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Silence and Honey Cakes
Desert MonasticismSilence and Honey Cakes – The Wisdom of the Desert by Rowan Williams In Silence and Honey Cakes, Rowan Williams returns to the desert fathers and mothers of the fourth and fifth centuries, revealing a spirituality that resonates strongly with aspects of the modern spiritual search. Drawing on their stories and sayings, he reflects on questions such as: How can we discover the truth about ourselves? How do we live in relationship with others? What does the desert say about our priorities? How can we create a fearless community?£7.99 -
Encountering Exile
Re-imagining Church, Scripture & Prayer, The Inner JourneyThe decline of the Church in the West means many Christian leaders are forced to taste a bittersweet draught of hopes fulfilled and deferred, liberally laced with failure and even shame. Our world seems so different to the joyful simplicity of the new Church of the New Testament. Where else in the Scriptures could we look to cope and hope?' George Lings investigates. This booklet is part of the Encounters on the Edge series. A downloadable PDF version of the booklet is also available.£2.00 -
Bread and Ashes
Lent & Easter, Scripture & PrayerMary writes, 'These poems and prayers were written in response to the season of Lent, a time to consider what is separating us from a full and loving relationship with our Creator God and to prepare ourselves for the joyful celebration of Easter. Join with me as I contemplate these things through poetry, prayer and words from the Bible.' This book is staple bound, A6 (10.5x14.8cm) and 20 pages.£3.75 -
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The Wisdom of the Desert
Desert Monasticism, Influences & Suggested ReadingThe Wisdom of the Desert was one of Thomas Merton's favourites among his own books - surely because he had hoped to spend his last years as a hermit. The personal tone of the translations, the blend of reverence and humour so characteristic of him, show how deeply Merton identified with the legendary authors of these sayings and parables, the fourth century Christian Fathers who sought solitude and contempation in the deserts of the Near East. The hermits of Scete who turned their backs on a corrupt society remarkably like our own had much in common with the Zen Masters of China and Japan, and Father Merton made his selection from them with an eye to the kind of impact produced by the Zen mondo.£13.00 -
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Building Utopia: seeking the authentic church for new communities
Culture & Mission, Re-imagining ChurchThe new urban areas are reshaping much of Britain. Those who live, work or minister within them are not only at the cutting edge of new forms of built environment, they must also discover new ways of being community and contemplate new expressions of Church. All this demands careful and bold analysis and creative theological reflection. While powerful global economic forces are changing our landscapes, human beings have to wrestle with themes of belonging and identity. The gospel engages with these human narratives, driving and shaping a Christian search for alternative perspectives and practices. What are the appropriate building projects, mission programmes and lifestyles that will be effective in meeting the challenges of the urban settlements? How should other areas respond? The writers of this book have worked together as a group, mapping the new situation, analysing their findings and drawing out those themes which demand attention – making it possible to reflect theologically about the challenges of our newly built urban developments.Original price was: £14.99.£7.99Current price is: £7.99. -
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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 -
Lent and Easter for Everyone: from Wilderness to Glory
Daily Readings, Lent & Easter, Scripture & PrayerJoin Tom Wright on a transformative journey through the Gospels as he explores the life and impact of Jesus: the highs and lows of his earthly ministry, the power of his teaching and his victory over sin and death. Offering seven weeks' worth of daily readings and reflections, Lent and Easter for Everyone enables you to relive Christ's journey - from his temptations in the wilderness to the darkness of the cross and beyond into the glory of Easter. Each reflection is drawn from a key passage in Wright's immensely popular For Everyone series, and each one ends with practical suggestions for personal reflection or group discussion. Whether used individually or in groups, Lent and Easter for Everyone serves as a trusted companion, encouraging spiritual growth, deepening understanding, and fostering a renewed sense of hope and purpose as you continue your Christian journey. Contents: Prologue: Jesus in the wilderness. Week 1 Jesus in prayer. Week 2 Jesus among the crowds. Week 3 Jesus among friends. Week 4 Jesus among enemies. Week 5 Jesus in the city. Week 6 Jesus on the cross. Week 7 Jesus in glory. Epilogue: Jesus in us. Questions for discussion and reflection£11.99 -
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Adam: God’s Beloved
