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These radical prayers break the mould of the “collect” prayers that are so familiar to millions of Christians worldwide. They are the result of the author’s struggle with the blandness and predictability of so many of the church’s traditional prayers.Useful for both personal and liturgical devotion, these prayers will both challenge and nourish.Many churches use a traditional collect in their Sunday service. Some of the familiar collects stand out in our minds as we remember their helpful phrases and expressions. But many seem to pass us by as they appear safe or predictable.Graham Turner provides us with an exciting and challenging set of alternative collects. They adopt the direct and gritty style and language often found amongst the Psalms and prophets of the Old Testament, and are honest about the discomfort we often experience as we seek to live lives following Jesus Christ whilst also acknowledging the audacious grace of God towards us.

"a classic of biblical interpretation" - ROWAN WILLIAMSGod B.C. is a clear and profound introduction to the spiritual world of the Old Testament, providing a highly readable introduction to the nature of the God whom Jesus called "Father". It charts the relationship between God and God's people Before Christ, and how that relationship informs our understanding of grace.This revised and much expanded work revisits the subject in the light of recent scholarship, enabling us to see how the whole Bible reveals the character of our humanity as well as that of God's divinity.

“a book that needs to be taken very seriously” — Philip North“challenging lessons for the modern church” — Michael TurnbullThis is a radical and controversial challenge to the top-down leadership models that are so widespread in the church, instead making the case for a new model of people-driven servant leadership, guided by the Holy Spirit towards kingdom growth rather than church growth.Using the example of two Loreto Sisters working alongside one of the most socially-deprived communities in North East England, we see how they listened to and affirmed people who felt forgotten and had lost hope. As servant leaders, the Sisters were gradually able to empower the residents of Port Clarence on the River Tees to confront the many injustices heaped upon them, and to take action in improving their lives.Mission From Below is an inspiring example of how a seriously neglected community can bring about its own transformation without any fads or initiatives imposed from on high by the church.

A collection of thought-provoking reflections inviting us to contemplate the events of Good Friday in new ways.It is all-too-easy to become so wrapped up in the celebration of Easter Day that the preceding days are forgotten. The reflections are diverse, from Peter’s clumsy fear to the Seven Last Words, and are based on a series of addresses given during the two hours at the foot of the cross on Good Friday.

Hope in Dark Places explores the depths of depression through the poetry of David Grieve. You will be moved to tears and laugh unexpectedly. You will feel the raw reality of suffering and feel Christ’s presence in its midst.

Britain is under attack on two fronts. The IRA is mounting a bombing campaign on the mainland, and agents of the German Secret Service are collecting vital information to help them if war breaks out.Investigative journalist Roger Martin unearths a link between the IRA and Nazi Germany and, with the help of two teenage boys and Scotland Yard’s Special Branch, uncovers two plots which threaten Britain’s preparations for war.Meanwhile, Roger discovers that the Gestapo are blackmailing a young Jewish girl who has come to England through the Kinder Transport and is working in the service of a senior Foreign Office Diplomat. A daring operation is mounted to rescue her parents from under the noses of the Gestapo in Berlin.The Summer of ’39 is a tale of spies, terrorists and blossoming young love—an epic adventure set in the final months of peace before WWII.

There is a universal assumption that associates darkness with fear and evil. Why is it that light has come to be exalted, venerated-worshipped even-whilst darkness has become demonised and feared? As a devoted lover of the dark, Catherine Bird seeks to ask how we can use the experience of darkness to lift our spirits, challenge our hearts and minds, and draw us closer into the heart of God. Drawing on material not only from Biblical and religious studies, but also from anthropology, biology, sociology and the creative arts, The Divine Heart of Darkness offers a new way of understanding darkness and invites you to enter a new realm in which light and darkness co-exist and complement each other, both with beautiful and life-affirming qualities, and both with challenging and negative qualities-not reflecting a dichotomy of good and evil, but rather a balanced universe in which God's nature is revealed in all things which are healing and affirming of life.

During his City days as a junior executive, John Davey became a Special Constable attached to Bow Street Police Station.Having felt a calling since his early teens, the priesthood beckoned, and in 1966 he started training at theological college. As part of his pastoral training, John made regular visits to Ford Open Prison, and, as a curate in Eastbourne, trained as a voluntary probation officer. His final full-time ministerial post was as Chaplain and Director of Studies at the National Police Staff College, Bramshill, a training establishment for senior police officers.During forty years of full-time ministry, John has served as a pastor and mentor to people from all walks of life, and was, for a time, Chaplain and Minor Canon of St George's Chapel, Windsor.John is now retired and lives with his wife Mary in Nottingham.

