desire to see God's Kingdom prosper on earth...
- people being who God wants them to be.
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Christ Centred Living: A6 greetings card
Creativity, Spiritual GrowthWords: None Background: Mary tells us that...'This piece was the result of meditating on what defines a Christ centred life . I wanted to show the fruitfulness that comes from a life rooted in the cross of Christ and the refreshment and cleansing available to us. In the spirals I wanted to express the vibrancy of a Christ-centred life and four aspects of life; birth, death, spirituality and growth. Each arm of the spiral, each aspect of life, is cross hatched and bumpy with patches of light and dark, showing the erratic nature of living. Each arm ends but its outline turns back towards the cross, showing that everything came from God and returns to God.' Printing and Sizing: This item is 105mmX148mm and is printed on 300gsm gloss card stock. Each card is blank inside, has its title and copyright details on the back and is individually wrapped in cellophane with an envelope.£2.25 -
When God is Silent
Influences & Suggested Reading, Leadership, The Inner Journey“Barbara Brown Taylor’s concise, pithy and challenging prose is evidence that she is practicing what she preaches:that Christian pastors take more care with the words they use and treat language with economy, courtesy and reverence. . . .She offers concrete and practical suggestions for ways to improve our relationship with both silence and the words God has given us.” - KATHLEEN NORRIS, for Christian Century Renowned minister Barbara Brown Taylor focuses on the task of preaching in a world where people thirst for communication with a God who often seems to be silent. Originally delivered as the 1997 Lyman Beecher Lectures in preaching at Yale Divinity School, When God is Silent addresses questions essential not only to preachers, but also to anyone yearning to hear from God.£12.99