The Inner JourneyIn the year before his death in 1996, Henri Nouwen had planned to write a book about the Apostles’ Creed. But then the death of his friend Adam Arnett, a severely handicapped young man from his Daybreak Community, changed his mind. He found that by reflecting on the story of Adam he had found a way of describing his own understanding of the Gospel message, and in Adam, a book completed only weeks before his own death, he has left a fitting reflection of his essential message and legacy. Adam could not speak, or even move without assistance. Gripped by frequent seizures, he spent his life in obscurity. And yet for Henri Nouwen he became ‘my friend, my teacher and my guide’: it was Adam who led him to a new understanding of his Christian faith and what it means to be Beloved of God. Following the structure of the gospels, Henri Nouwen describes Adam’s ‘hidden life’ in the desert of institutionalised care, the ‘public life’ that came about when his family entrusted him to the Daybreak community, his ministry, his miracles, and finally his passion, death and ‘resurrection’. Gradually, under Adam’s instruction, Henri learned to adjust to a new, slower rhythm of life and to speak with the language of the heart. In Adam Henri Nouwen has found a new way to tell God’s story and the story of all human creatures, broken and yet beloved, who live in a world charged and alive with the mystery of the incarnation. It becomes a poignant and precious gift.Original price was: £10.99.£7.99Current price is: £7.99. -
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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 -
Dietrich Bonhoeffer : An Introduction to His Thought
Influences & Suggested Reading, New MonasticismIn this refreshing new book on Dietrich Bonhoeffer, author Sabine Dramm examines the twentieth century's bestknown German pastor and theologian. Dietrich Bonhoeffer's passionate life and dramatic death are well known. Here, his life and the death he accepted in resistance to Hitler are examined in the context of his faith and thought, as found in his own writings. This is a book about Bonhoeffer's vibrant Christian faith and his profound yet very practical theological thinking. Dramm explores Bonhoeffer's sermons, letters, articles, and books. She offers her readers an outstanding introduction to the breadth of his writing and the depth of his theological thinking. She also shows how Bonhoeffer's beliefs and understandings led him to active resistance to the Nazi regime: to the establishment of alternative church groups, to espionage, and ultimately to conspiracy to overthrow the government by assassinating Hitler.£16.99 -
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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 -
Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life
Influences & Suggested Reading, Seasons of Life, The Inner JourneyIn the first half of life, we are naturally and rightly preoccupied with establishing our identities – climbing, achieving, and performing. But those concerns will not serve us as we grow older and begin to embark on a further journey, one that involves challenges, mistakes, loss of control, broader horizons, and necessary suffering that shocks us out of our comfort zones. Eventually, we need to see ourselves in a different and more life-living way. This message of 'falling down' – that is in fact moving upward – is the most resisted and counterintuitive of messages in the world's religions, including and most especially Christianity. In Falling Upward, Father Richard Rohr offers a new paradigm for understanding one of the most profound of life's mysteries: how our failing can be the foundation for our ongoing spiritual growth. Drawing on the wisdom from time-honoured myths, heroic poems, great thinkers, and sacred religious texts, the author explores the two halves of life to show that those who have fallen, failed, or 'gone down' are the only ones who understand 'up'. We grow spiritually more by doing it wrong than by doing it right. With rare insight, Rohr takes us on a journey to give us an understanding of how the heartbreaks, disappointments and first loves of life are actually stepping stones to the spiritual joys that the second half of life has in store for us.£12.99 -
Poustinia
Influences & Suggested Reading, Orthodox TraditionThis book (fundamental to the Community) by Catherine de Hueck Doherty explores the heart of drawing apart to a meeting place with God. Poustinia, a Russian word, means 'desert'. Men and women who desire communion with God can discover how the poustinia powerfully fulfils their yearning. Readers are invited to leave the noise and harried pace of daily life to enter a place of silence and solitude. The author writes from her own experience with refreshing and startling Christian authenticity and a strong personal sense of spiritual authority.£24.99 -
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Exiles: Living Missionally in a Post-Christian Culture
Culture & Mission, Influences & Suggested ReadingThis book is for exiles: Christians who find themselves caught in that dangerous wilderness between contemporary secular Western culture and and old-fashioned church culture of respectability and conservatism. Frost presents a plea for such Christians to embrace a dynamic, life-affirming, robust Christian faith that can be lived confidently in a world that no longer values such a faith.£15.99 -
