In 2000 the Episcopal Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America began a relationship of full communion based on the document "Called to Common Mission." This momentous agreement, bringing together the reformed and catholic traditions, came after years of discussion and some resistance. As the possibilities for living and working together evolve across all levels of these two churches' lives, there will inevitably arise many questions about the details--from shared worship and mission initiatives to interchangeability in deploying clergy. Discovering Common Mission is a collection of essays that address the issues. Contributors: Martin E. Marty J. Robert Wright Mark Dyer Jon S. Enslin Reginald H. Fuller George H. Tavard Robert H. Busch Parish study groups, congregations exploring new relationships with their Lutheran or Episcopal neighbors, and seminarians will find these essays helpful in understanding the issues of this ongoing relationship.

In recent bilateral ecumenical dialogue the aim of the dialogue has been to reach some form of doctrinal consensus. The three major chapters of the book discuss the variety of forms of doctrinal consensus found in ecumenical dialogues among Anglicans, Lutherans and Roman Catholics. In general, the dialogue documents argue for agreement/consensus based on commonality or compatibility. Each of the three dialogue processes has specific characteristics and formulates its argument in a unique way. The Lutheran-Roman Catholic dialogue has a particular interest in hermeneutical questions and proposes various forms of "differentiated" or perspectival forms of consensus. The Anglican-Roman Catholic dialogue emphasises the correctness of interpretations. The documents consciously look towards a "common future", not the separated past.

Foreword by Frank T. Griswold One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism gathers twenty-one articles from distinguished church historians, literary historians, and ecumenists -- all written in honor of the Reverend Canon J. Robert Wright, St. Mark's Professor of Ecclesiastical History at The General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church, who has been an inspiration to a generation of students and colleagues. The Most Reverend Frank T. Griswold, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, has written a foreword that complements the work of contributors such as S. W. Sykes, Richard A. Norris Jr., and George Tavard, among others. Though these articles differ in individual subject, they cohere in their relation to Dr. Wright's expertise as a theologian, a historian, a medievalist, an ecumenist, and above all a man of the church. Contributors: Victor Lee Austin Walter R. Bouman Joseph Britton Marsha L. Dutton E. Rozanne Elder C. Christopher Epting John V. Fleming R. William Franklin Patrick Terrell Gray Petra Heldt Joanne McWilliam Robert Bruce Mullin Jon Nilson Richard A. Norris Jr. Robert W. Prichard Michael Root William G. Rusch S. W. Sykes Mary Tanner George Tavard Ellen K. Wondra

This devotional book is intended as a spiritual resource for nurturing your soul. What is truly personal is also truly universal. Where you touch the Holy, it reaches to touch you, and your life will be transformed. If enough of us begin with our own spiritual disciplines, a whole community may be transformed, or a neighborhood or city or nation. --from the Preface In the first daily devotional guide for Unitarian Universalists since the nineteenth-century Day Unto Day (American Unitarian Association), John Morgan has discerningly compiled a unique collection of 365 devotions on prayer, forgiveness, suffering, compassion, social justice, Unitarian Universalist heritage, and many other topics. Mirroring the pluralism in our congregations, the contributions to this book come from many roots--Christian, Buddhist, mystic, Jewish, pagan, humanist, and agnostic.

Since the Revolutionary War, Mainline Christianity has been comprised of the Seven Sisters of American Protestantism—the Congregational Church, the Episcopal Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church, the Presbyterian Church, the United Methodist Church, the American Baptist Convention, and the Disciples of Christ. These denominations have been the dominant cultural representatives since the nineteenth century of how and where the majority of American Christians worship. Today, however, the Seven Sisters no longer represent most American Christians. The Mainline has been shrinking while evangelical and fundamentalist churches, as well as non denominational congregations and mega churches, have been attracting more and more members. In this comprehensive and accessible book, Jason S. Lantzer chronicles the rise and fall of the Seven Sisters, documenting the ways in which they stopped shaping American culture and began to be shaped by it. After reviewing and critiquing the standard decline narrative of the Mainline he argues for a reconceptualization of the Mainline for the twenty-first century, a new grouping of Seven Sisters that seeks to recognize the vibrancy of American Christianity.

This is a complete revision of a detailed resource which has been the essential guide for church musicians working in the Episcopal church for over 20 years. A Guide to the Practice of Church Music (1989) was originally written by Marion J. Hatchett, who taught for many years at the Episcopal seminary at Sewanee, was key in developing materials for The Hymnal 1982. This updated revision contains brief, but articulate discussions of the role of music in the church, the variety and nature of music ministries (people, cantor, choirs, organists, directors, instrumentalists, clergy, and music committees); principles for the selection of hymns, psalms, canticles, and other service music and their sources in materials from CPI and beyond; guidance for planning services for all rites of the church in the BCP and the Book of Occasional Services. Updated revision includes hymnals, electronic resources, and materials published since The Hymnal 1982.

For more than 600 years, Western civilization has relied on exploration to learn about a wider world and universe. The Great Ages of Discovery details the different eras of Western exploration in terms of its locations, its intellectual contexts, the characteristic moral conflicts that underwrote encounters, and the grand gestures that distill an age into its essence. Historian and MacArthur Fellow Stephen J. Pyne identifies three great ages of discovery in his fascinating new book. The first age of discovery ranged from the early 15th to the early 18th century, sketched out the contours of the globe, aligned with the Renaissance, and had for its grandest expression the circumnavigation of the world ocean. The second age launched in the latter half of the 18th century, spanning into the early 20th century, carrying the Enlightenment along with it, pairing especially with settler societies, and had as its prize achievement the crossing of a continent. The third age began after World War II, and, pivoting from Antarctica, pushed into the deep oceans and interplanetary space. Its grand gesture is Voyager’s passage across the solar system. Each age had in common a galvanic rivalry: Spain and Portugal in the first age, Britain and France—followed by others—in the second, and the USSR and USA in the third. With a deep and passionate knowledge of the history of Western exploration, Pyne takes us on a journey across hundreds of years of geographic trekking. The Great Ages of Discovery is an interpretive companion to what became Western civilization’s quest narrative, with the triumphs and tragedies that grand journey brought, the legacies of which are still very much with us.