This highly readable book explains the scope and detail of the newly revised Guidelines for the professional conduct of the clergy, which shape and define how clergy should act and behave. The book brings together a number of experts in the field, who draw on the Ordinal (as the basis of the Guidelines), writing engagingly on key elements in the life of clergy today. Paula Gooder wrestles with the exhilaratingly tricky question, ‘What would Jesus do?’ John Pritchard responds with characteristic humour and wisdom to the challenge of remaining ‘white hot in our desire for God year after year’. Robert Innes draws on his unexpected call to the ministry while meditating on Jesus’ self-sacrificial pastoral leadership. Paul Butler writes with authority and compassion about the complexities of safeguarding. Jamie Harrison reflects on the humility, cost and joy of ‘telling the story of God’s love’. Russ Parker finds that blessing others means being vulnerable and empathetic to the pain common to us all. Stephen Cherry offers witty yet powerful insights on giving leadership. Kate Bruce writes captivatingly on imagination as indispensable to the life of faith. Magdalen Smith illuminates the creative tension of living faithfully in public and private. David Walker assures us that the very wounds we bear from our journeys so far enable us to minister to others. ‘Faithful relationships are fundamental to maintaining and improving the life of the Church. It is my fervent desire that increasing trust, particularly that which flows from trustworthy clergy, will transform God’s world.’ Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury, from the Foreword

Churches often realize they need to change. But if they're not careful, the way they change can hurt more than help. In this culmination of his well-received Ministry in a Secular Age trilogy, leading practical theologian Andrew Root offers a new paradigm for understanding the congregation in contemporary ministry. He articulates why it is so hard for congregations to change and encourages an approach that doesn't fall into the negative traps of our secular age. Living in late modernity means our lives are constantly accelerated, and calls for change in the church often support this call to speed up. Root asserts that the recent push toward innovation in churches has led to an acceleration of congregational life that strips the sacred out of time. Many congregations are simply unable to keep up, which leads to burnout and depression. When things move too fast, we feel alienated from life and the voice of a living God. This book calls congregations to reimagine what change is and how to live into this future, helping them move from relevance to resonance.

The Gospel, Sexual Abuse and the Church has been written by the Faith and Order Commission of the Church of England in response to a request from the lead bishop for safeguarding for theological material that complements the work of the National Safeguarding Team on policy and training. It has been approved for publication and commended for study by the House of Bishops. The Gospel, Sexual Abuse and the Church is intended to be used by those with responsibility for teaching and preaching in the Church of England, including clergy and licensed lay ministers, and those with specific responsibilities for safeguarding training. The three main sections provide material that can be used for training sessions and study days, with groups such as a PCC or Church Council, a ministry team, or a discussion group. Each section includes suggested quotations for reflection, discussion questions and a ‘Bible focus’. ‘Safeguarding raises significant theological questions for Christians: questions about humanity, sin, grace, forgiveness, reconciliation and the church. Making space for grappling with the issues that arise here is essential if the church is going to be able to speak about God and about the gospel both when it is seeking to do safeguarding well and when it is reacting to situations where something has gone badly wrong.’ - From the Preface by The Right Revd Dr Christopher Cocksworth, Chair of the Faith and Order Commission

Drawing on the resources of Classic Anglicanism, Vicar offers a clear theological vision for the future. For thirty years, the Church has been talking about the oncoming challenges of providing ordained ministers to lead and enable local churches. Now long overdue structural change is really happening: but those at the sharp end – ‘vicars’ – are often bewildered and demoralized. This book celebrates the tradition of English Anglican ordained pastoral ministry; it also affirms the value of vicars’ ministry and way of life, and the great gift they have for relating to our communities and churches. The ‘vicar’ (parish priest, pastor, minister) still leads people – those who ‘come to church’ and those who don’t – in prayer and praise, cares for them in their sufferings and rejoices with them in their joys. This deep wisdom has sustained the Church for centuries. Yet, the questions must be asked: how can we be better equipped to make prudent decisions about the way church ministry has to evolve now? How can we meet the evident need in our parishes for an institutional church?

When Jesus Calls considers the new approach to vocation in the Church of England and offers a guide for those who are exploring a call to licensed ministry, lay and ordained, and for those with responsibility for encouraging and discerning vocations. It introduces the categories of the Church’s new discernment framework, and brings them into conversation with the historic Anglican understanding of priestly vocation (the Ordinal) and the wider missional ‘manifesto’ of the Anglican Communion (the Five Marks of Mission). Its unique approach offers a comprehensive and up-to-date treatment which is attuned to the ‘simpler, humbler, bolder’ vision of the post-pandemic Church of England. It will be an essential resource for every diocesan vocations team and will also have value as a basic text for Anglican ministerial theology in IME 1.

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