Places of Enchantment: Meeting God in Landscapes
Everyday Life, The Inner JourneyThere is a great and honourable tradition of finding God in landscapes. Many who have given up on church appreciate the spiritual benefits they gain from climbing a mountain or walking in nature. But how and why do we encounter God in land, forest, river, mountain, desert, garden, sea and sky? That is what Graham Usher explores in this captivating volume which takes us from the giant Redwoods of the Californian Sierra Nevada to the jagged New York skyline; from the wilds of the ancient Scottish Highlands to the rolling pastures of English Shropshire. Drawing on material from biblical and church history traditions, as well as scientific research and contemporary art, he seeks to ascertain how such encounters support our Christian pilgrimage and challenge our assumptions. More than anything, the author's desire is to encourage readers to look at the world with fresh eyes - and so be enchanted by the world all around us.£11.99 -
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Youthwork After Christendom
Culture & Mission, Re-imagining ChurchThe end of Christendom where the Christian story was known and the church was central invites Christians in western culture to embrace marginality and discover fresh ways of being church and engaging in mission. While the transition from modernity to postmodernity has received a huge amount of attention the shift from Christendom to postChristendom has not yet been fully explored. This book is an introduction; a journey into the past an interpretation of the present and an invitation to ask what following Jesus might mean in the strange new world of postChristendom. Drawing on insights from the early Christians dissident movements and the world church this book challenges conventional ways of thinking. For those who dare to imagine new ways of following Jesus on the margins it invites a realistic and hopeful response to challenges and opportunities awaiting us in the 21st century.Original price was: £9.99.£6.99Current price is: £6.99. -
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Reconciliation
Lent & Easter, Resources for the Christian YearThe Archbishop of Canterbury's Lent Book for 2019 Global in scope, but homing in on the role ordinary people play in conflict and division, Reconciliation enables Christians to engage confidently in a ministry bequeathed to us by Christ himself. The book issues a vibrant call to the Church to support and strengthen relationships among church members; to cross borders to build connections with different denominations; and to maintain open attitudes towards our neighbours from other religions and ideologies. Forty biblically based meditations introduce topics such as impediments to reconciliation, risking the self, humility and self-criticism, radical openness to the other and peace with justice. Questions for reflection are included, making Reconciliation suitable for use at weekly gatherings or for everyday devotion during Lent.Original price was: £9.99.£6.99Current price is: £6.99. -
Beauty’s Field: seeing the world
Culture & MissionAs the leader of the World Community for Christian Meditation, Laurence Freeman's calling takes him all over the world to teach and lead groups who want to practice contemplative prayer. In this spiritual travel memoir, he recounts timeless, memorable and moving stories of people, places and events in which he has encountered God 's transformative presence. The title of the book comes from a Shakespeare sonnet and the book explores how the life of God can be found in the most unlikely places, not only in the world's beauty but even in its tragedy. Slum priests quietly bringing hope to the favelas of Brazil, the gloriously fat stone ladies of Malta which are the world's oldest depictions of God, the different effects of a mountain-top retreat on an investment banker, a tired social worker and a cancer patient, the impact of a child's death on a whole community - these and many more stories movingly reveal how the sacred strains to find expression in every life, every place, every day.£12.99 -
Creating Community: Ancient Ways for Modern Churches
Celtic Studies, Celtic Studies & Spirituality, New Monasticism, Re-imagining ChurchThere is much talk today of 'new ways of being church' and 'new monastic spirituality'. As Simon Reed explored the Celtic roots of the Christian faith, in community with others who drew inspiration from our spiritual ancestors in the British Isles, he came to realise that the third-millennium church has much in common with the first-millennium church and, more importantly, much to learn from it. In Creating Community, he introduces us to a new but at the same time very old way of being church which is based upon three core elements: A Way of Life, a network of Soul Friends, and a rhythm of prayer. The book shows how the rediscovery of these elements by Christians today offers a vital key that opens up an ancient way for modern churches, one that not only helps to bring believers to lasting maturity but creates genuine and much-needed community in an increasingly fragmented world.£8.99 -
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Church After Christendom
