Once again, author Ralph Milton brings his enormous talent as storyteller to the task of retelling biblical stories. Based on the bestselling Family Story Bible, the Lectionary Story Bible includes many new and wonderfully engaging stories from both the Hebrew and New Testament scriptures. At least one, but usually two stories from the lections are included for each Sunday of the church year making Lectionarys Story Bible a complete lectionary resource for Christian educators, camp leaders, worship leaders, and families who want to share their faith at home. The book also includes a scripture index of the stories included in the collection, for non-lectionary settings and uses. Adept at handling even difficult material, Ralph Milton writes stories that are positive and life-affirming, use inclusive language, and portray a God of love to children and adults alike. Margaret Kyle has created many new illustrations brimming with the energy, curiosity, and joy that so characterizes her work. Lectionary Story Bible Year A is the first in a series that will cover all three years of the lectionary. The complete set will be an indispensable resource for anyone who wants to share faith stories with children and make the Bible relevant to young people today.

In this second volume of the Lectionary Story Bible series, author Ralph Milton once again brings his enormous talent as storyteller to the task of retelling biblical stories. Based on the bestselling Family Story Bible, the Lectionary Story Bible Year B includes many new and wonderfully engaging stories from both the Hebrew and New Testament scriptures. At least one, but usually two stories from the lections are included for each Sunday of the church year making Lectionary Story Bible Year B a complete lectionary resource for Christian educators, camp leaders, worship leaders, and families who want to share their faith at home. The book also includes a scripture index of the stories included in the collection, for non-lectionary settings and uses. Adept at handling even difficult material, Ralph Milton writes stories that are positive and life-affirming, use inclusive language, and portray a God of love to children and adults alike. Margaret Kyle has created many new illustrations brimming with the energy, curiosity, and joy that so characterizes her work. Lectionary Story Bible Year B is the second in a three-volume series that will cover all three years of the Revised Common Lectionary. The complete set will be the largest collection of Bible stories for children ever published, and an indispensable resource for anyone who wants to share faith stories with children and make the Bible relevant to young people today

"So what are we about as pastoral pray-ers? We are about bringing ourselves individually and as a faith community into right relationship with God..." What about a Revised Common Lectionary based book of pastoral prayers for clergy and lay leaders that provides responsive prayers for each Sunday of the year. David gets asked this question often when people recognize him as the author of the three volumes of Prayers to Share. So, acknowledging that the pastoral prayer is often overlooked and undervalued, and that clergy and lay leaders may be hard-pressed for time to compose a fresh pastoral prayer each week, he has put together a unique and comprehensive collection of prayers that can be adapted to present circumstances and used in a variety of settings. The prayers are responsive, written for one or two leaders and a congregational response. They all allow for the inclusion of local and worldwide current events, and individual and congregational concerns. David usually uses the weekly Gospel reading as the broad theme for the prayers and divides them into four easily identified sections: world suffering church ourselves The "how to use" section covers preparing to offer pastoral prayer, and offers 12 ways to "do" pastoral prayer, such as: two leader congregational response using people and objects to dramatize a theme using part of a hymn for a lead or a response using silence for effect Each week offers specific suggestions for two or three prayer formats. Other features include: Thematic Index Scripture Index Icons in the margin to enable quick identification of prayer sections and alternate suggestions Data CD with text files for Year A included with the print version

While this one-volume guide is especially useful for Christian educators, showing them how to teach week by week according to the ethos and tradition of the Episcopal Church, it also provides a valuable and useful reference tool for all church leaders and members in connecting Christian faith to daily life. This new guide to Christian education and formation is based on the Book of Common Prayer, the cornerstone of Anglican liturgy and theology. Keyed to the Revised Common Lectionary, all activities and lessons are structured on the seasons and lessons for Years A, B, and C. The guide stresses the major themes of baptismal theology and shows how teachers, parents, and children can live the liturgical cycle in Christian formation ministries at church and at home.

In this valuable resource, Dorothy Henderson explains, encourages and enables all-ages learning. People looking for help in developing an all-ages learning program will be heartened by the wealth of practical advice LearningGod's Stories Together provides. The first part of the book explains the theory and practice of all ages learning. Dorothy opens our eyes to its myriad benefits: It's fun! It builds community. It lets us hear points of view from groups we might not normally have a chance to mingle with. Dorothy presents her ideas in an easily accessible style that will fit with almost any congregation, large or small. There is a section describing the five generations that might form an all ages learning group which is interesting and useful - and not only for church-group use! We also learn about the advantages of all ages learning, which are many. Dorothy provides step-by-step insructions for setting up all ages learning and ideas to use for our first gatherings. The information is complete and inspires us to go ahead and try this if we haven't done it before; it will provide depth and insight and new ideas for those who already have all ages learning happening in their church. The second part of the book consists of 20 story sessions, each of which contains suggestions for gathering, for telling and talking about the story, and for exploring the story and making it part of your life. Again, lots of practical suggestions that will appeal to both children and adults. Dorothy presents her information in a friendly tone that encourages educators to be enthusiastic about embracing this rewarding style of learning. "What other institution do you know where five generations come together every week . . . worshipping, drinkg juice and coffee, talking, eating, doing important mission work and learning together what it means to love God and love a neighbour as oneself. The church provides a natural environment for all-ages gatherings. But, as Edward Loper reminds us, 'There was a time, not all that long ago, when we did not need to intentionally talk about the relationships between generations. The relationships were plain for all to see. Most of us lived in the context of an extended family. Members of several generations lived in a close proximity to one another, kenw each other, and supported each other. This is no longer the case.' It is time, once again, to become intentional in building connections among the generations."

The stories in this book often offer a surprise ending, an ironic twist or a reversal, just as in the parables of Jesus. Based on lectionary texts, this collection will assist the lectionary or the free-text preacher. Although created for adults, the stories also appeal to children and youth.John Sumwalt's stories are a treat -- the Gospel comes alive in common life and in regular people, and suddenly we are enchanted by grace. Donald F. Chatfield, Professor of Preaching Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary

A world list of books in the English language.