Since the introduction of Common Worship there has been an increased demand for material that will help parishes to use the new liturgy with children. As churches think afresh about their worship, they are addressing the issue of how to include children, particularly in the Eucharist. Come and Join the Celebration has been designed to help parishes do just that.This photocopiable resource contains guidance on how to help children understand the liturgy and structure of Holy Communion; activities for use in church with 2-6 year olds; resource sheets for 7-11 year olds; and ideas for additional uses including Communion before confirmation, workshops and school Eucharists. The book aims to help adults share worship with children, thus enabling everyone to participate more fully.

The daring debut of the Beat Generation’s first woman novelist It’s 1955. Seven days before her graduation from Barnard College, Susan Levitt asks herself, “What if you lived your entire life without urgency?” just before going out to make things happen to her that will shatter the mask of conformity concealing her feelings of alienation. If Susan continues to be “good,” marriage and security await her. But her hunger is rising for the self-discovery that comes from existential freedom. After breaking up with the Columbia boy she knows she could marry, Susan seeks out those she considers “outlaws”: the brave and fragile Kay, who has moved into a rundown hotel, in order to “see more than fifty percent when I walk down the street”; the vulnerable adolescent rebel Anthony; and Peter, the restless hipster graduate student who has become the object of Kay’s unrequited devotion. This fascinating novel—which the author began writing a year before her encounter with Jack Kerouac—is a young woman’s complex response to the liberating messages of the Beat Generation. In a subversive feminist move, Johnson gives her heroine all the freedom the male Beat writers reserved for men, to travel her own road.

In this Time Top 100 Book of the Year, the National Book Award finalist and New York Times bestselling author of Heartland “analyzes how Dolly Parton’s songs—and success—have embodied feminism for working-class women” (People). Growing up amid Kansas wheat fields and airplane factories, Sarah Smarsh witnessed firsthand the particular vulnerabilities—and strengths—of women in working poverty. Meanwhile, country songs by female artists played in the background, telling powerful stories about life, men, hard times, and surviving. In her family, she writes, “country music was foremost a language among women. It’s how we talked to each other in a place where feelings aren’t discussed.” And no one provided that language better than Dolly Parton. In this “tribute to the woman who continues to demonstrate that feminism comes in coats of many colors,” Smarsh tells readers how Parton’s songs have validated women who go unheard: the poor woman, the pregnant teenager, the struggling mother disparaged as “trailer trash.” Parton’s broader career—from singing on the front porch of her family’s cabin in the Great Smoky Mountains to achieving stardom in Nashville and Hollywood, from “girl singer” managed by powerful men to self-made mogul of business and philanthropy—offers a springboard to examining the intersections of gender, class, and culture. Infused with Smarsh’s trademark insight, intelligence, and humanity, this is “an ambitious book” (The New Republic) about the icon Dolly Parton and an “in-depth examination into gender and class and what it means to be a woman and a working-class hero that feels particularly important right now” (Refinery29).

Bloggers and other invited writers from around the world contribute to this creative conversation about the weekly lectionary through commentary, stories, biblical study, liturgical resources, and more. Jenee Woodard, creator and editor of the immensely popular lectionary research site, The Text This Week, curates the conversation and adds insights of her own, including a list of the best online resources for sermon preparation. The Abingdon Creative Preaching Annual remains among the highest quality preaching resources available, ensuring that pastors can quickly find relevant material for their sermons.

IN THIS KINGDOM, NOT EVEN THE ROYALS ARE IMMUNE TO DANGER With a sexy FBI agent posing as her suitor, Princess Laila of Qamsar is home for the wedding of her brother the Emir. In truth, the beautiful royal and Harris Truman are on an undercover mission: to find the infamous terrorist her brother is suspected of aiding. But once the festivities begin, Laila faces a bigger threat than Al-Adel. Her secret meetings with Harris pose a danger to her safety—and her heart. To gain his love and live in freedom as his equal is her ardent desire. But will she betray her traditions for a man whose kisses are part of a charade?

Modern missional movements have often viewed the historic Christian traditions as too insular, focused on worship and the interior life of the church rather than evangelism and good works. Winfield Bevins argues that liturgy and sacramental life are in fact deeply missional and offer a holistic framework for everyday discipleship and mission.

The Heart of A Dad is an unfinished story of the journey of a dad who attempted to practice parenting through the grid of biblical Christianity. It is a story about a young man who came out of a fractured and semi-dysfunctional upbringing and discovered a path to functional parenting. In this book, dads are challenged to maintain strong, vibrant relationships with their children through their engagement and their support of their childrens dreams. Gibbs takes you through several stages in the parenting process from a very practical perspective and he attempts to show not only how he navigated through these different stages, but he also shares with you the practical lessons learned from each of these parenting stages. For example, in chapter five where he discusses The Danger Zone he provides dads with eight practical steps for navigating this period of their childrens lives. In part two, Gibbs explores parenting through the lives of historical biblical characters and he draws parenting lessons for dads from these 12 characters. He humanizes them and makes what was done thousands of years ago relevant in parenting today. The foundational principles of The Heart of a Dad are discovered in his presentation of Lessons Learned from Enoch, who was the father of Methuselah who was the oldest man of historic record; he lived 969 years. In part three, Gibbs unveils parenting lessons as they are seen in the spiritual relationship between God the Father and his children. He also explores the theology of God through the biblical relationship that exists between God the Father and His only begotten Son. The Heart of a Dad is a fresh look at parenting from an experiential yet biblical perspective. Young fathers can learn from the lessons of parenting without making the same mistakes that Gibbs and so many others made by not realizing that there are models that one can follow and that there are navigational maps and tools available for parenting.