Culture & MissionChristianity must be understood not as a religion of private salvation, but as a gospel movement of universal compassion, which transforms the world in the power of God's truth. Amid several major global crises, including the rise of terrorism and religious fundamentalism and a sudden resurgence of political extremism, Christians must now face up fearlessly to the challenges of living in a "post-truth" age in which deceitful politicians present their media-spun fabrications as "alternative facts." This book is an attempt to enact a transformative theology for these changing times that will equip the global Christian community to take a stand for the gospel in an age of cultural despair and moral fragmentation. The emerging post-Christendom era calls for a new vision of Christianity that has come of age and connects with the spiritual crisis of our times. In helping to make this vision a reality, Searle insists that theology is not merely an academic discipline, but a transformative enterprise that changes the world. Theology is to be experienced not just behind a desk, in an armchair, or in a church, but also in hospitals, in foodbanks, in workplaces, and on the streets. Theology is to be lived as well as readOriginal price was: £9.99.£7.99Current price is: £7.99. -
Praying with the Desert Mothers
Desert Monasticism, Scripture & PrayerThe fourth- and fifth-century desert mothers lived the earliest forms of Christian life in the Mediterranean region. Until now, their lives have been little known outside of academic circles, Praying with the Desert Mothers presents the stories and insights of these remarkable spiritual elders, who were known as ammas; that is, women of spiritual insight and direction. The book draws on the wisdom of ancient spiritual practices to provide reflection for prayer and meditation today.£17.99 -
The Forgotten Desert Mothers
Desert Monasticism, Monasticism & New MonasticismAn introduction to the sayings, lives and stories of early Christian women. "Written in clear, heartfelt language, this book does two things beautifully. It revives lost memories of women leaders in the early evolution of Christian spirituality, thus filling in one more missing piece of women's history. And it calls the reader to a path of spirituality sorely needed in today's clamorous world: slow down, be quiet, listen for the voice of God deep within your heart. The book's attractiveness is enhanced by a time line, ordination rite, glossary and calendar of feasts in addition to notes and bibliography. Altogether an appealing contribution."£15.99- Elizabeth Johnson, C.S.J. Fordham University
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As the Rain Hides the Stars CD
Creativity, Spiritual GrowthCeltic inspired worship music. Folky and rootsy songs of faith, love and life from Clare Hunt, Mike Clifford, Tim Thwaites with guest Joe Thwaites. Proceeds from the sale of this CD support the work of Northumbria Community. [playlist ids="8592,8594,8596,8598,8600,8602,8604,8606,8608,8610,8612,8614,8616"]Original price was: £10.00.£8.00Current price is: £8.00. -
A Retreat with Thomas Merton
The Inner JourneyThe celebrated spiritual writer Thomas Merton remains one of the most influential voices of our day. His many books have become modern spiritual classics and he opened up the riches of the monastic tradition for many. Here, Esther de Waal devises a seven day personal or group retreat programme using extracts from Thomas Merton's writings and a selection of the photography for which he was also renowned. She creates a retreat that can be made at home, at a centre or on holiday, over a week or a period of weeks. The focus of each of the seven days is: The Call; Response; The Solitary Within; Encounter With Christ; The Demands of Love; Common and Natural and Ordinary; Integration.£14.00 -
Ancient Paths CD
Celtic Prayer, Creativity, Music & Creativity, Spiritual GrowthAnna's first solo album includes some of her 'signature' pieces as well as some songs of her own. Some of you will recognise familiar words from the Complines in Celtic Daily Prayer drawn from Carmina Gadelica and other traditional sources. Here they are set to Anna's own music which has emerged over the years of saying and singing these night-time prayers with her children, Joel and Martha. Anna says, 'I hope you will want to play this album often and that it will capture something of the rhythm of the tides, the sounds of the island and also its stillness.'£12.00 -
My times are still in Your hands 210mm square print
Celtic Sites & Saints, Celtic Studies & Spirituality, Creativity, Spiritual GrowthLynda Owen-Hussey, a companion with the Northumbria Community, is a mixed media artist living on the shores of the West Coast of Ireland in County Kerry, close to the birthplace of St Brendan. These days, her work is inspired by the many gifts of the sea she encounters on walks along the shore, often pondering the life of St Brendan and the many monks of old who inhabited this land. In describing this original artwork Lynda says:£12.00Painted whilst on retreat at Nether Springs, the Mother House of the Northumbria Community, this artwork is inspired by a verse in Northumbria Community’s Brendan Liturgy:
I will trust in the darkness and know that my times are still in Your hand.
