Christian initiation takes varying forms in different denominations and for many non-churchgoing new parents, a christening or some other kind of ceremony is important at this landmark time in their lives. Equally, many adults seek baptism in the Church of England and the ancient practice of baptism with confirmation at the Easter Vigil is enjoying a revival. This volume - the third and final volume in the "Creative Pastoral Liturgy" series - offers imaginative ideas and liturgies for all these and many more occasions in the life of a local church which you will not find in official service books. These include: blessings for a house and a new building, thanksgiving liturgies for all who help to run the church, services of blessing for those moving away, for a student going travelling, for a group going on pilgrimage, for an ordinand starting training, and for someone going to serve overseas. As with the companion volumes on marriage and funerals, this invaluable resource ensures that the authorised initiation liturgies are celebrated with imagination and creativity so that pastoral support and care is made clearly visible.

Arising out of many years' practical experience in local parishes and on a diocesan liturgical committee, this second volume in a series of three by this creative team of writers will help local churches everywhere make the most of the opportunities presented by couples coming for marriage or a wedding blessing. The wedding industry today is driven by consumer choice. Churches are uniquely placed to offer: real pastoral support at what is often a stressful (and expensive!) time, time out to consider what marriage means and imaginative liturgies that can make a wedding truly memorable. This book is full of ideas that will help make the experience of getting married in church joyous, memorable and meaningful. From giving engaged couples 'Stress-busting gift packs', to creating personalised wedding ceremonies, ideas for church decorating and welcoming couples who have got married in another part of the country or abroad, this is a resource brimming with simple and effective ideas.

Ask almost any priest what his or her biggest headache is and the answer is likely to be 'coming up with ideas for including children in worship'. Here is the answer to those prayers - a whole year's worth of activities and ideas complete with artwork and visual aids. These sixty outlines have been developed and used in an Anglican parish church over the last eight years by a professional educationalist, artist and experienced children's church leader. The worship outlines include simple children's liturgies and a complete lesson or story plan that harmonizes with what the adults are doing in church on the same day. Through fun ideas, children encounter a real aspect of the Christian faith focused on a theme to be found in the Gospel of the day. Each outline includes a variety of options which make them workable with small and large groups of children or single groups of mixed ages. Illustrated throughout, the text and artwork appears on the accompanying CD Rom in full colour for downloading and printing or copying.

Drawing on research carried out as part of the Baptism Project, and making helpful connections with popular catechetical material from sources such as Pilgrim, Simon Jones considers how, where, and for whom rites of Christian initiation are celebrated, and how baptism has been rediscovered as fundamental to the Church’s identity and mission. Very little has been written recently about the celebration of rites of Christian initiation. Focussing primarily on the material in Common Worship (including the new texts for baptism) as well as drawing on other liturgical traditions, this book fills the gap with a concise yet comprehensive treatment that takes full account of the latest needs and developments.

Seasons like Advent, Christmas, Lent and Easter are among the busiest for clergy and leaders of worship. This addition to the popular Creative Ideas series helps you plan seasonal worship more easily with a range of easy-to-use dramas and ideas to liven up worship, all based on the lectionary readings. It includes: • dramatic readings of lectionary readings and drama sketches for all seasons of the Christian year • short and snappy dramatic dialogues exploring biblical readings from a contemporary point of view • ideas for using our worship space more creatively • ideas for non-lectionary events such as Christingle • how to write creatively for worship • CD-Rom with downloadable resources Seasons covered include Advent, Christmas, Christingle, Epiphany, Lent, Mothering Sunday, Easter, Pentecost, Trinity Sunday, Harvest and Remembrance Sunday.

Since its first appearance in 1960, Documents of the Baptismal Liturgy has been praised and used by scholars in understanding how the rite of baptism was celebrated through the centuries. This new edition retains the sources previously included and adds Eastern Christian texts from the great East Syrian Church Fathers, as well as selections from The Rite of the Assyrian Church of the East, the Syrian Orthodox Church, and the Maronite Rite. Additional Western texts include the famous Pentecost Homily attributed to Faustus of Riez, Letter 26 to Januarius from Pope Gregory I, and the Rite of Confirmation from the Pontifical of William Durandus. Instead of placing local councils together in one section, individual councils are now placed in their respective geographic locals. Bibliographical lists in a variety of languages have been added for each document studied or for each locale; and translations have often been replaced with more recent versions. The glossary and the introductions to each document make it accessible to the general, as well as the specialist, reader. Chapters are The Ante-Nicene Church," *Syria, Syro-Palestine, Antiochia, - *The Rite of the Assyrian Church of the East, - *The Armenian Rite, - *The Syriac-Maronite Rite, - *The Byzantine Rite, - *Egypt, - *Africa, - *Spain, - *Milan, - *Rome, - *Galican Documents, - and *The Sarum Rite. - E. C. Whitaker served as a parish priest and Canon Emeritus of Calisle Cathedral, England. Maxwell E. Johnson, Ph.D., is a minister in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and is professor of liturgy in the department of theology at the University of Notre Dame. "

These volumes provide creative and provocative analysis of each of the Church's seven sacraments.