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.

The Abingdon Worship Annual 2016 offers fresh worship planning resources for all who plan and implement weekly worship. “The task of planning worship should be filled with joy and excitement, but it is often plagued by competing demands on our time and energies—demands that drown creativity and stifle innovation. To help worship leaders produce excellent worship in the midst of their busy schedules, we are honored to offer this resource.” Using a theme based on the lectionary readings, now from the Common English Bible, each week’s offering of prayers and litanies follows a basic pattern of Christian worship: Invitation and Gathering (including Contemporary Gathering Words) Proclamation and Response Thanksgiving and Communion Sending Forth Searchable online extras! Available exclusively to Abingdon Worship Annual users. Along with the entire print text in PDF format for ease of navigation and use, the AWA 2016 offers these extras: Song suggestions for each week, hyperlinked to the text Annotated Resource List with links to helpful worship planning websites Prayers and Liturgies for All Saints Worship Now more than ever, The Abingdon Worship Annual is a must-have sourcebook offering countless opportunities for planning meaningful and insightful worship.

The Abingdon Preaching Annual 2017 includes: The Primary Theme Fleshed out with brief, pithy nuggets of thought, idea jump-starters, or questions designed to spur the preacher’s imagination. Secondary or Parallel Themes Two or three themes or streams of thought that are related to but separate from the primary theme offered. Worship Helps Including Gathering Prayer, Collect, Pastoral Prayer, Congregational Prayer, Responsive Reading, and a Closing Prayer or Benediction. Topical Essays These 700 word essays cover a variety of current and critical topics for the preacher—contributed by leading homileticians. Full Sermons The full text from six to twelve sermons will be included. These sermons will highlight best practices, unique approaches, and fresh voices. Sermon Series Ideas This section will briefly outline and describe ideas for unique sermon series based on lectionary readings. "As a weekly preacher, I often find that preparing for preaching and crafting sermons are spiritual disciplines for me. It is a time in which I try to quiet all of the other 'to do' lists that occupy much of my ministry. This resource from Abingdon Press will now be a partner in those conversations, almost like a new personal devotional guide. I am grateful for additional voices who can help me make space for God’s Living Word." - Shannon J Kershner, Pastor, Fourth Presbyterian Church, Chicago, IL "The Abingdon Preaching Annual is a valuable resource for today’s preacher seeking to offer sermons with theological depth and thematic clarity. It seeks to activate the preacher’s own reflection and imagination in the challenging task of weekly preaching." - Alyce M. McKenzie, Le Van Professor of Preaching and Worship Director, The Perkins Center for Preaching Excellence

Both experienced and novice preachers need a new approach for sermon development skill-building. A Sermon Workbook offers a unique and flexible resource that is instantly accessible and useful for anyone tasked with the proclamation of the Word. The workbook format can be used in a linear fashion, beginning to end. Or readers can pick and choose the chapters to tailor-fit their own needs. In either case, readers build skill upon skill, working through inventive and engaging exercises first developed and taught at Yale Divinity School. The book addresses the skills and arts that are essential for effective preaching in our multi-tasking, multi-ethnic, sound-bite society. It offers theological clarity about why we preach, and what matters most. The creative, collaborative, and charming authors present the principles as they do in their classroom: in two voices—one male and one female--with the two complementing and supporting one another.

A liturgical resource book that covers the months of November, December and January. It includes prayers, stories, responses, songs, poems, reflections, liturgies and meditations for the major Christian festivals of All Saints', Advent, Christmas and Epiphany, as well as for Remembrance, Blue Christmas, Christingle, New Year, Christian Unity and other occasions. The material is written by Iona Community members, associates, friends and others.

The Guidelines booklets, one for each ministry area, are tools that enable you to help get new lay leaders off to a good start. Each booklet includes the basic ""job description"" for the leader as well as practical ""how-to"" information important to implementing ministry effectively. Brief and to the point for the busy, but spirit-led leader, these Guidelines take some of the unknown out of leading these ministry areas. One booklet for each title makes up this set of 26 Guidelines, perfect for making them available to all church members. The twenty-six Guidelines, one for each ministry are.

Local church members join with the promise to uphold the church with “prayers, presence, gifts, and service.” The ministry of stewardship is concerned with the appropriate employment of the fruits of that pledge throughout the ministries of the church. This guideline is designed to help implement and guide the work of the ministry area. This is one of the twenty-six Guidelines that cover church leadership areas including Church Council and Small Membership Church, the administrative areas of Finance and Trustees, and ministry areas focused on nurture, outreach, and witness including Worship, Evangelism, and Christian Education, age-level ministries, Communications, and more. To see a full list of Guidelines, search by typing keywords: “Guidelines for Leading Your Congregation 2013-2016,” and click “search”.