Brendan and his companions spent years on the sea as they searched for, and eventually found, the promised land. In Psalm 31, King David in the midst of difficulty places his trust in God recalling that his times are in God’s hands. Likewise we are called to trust God in the dark and difficult desert days we can find ourselves in.
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The White Stone: The art of letting go
Everyday Life, The Inner JourneyEsther de Waal is one of today's most beloved spiritual writers. In The White Stone, she reflects on the changes and losses that come with growing older. Esther reflects on solitude and, following a period of illness, saying goodbye to a family home and the Welsh border landscape she had known for decades which inspired some of her greatest writing, and adjusting to a new city environment. In her characteristic style, she sees everything as a portal into a deeper spiritual understanding. She draws on the wealth of the Christian tradition, especially scripture and the monastic and Celtic spiritualities she knows so well, to help her navigate her way through not only the inevitable sense of loss that accompanies such change, but also to embrace the new possibilities it brings. The white stone of the title refers to a small pebble from the river that ran through her garden that she keeps in her pocket, but also strikes a note of hope referring to the new identity promised by God (Revelation 2.17). This is a book of simple, profound wisdom that will speak to many coping with change in their own lives.£12.99 -
Lent With the Beloved Disciple: The 2024 Lent book
Daily Readings, Lent & Easter, Scripture & PrayerThe 2024 Bloomsbury Lent Book invites you on a six-week journey in the company of the "beloved disciple" as found in the narrative of the Gospel of St John. As the only disciple to have stayed close to Jesus at every stage from the Last Supper to the Crucifixion at Calvary, this eagle-eyed eyewitness intentionally records certain subtle details and signs which, when perceived with the eyes of faith, indicate a deeper and far lasting significance. Michael Marshall explores what these signs are and how, with prayerful reflection, they draw us ever more deeply into the personal, eternal and cosmic significance and awareness of all that Christ accomplished by his death and resurrection: the Paschal Mystery. Ideal for both individual use and for small group study, Lent with the Beloved Disciple takes us into the heart of that Paschal Mystery, by which all things in heaven and earth are ultimately fulfilled in the risen and ascended Christ, who is "all in all".£10.99 -
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Contemplative Prayer
Influences & Suggested Reading, Scripture & PrayerThomas Merton's classic study of monastic prayer and contemplation brings a tradition of spirituality alive for the present day. But, as A M Allchin points out in his Introduction to this new edition, Contemplative Prayer also shows us the present day in a new perspective, because we see it in the light of a long and living tradition. Merton stresses that in meditation we should not look for a 'method' or 'system' but cultivate an 'attitude' or 'outlook': faith, openness, attention, reverence, expectation, trust, joy. God is found in the desert of surrender, in giving up any expectation of a particular message and 'waiting on the Word of God in silence'. Merton insists on the humility of faith, which he argues 'will do far more to launch us into the full current of historical reality than the pompous rationalisation of politicians who think they are somehow the directors and manipulators of history'.£9.99 -
Timeless Simplicity: Creative living in a consumer society
Spiritual Exercises, The Inner JourneyThis is a book about simplicity - not destitution, not parsimoniousness, not self-denial - but the restoration of wealth in the midst of an affluence in which we are starving the spirit. It is a book about the advantages of living a less cluttered, stressful life than that which many of us are now living in the overcrowded and manic-paced consuming nations. It is a book that has nothing to do with subsistence living on the Lake Isle of Innisfree, but everything to do with having less and enjoying more - enjoying time to do the work you love, enjoying time to spend with your family, enjoying time to pursue creative projects, enjoying time for good eating, enjoying time just to be. Another theme of the book concerns the future of our home, the Earth. Up to the end of the 19th century, the Earth consisted of a world of oceans and land masses teeming with all kinds of life, but our grandchildren will inherit one with less than 20 percent of its original forests still intact, with most of the readily available fresh water already spoken for, with most of the wetlands and reef systems either destroyed or degraded. Sooner or later a more frugal lifestyle will not only be desirable - it will become an imperative.£11.99 -
