"Attempts to answer these questions showcase the theme of unity in diversity and address Benedictine monasticism in broad, institutional strokes as well as in the very specific practices and narratives of monastics, oblates, and others living in various communities. In this volume, you will hear the voices of many community members-young and old, men and women, Benedictines and intentional community members-all speaking from the heart of their lived experience and wisdom."--BOOK JACKET.

How do we heal our difficult relationships and nurture our healthy ones? What is their significance in our spiritual life? In this deeply moving, groundbreaking book, John E. Welshons answers these questions and many more. He shows why the path to real and lasting happiness lies in recognizing that we are all One, and in living in that awareness. He shows us how to heal our most difficult relationships by transforming them into our greatest spiritual lessons and how to love, forgive, and care for our fellow human beings — even those we find most difficult to love and forgive. With compassion and wisdom, Welshons invites us into a revolutionary new understanding of ourselves, our spiritual life, our world, and all our relationships.

If you've ever thought about community, whether as a lifestyle or simply as an expression of deeper fellowship with others, this book is essential reading. In the fifteen years since it first appeared in English, it has become the classic text on the subject -- read, dog-eared, borrowed, and discussed.Vanier is not a rosy idealist. That is because his writing is based not on theories, but on a wealth of wisdom gleaned over many years living in community, experiencing difficult days and joyous celebrations, times of struggle and hard-won success, moments of doubt and inspiration. He acknowledges the inevitable little frustrations of a life lived with and for others, but he also helps the reader see that without struggle there is no true growth.

The story of William Carey and his ministry in the Indian sub-continent in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries has been told and retold many times. It captured the imagination of untold numbers of evangelicals in his own day, sparked the formation of a host of missionary societies and generally initiated what has been termed the modern missionary movement. What is often forgotten, however, is that Carey did not set out alone, nor would his ministry or that of his colleagues in India have been possible without the faithful support over many years of a circle of friends back at home. As one of these men later recalled, when they contemplated the possibility of a mission to India they thought of it in terms of a gold-mine. Carey said that he was prepared to 'venture to go down' the mine to explore its possibilities but, he told his close friends, Andrew Fuller, John Sutcliff and John Ryland, they 'must hold the ropes'. This book is a tribute to that circle of loyal friends, who saw themselves as being so closely bound together that they were all 'of one heart and one soul', and in particular to one of them, John Sutcliff, the pastor of the church at Olney which originally set apart Carey for the ministry. As well as remaining a lifelong friend of Carey, he was one of the founders of the Baptist Missionary Society, one of the joint authors of the Prayer Call which initially led to the interest in overseas missions and a faithful pastor and teacher in whose home many candidates for the ministry, both at home or abroad, received valuable training for the work to which they were called. Michael Haykin is Principal of Toronto Baptist Seminary in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and aSenior Fellow of The Jonathan Edwards Centre for Reformed Spirituality. He also serves as Adjunct Professor of Church History at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky. He obtained his doctorate at the University of Toronto. He is the editor of Eusebeia: the Bulletin of the Jonathan Edwards Centre for Reformed Spirituality. He is married with two children.

Trevor Saxby's book on intentional Christian community for today combining gritty, challenging teaching with people's own stories of life in community.

Every church, every organization, has experienced them: betrayal, deception, grumbling, envy, exclusion. They make life together difficult and prevent congregations from developing the skills, virtues, and practices they need to nurture sturdy, life-giving communities. In Living into Community Christine Pohl explores four specific Christian practices -- gratitude, promise-keeping, truth-telling, and hospitality -- that can counteract those destructive forces and help churches and individuals build and sustain vibrant communities. Drawing on a wealth of personal and professional experience and interacting with the biblical, historical, and moral traditions, Pohl thoughtfully discusses each practice, including its possible complications and deformations, and points to how these essential practices can be better cultivated within communities and families.

This volume offers translations of the twelfth-century Latin vitae of four monks of the Monastery of Savigny: Abbot Vitalis, Abbot Godfrey, Peter of Avranches, and Blessed Hamo. Founded in 1113 by Vitalis of Mortain, an influential hermit-preacher, Savigny expanded to a congregation of thirty monasteries under his successor Godfrey (1122-1138). In 1147, the entire congregation joined the Cistercian Order. Around 1172, two monks of Savigny, Peter of Avranches and Hamo, friends but very different personalities, died. Their stories were told in two further vitae. The vitae of these four men exemplify the variety of people and movements found in the monastic ferment of the twelfth century.