The Gharsias hold a secret which means they can never be safe.1530: Hernando Gharsia flees Spain with Luis, the traumatised grandson he is determined to raise within the traditions and faith of his ancestors. As he grows up, Luis must learn to navigate French and English society, politics and commerce with utmost discretion. In an historical saga spanning several tumultuous decades, the loyalty of friends is the only refuge from Europe’s religious and political turmoil.From the vineyards of south-west France to the bustling port of Bridgwater, England, the remarkable story of Luis Gharsia unfolds as one of love, betrayal, resilience, and sacrifice.

The Paradise Tree is a beautiful devotional companion about the experience of God and giving expression to our inner spirituality.A creative mixture of poetry, prose and scripture, this book will challenge preconceptions about the nature of God, heaven, hell, intercessory prayer, and the relevance of human existence within the vastness of an unfathomable universe.This book is about personal discipleship and giving witness to the presence of God to the world around us. It is about finding within our inner being the meaning of life itself and about our future destiny. To do this we need to reflect upon the life and witness of a man who lived two thousand years ago and who, by his life of personal sacrifice to the needs of others in the name of love, gave visible expression to the reality and being of God, in the everyday life of humankind.

This book reflects upon the Stations of the Cross and hopes to process the events that took place on Good Friday.

Cathedrals today face a paradox: on the one hand they represent one of the biggest success stories and mission opportunities of the present-day church; on the other they face seemingly insurmountable financial difficulties, and are largely left by the church and government to fend for themselves.Many--both within and outside the church--argue that cathedrals are an irrelevance. But cathedrals are one area of the church's life where increasingly the unchurched and the half-believer encounter God, and where the institutions of our society instinctively engage with the Christian gospel, making them truly missional in their occupation of a spiritually liminal space.Holy Ground digs deep into the life of England's cathedrals, and discusses such diverse topics as finance, growth, heritage, liturgy, development, music and art.

The Bible is full of instructions for how we ought to behave if we want to be a follower of Jesus, but these often seem to belong to a by-gone age, far removed from our busy twenty-first century lives. Follow Me helps us uncover how Jesus’ words are still relevant, and distils the essence of the Gospel message for today, providing practical steps that all of us can take to live the sayings of Jesus.Using true stories to bring us closer to scripture, Ian Black draws connections between what Jesus said and how we live today in all its messiness and complexity. Based on Jesus’ words “follow me”, he reflects on acts of loving service, the commandment to love, prayer, money, forgiveness, self-sacrifice, mission, and the Eucharist (Communion).

In this book, Graham Turner confronts many of our assumptions about the Old and New Testament and shows that they are centred around two themes: personal spirituality and social justice.

Many Christians who suffer from depression and mental breakdown struggle to rationalise it with their faith.In this honest and disarming book, Jon Grogan shares with readers what helped him to understand and recover from depressive illness. Christians can often be unsure about how their faith can relate to the fields of psychology and psychiatry, and Jon''s careful navigation of these subjects, mixed with a sprinkle of humour, brings much-needed illumination.From Over The Edge also addresses the way in which different Christian spiritual traditions can be drawn upon to help the sufferer and complement treatments that are likely to be on offer.The holistic and empathetic approach will leave readers feeling better understood, as well as having an increased understanding of the issues they deal with on a daily basis.Jon Grogan is a lawyer and lives in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. He is married with two children.

With subjects ranging from William Blacke to Nostradamus, this book considers all things apocalyptic and asks the question of why the end of time has captured the human imagination in so many ways.

The Gharsias have guarded their secret closely, but has it secured their safety?1547: the old kings of France and England are dead. In both kingdoms, uncertainty hovers over the question of religious reform. Discontent simmers in the countryside, ready to erupt, and the fragile peace between the two realms is about to disintegrate.Luis Gharsia sets sail for England, determined to consolidate his burgeoning wine trade with Thomas Weaver and to rekindle his friendship with Weaver’s intriguing daughter, Alyce.As a Morisco, Luis can observe the religious changes with secret impartiality, but when those he cares about are threatened, he must act...

This book brings together prominent practitioners and academics to answer these questions and explore what it means to proclaim the gospel in the North of England from many angles.

"A humdinging page-turner of a book"The Spectator"This book will give great pleasure"Country LifeTraditional English rectories and vicarages have been neglected by the Church in the post-war years, but have become highly desirable to property buyers, and are now cherished by their new private owners. They combine many coveted qualities: their fine architecture, their air of civilisation, their charm and character, the traditional values and the essential "Englishness" they evoke, their large gardens and often splendidly rural locations.This book is about these fine houses, their place in English history and the history of the Church, their architecture, their architects, their contribution to our culture, and their sometimes eccentric occupants-both clerical and secular.This new edition has includes additional material and 68 plates (most of which are in full colour).