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 -
Life Together
Influences & Suggested Reading, New Monasticism, Re-imagining ChurchDietrich Bonhoeffer, the now famous theologian who was martyred by the Nazis in 1945, wrote this book on the eve of World War II. It resulted from his experience as head of a semiary of the German 'Confessing Church' at Finkenwalde near Stettin. Here many of the pastors who witnessed against Hitler received their inspiration. It was, as Professor John D. Godsey points out in his study of The Theology of Deitrich Bonhoeffer, 'a kind of theological education that was startlingly new in Germany: a communal life in which Jesus Christ's call to discipleship was taken seriously.' Professor Godsey calls Life Together 'simply written, powerfully convincing and unusually quotable...It is an attempt to give practical guidance to those who want to take their lives as Christians seriously.'£14.99 -
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 -
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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Compassion : A Reflection on the Christian Life
The Inner JourneyIn this provocative essay on that least understood virtue, compassion, the authors challenge themselves and us with these questions: Where do we place compassion in our lives? Is it enough to live a life in which we hurt one another as little as possible? Is our guiding ideal a life of maximum pleasure and minimum pain? Compassion answers no. After years of study and discussion among themselves, and with men and women at the very centre of national politics, the authors look at compassion with a vigorous new perspective. They place compassion at the heart of a Christian life in a world governed far too long by principles of power and destructive control. Compassion, no longer merely an eraser of human mistakes, is a force of prayer and action - the expression of God's love for us and our love for God and one another. Compassion is a book that says no to a compassion of guilt and failure and yes to a compassionate love that pervades our spirit and moves us to action. Henri Nouwen, Donald McNeill, and Douglas Morrison have written a moving document on what it means to be a Christian in a difficult time.Original price was: £10.99.£7.99Current price is: £7.99. -
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Into the depths: A Journey of Loss and Vocation
Everyday Life, The Inner JourneyIn January 1984, Sr Mary Margaret Funk, a Benedictine nun from Indiana, paid a visit to Maryknoll missionary nuns working in Bolivia. On what should have been a routine trip to the local town for a convocation ceremony, a flash flood swept away the jeep in which she, three nuns, a priest, and a disabled boy they had adopted were travelling. Only she and the priest survived What happened that night catapulted Sr Meg into twenty-five years of prayer and self-examination. She relentlessly explored her relationship with the transcendent and immanent God, the profundities of her religious tradition, her commitment to spiritual practice, and her very human failings. It was a journey that left her spiritually naked before the terrible love of God; a journey to keep one's heart open to the transforming wounds of suffering. In the great tradition of spiritual confessions from Augustine to Thomas Merton's The Seven-Story Mountain, Into the Depths is a fearlessly honest and simply told account of one woman's struggle to engage at the deeper levels with the most profound questions of faith.Original price was: £12.99.£8.99Current price is: £8.99. -
Breathing Under Water : Spirituality And The Twelve Steps
Everyday Life, Spiritual Growth, The Inner JourneyWe are all addicted in some way. When we learn to identify our addiction, embrace our brokenness, and surrender to God, we begin to bring healing to ourselves and our world. In Breathing Under Water, Richard Rohr shows how the gospel principles in the Twelve Steps can free anyone from addiction - from an obvious dependence on alcohol or drugs to the more common but less visible addiction that we all have to sin.£11.99 -
