In his final accomplishment of an extraordinarily distinguished career, James W. McKinnon considers the musical practices of the early Church in this incisive examination of the history of Christian chant from the years a.d. 200 to 800. The result is an important book that is certain to have a long-lasting impact on musicology, religious studies, and history.

In our consumer culture, it can be difficult to help our kids understand the true meaning of the Christmas season. In Celebrating Advent, author Ann Hibbard has created a way for parents to set aside a daily time during Advent to talk with their kids about the spiritual meaning the season holds. She shares practical steps that you can take to make Christmas a more meaningful, happy experience for your family. Inspiring and creative family devotions provide a moment of peace and reflection for each evening of Advent, while fun and inexpensive project ideas help parents focus their kids' attention on what really matters at Christmas: Christ.

Gold medal Illumination Book Awards winner, finalist in the Best Book Awards, and 1st place winner of the Selah Awards for Inspirational/Gift books! Keep the Focus on Jesus this Christmas with 24 Family Devotions for Advent! The flurry of shopping, gift giving, recitals, and parties adds a certain amount of tension to a season meant to be infused instead with awe and wonder. Ask most families what the focus of Christmas really is and they will readily answer that it is the birth of Christ, yet so many of us find ourselves overwhelmed with activities, travel plans, hosting, and more. Trying to prepare our hearts and our families to celebrate His birth becomes secondary while we try to survive the busyness! Victoria Duerstock wants to support families in their desire to make Christ the focus of all their celebrations this Christmas. Each day of this family devotional includes not only a Scripture and short short reflection for the twenty-four days leading up to Christmas, but also inviting full-color images and simple Christmas crafts that can be done as you focus on the rich meaning of this season. Find easy-to-follow instructions for: Stained Glass Ornaments Cinnamon Oatmeal Soap Mason Jar Luminaries Homemade Marshmallows Scrap Ribbon Tree Ornaments And many more! Each devotional through the four weeks of Advent is focused on the themes of Hope, Preparation, Joy, and Love and is meant to be read with the entire family, or by the older child who needs something just for them in this special season. Advent Devotions & Christmas Crafts for Families will be your new favorite holiday tradition. It makes a wonderful early Christmas gift for kids, parents, or grandparents!

Open a window each day of Advent onto the natural world.

A New York Times Bestseller, chosen as Oprah's "Books That Help Me Through" for Oprah's Book Club “No matter where one starts reading, Devotions offers much to love, from Oliver's exuberant dog poems to selections from the Pulitzer Prize-winning American Primitive, and Dream Work, one of her exceptional collections. Perhaps more important, the luminous writing provides respite from our crazy world and demonstrates how mindfulness can define and transform a life, moment by moment, poem by poem.” —The Washington Post “It’s as if the poet herself has sidled beside the reader and pointed us to the poems she considers most worthy of deep consideration.” —Chicago Tribune Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Mary Oliver presents a personal selection of her best work in this definitive collection spanning more than five decades of her esteemed literary career. Throughout her celebrated career, Mary Oliver has touched countless readers with her brilliantly crafted verse, expounding on her love for the physical world and the powerful bonds between all living things. Identified as "far and away, this country's best selling poet" by Dwight Garner, she now returns with a stunning and definitive collection of her writing from the last fifty years. Carefully curated, these 200 plus poems feature Oliver's work from her very first book of poetry, No Voyage and Other Poems, published in 1963 at the age of 28, through her most recent collection, Felicity, published in 2015. This timeless volume, arranged by Oliver herself, showcases the beloved poet at her edifying best. Within these pages, she provides us with an extraordinary and invaluable collection of her passionate, perceptive, and much-treasured observations of the natural world.

The New York Times bestselling Christmas classic. Over 250,000 books in print. An annual bestseller. Thousands of readers have already fallen in love with Ann Voskamp’s One Thousand Gifts, and this Christmas, Ann will help readers celebrate the lineage and the majesty of God’s greatest gift—Jesus Christ. In what has already become a holiday classic, Voskamp reaches back into the pages of the Old Testament to explore the lineage of Jesus via the advent tradition of “The Jesse Tree.” Beginning with Jesse, the father of David, The Greatest Gift retraces the epic pageantry of mankind, from Adam to the Messiah, with each day’s reading pointing to the coming promise of Christ. Sure to become a holiday staple in every Christian home, The Greatest Gift is the perfect gift for the holidays and a timeless reminder of the true meaning of Christmas.

This historic and authoritative volume contains the complete three-year listing of the Revised Common Lectionary (Years A, B, and C) to guide preaching and Scripture reading on the Lord’s Day. Abingdon Press. Also included are an introduction explaining the nature and uses of lectionaries and a brief history of the Consultation on Common Texts.