Cathedrals today face a paradox: on the one hand they represent one of the biggest success stories and mission opportunities of the present-day church; on the other they face seemingly insurmountable financial difficulties, and are largely left by the church and government to fend for themselves.Many—both within and outside the church—argue that cathedrals are an irrelevance. But cathedrals are one area of the church’s life where increasingly the unchurched and the half-believer encounter God, and where the institutions of our society instinctively engage with the Christian gospel, making them truly missional in their occupation of a spiritually liminal space.Holy Ground digs deep into the life of England’s cathedrals, and discusses such diverse topics as finance, growth, heritage, liturgy, development, music and art.

Mostly Durham brings together 75 of artist Stuart Fisher's wonderful watercolour paintings and drawings from around Durham and beyond.

Henry Baker Tristram was a surprising and remarkable man: explorer, ornithologist, and priest. With his wild beard (for which he required special permission from his bishop) he undertook expeditions to the Sahara and Palestine at a time when doing so was even more fraught with danger than it is today. As a founding member of the British Ornithologists' Union (BOU), he contributed regularly to its journal, Ibis, as well as other scientific journals. Tristram's nickname in the BOU was "Sacred Ibis".Tristram was a collector par excellence, acquiring extensive collections running to tens of thousands of specimens, primarily of birds, but also of plants, fish, mammals, insects, molluscs, geological samples and archaeological material. He was the first scientist to support Charles Darwin in print, and became a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1868 supported by his great friend Alfred Newton as well as Darwin.Professor J. B. Cragg, an eminent Zoologist at Durham University, described Tristram as "the most important biological scientist to have emerged from Durham." Tristram took part in the famous "Oxford debate" between Bishop Wilberforce of Oxford and Thomas Huxley. This led to the unfortunate and incorrect assumption that Tristram subsequently gave up his support of Darwin.This book follows Tristram's epic adventures and love for birds-from his boyhood on the moors of Northumberland to his time as a Residentiary Canon of Durham Cathedral-and the people that influenced him-from his dislike of Gladstone whom he met as a fresher in Oxford to the offer of the Bishopric of Jerusalem by Disraeli (which Tristram declined). In the book are over 80 colour plates and a reproduction of Darwin's first letter to Tristram.£5 from each sale of the hardback edition of Sacred Ibis will be donated to the Grey College Trust. Perhaps Tristram's greatest contribution to science was his Fauna and Flora of Palestine. On his deathbed he wrote to his great friend Alfred Newton-who stood down temporarily from his Fellowship of the Royal Society so that Tristram might be elected-thanking him for his friendship.He and Newton had been a great ornithological partnership and were responsible not only for the development of ornithology as a science but also for the establishment of the conservation movement.Not everyone these days will approve of his collecting activities, but this is what he did and what was necessary to the development of science in Victorian times. Had the big majority of present-day biologists lived in those times they would undoubtedly have acted similarly, but few would have been so successful.As his granddaughter wrote, Tristram may not have been a great churchman, but he was a great ornithologist.

"Michael''s sermons are both beautiful and inspiring. They draw the reader face to face with God in surprising ways, always feeding the spiritual appetite-yet leaving me thirsty for more of what we have just tasted. They are beautifully crafted, and admirably concise. The use of English is impeccable and the scholarship profound. The eclectic references to art and literature demonstrate an aesthetic talent and theological versatility that is exceptional." ~ from the Foreword by Justin Welby, Archbishop of CanterburyMichael Sadgrove was Dean at Durham Cathedral between 2003 and 2015. During that time he preached many well-crafted sermons on a wide variety of topics, from the Iraq invasions to "digital lambs". This volume contains an edited collection of some of his finest and most thought-provoking sermons from his time in Durham.

This book relates the story of the soldiers of the Durham Light Infantry who uncovered the monstrous crimes of Bergen-Belsen seventy years ago, and the traumatic effect this had on their lives.

A gripping WWII thriller set in London during the blitz."You need to be on the spot as soon as the bombs 'ave dropped. Nobody'll know what's goin' on. They'll be too busy rescuin' people and puttin' the fires out to notice you slippin' in."Two families . . .One, escapeing the horrors of Nazi Germany reaches England after a perilous journey, just before the outbreak of World War II.But another family awaits the ilicit opportunities that the blackout and blitz will bring.As the bombs begin to fall on London, the paths of the two families cross with tragic consequences as their lives race towards a dangerous and thrilling climax.Two Families at War tells of the battle between good and evil, set against the terror of the second Great Fire of London, December 1940.