Seize the Day
Daily Readings, Monasticism & New Monasticism, New Monasticism, Spiritual Growth, The Inner JourneyDietrich Bonhoeffer's faith-driven resistance to the Nazis during World War II resulted in his execution. Multitudes have been inspired by the hauntingly powrful words of this man who was willing to die for his convictions. In this collection of 365 meditations Dr Charles Ringma allows us to experience the power of Bonhoeffer's words in a way that challenges us to live out our discipleship daily - combining personal spirituality with an active concern for those around us. These daily meditations on Bonhoeffer's writings may make you uncomfortable. But if you are willing to wrestle - as Bonhoeffer did - with what it means to be a follower of Christ, you'll be empowered to seize each day.£20.99 -
A Silent Action: engagements with Thomas Merton
Spiritual GrowthThomas Merton's life, especially once he had become a writer, was to a great extent one of dialogue with people who were distant, both geographically and historically. In these probing and perceptive studies, Rowan Williams looks closely at the key intellectual and spiritual relationships that emerge in Merton's writings, exploring the impact on him of thinkers as diverse as Hannah Arendt, Karl Barth, William Blake, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Olivier Clement, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Paul Evdokimov, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Vladimir Lossky, John Henry Newman, Boris Pasternak and St John of the Cross.£11.99 -
Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s New Monasticism: A Central Influence
Core Teaching, Influences & Suggested Reading, Monasticism & New Monasticism, New Monasticism, Northumbria Community Resources & Teaching, Re-imagining ChurchThis booklet, by Trevor Miller, looks at the ways in which Dietrich Bonhoeffer has been an influence on our Community. A Lutheran Pastor in the Confessing Church in Germany in the 1930s, Bonhoeffer’s early exploration of Community and New Monasticism was cut short by the Nazi regime, but his writings have lived on. In this booklet Trevor helps us to make the connections between Bonhoeffer’s life and work and our own journey as a Community.£5.00 -
Listening for the Heartbeat of God
Celtic Studies, Celtic Studies & Spirituality, Influences & Suggested Reading, Spiritual Growth, The Inner JourneyListening for the Heartbeat of God presents a spirituality for today, modelled on the vital characteristics of Celtic spirituality through the centuries. there is an emphasis on the essential goodness of creation and of humanity, made in the image of God. The book traces the lines of Celtic spirituality from the British Church in the fourth century through to the twentieth century, in the founder of the Iona community, George MacLeod. Philip Newell finds Celtic spiritual roots in the New Testament, in the mysticism of St John the Evangelist. John was especially remembered as the one who lay against Jesus at the Last Supper and heard the heartbeat of God. So he becomes a Celtic image of listening to God in all of life. This fresh angle on Celtic spirituality - linking figures in the Bible and in the British Christian history - will be warmly welcomed by all who are concerned to refresh the roots of their faith. The Revd Dr J Philip Newell is a poet, scholar and teacher. Formerly Warden of Iona Abbey, he is now Companion Theologian for the American Spirituality Centre of Casa del Sol in the high desert of New Mexico. Newell has won international acclaim for his work in the field of Celtic spirituality.£9.99 -
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 -
Followers of the Way: Ancient discipleship for modern Christians
Celtic Studies, Celtic Studies & Spirituality, Desert Monasticism, New MonasticismOne of the most pressing issues in today's church is encouraging people to become true and effective disciples of Jesus Christ. If, in simple terms, discipleship is about connecting more deeply with God and connecting God with the whole of life, Simon Reed argues, we're looking at a life-long process for which we require long-term skills rather than short-term courses. The Celtic and Desert Christians, drawing on Old and New Testament practices, taught and modelled how to do this through the practice of living by a Way of Life. By drawing together today's need for disciples and Celtic Christianity, Followers of the Way inspires authentic Christian discipleship for the contemporary world.£9.99