A comprehensive, detailed handbook for the entire liturgical year that includes colors, music, and decorations for each season and occasion. This guide for clergy, parish musicians, lay readers, and congregational representatives covers all the stages of organizing worship services for the entire year. Using The Book of Common Prayer and Hymnal 1982 as primary resources, it explores the rich variety of options—both time-honored traditions and accepted innovations. Times and seasons covered in depth include Advent, the Twelve Days of Christmas, Lent and Holy Week, Easter and the Great Fifty Days, and the Sundays after Epiphany and Pentecost. Planning the Church Year explains the preparations that make for meaningful holy days and special occasions, such as Lesser Feasts, Thanksgiving Day, Vigils, Michaelmas, All Saints’ Day, the bishop’s visitation, the Patronal and Dedication Festivals.

An acolyte resource for the 21st-century Episcopal Church Despite the changing landscape of the Episcopal Church, one ministry that continues but gets little attention is that of acolytes. Whether second graders or adults, the mentoring and training of acolytes is a formational experience. I Serve at God’s Altar offers a simplified theology of how God is met in worship and how it affects the lives of those most engaged in it, a visual exploration of the Episcopal liturgy and its history through extensive illustrations, how acolytes fit into the work of the church in worship, and how worship affects the acolyte’s discernment for ministry and Rule of Life. Illustrations include a visual exploration of church artifacts (crosses, candles, Eucharistic vessels, etc.), holds, and processes to set a standard of expectation and expertise in service according to Episcopal practice and tradition. There is a section of reproducible handouts for organizing an acolyte ministry at every size church, including scheduling, communications, installation liturgies, recruitment plans, and training outlines.

Church leaders understand that managing the day-to-day operations of a church can be challenging because of limited resources, managing volunteer labor, and supporting the needs of the congregation. Smart Church Management: A Quality Approach to Church Administration, Third Edition is an updated guide for managing the resources of a church - which is people, time and money. This book provides tools and examples for decision making and problem-solving for church administration that is easy to understand and more importantly, quick to implement! This book also includes discussion questions to provoke thought and discussion for church teams. This book is ideal for ministry students, church boards, church leadership and church administrators.

There remains a constant need for new perspectives on the liturgical church seasons in order to keep them spiritually fresh and to bring them to life in new ways. This book enables Christian readers to experience a new depth in their faith journey as they celebrate the season of Advent. This is a short book of spiritual meditations for the Advent season on the four "Middle Eastern" songs sung around the birth of Jesus: canticles that play an important role in the liturgical worship of the church over the centuries. These canticles include: the Song of Mary (Magnificat), Song of Zechariah (Benedictus), Song of the Angels (Gloria), and Song of Simeon (Nunc Dimittis). The devotions emphasize the Middle Eastern cultural elements of these songs.

A valuable handbook for the server at all liturgical celebrations. Complete with illustrations, this volume covers in careful detail all the responsibilities and duties of the acolyte.

The liturgy of the Catholic Church is the action by which Jesus Christ unites the members of the Church in glorifying God. It makes people holy through words, music, action and signs. The Eucharist is intended to be the most powerful means of union with our God, with the saints in heaven and with each other, and is to be a foretaste of the praise of God given in joy by the saints in heaven. As we move through the whole of the year, the Church is united with the mysteries of Christ's earthly life so as to come closer to her Lord and Saviour. Monsignor Peter Elliott provides scholarship and many years' experience and love of the liturgy. His previous work Ceremonies of the Modern Roman Rite has helped many people to celebrate our liturgy with attention and devotion. This present work is a guide to the most important moments of the Church year from Advent and Christmas to Holy Week, Corpus Christi and to the Solemnity of Christ the King. His book has been a long-awaited guide to those who wish to celebrate the events of the Church year with dignity, devotion, and deep faith. "Monsignor Elliot is one of the most insightful and reliable liturgists writing today. The rubrics of the Roman Rite are not self-explaining, but with Elliot's work safely in reach, a generation of liturgists raised without a rich training in tradition can confidently approach the Ritual and be more respectful of the faithful's fundamental right to sound worship." -Dr. Edward Peters Institute for Pastoral Theology, Ave Maria University

An activity book for children that engages the whole family in preparing to celebrate the liturgical season of the church year. Includes a pull-out calendar that children can color and display. Ages 7-11. +

This book was written to help congregational leaders, clergy, staff, and laypersons, plan and organize a Christian education ministry from the approach of Christian formation in a community of faith context. This book provides a model for organizing the Christian education leadership committee or team of the church, demonstrates how to use the church year as a framework for planning the Christian education ministry of the church, and gives a model for assessing the effectiveness of the educational ministry of the church and a process to help congregations move toward the Christian Education Formation approach.

The Common Worship Main Volume is the primary worship and service book for the Church of England. It contains material used on Sundays by most churches: a variety of Communion services and non-eucharistic forms of worship, as well as the basic Baptism service and the Psalms. Full contents: The Declaration of Assent The Calendar A Service of the Word Morning and Evening Prayer on Sunday Morning and Evening Prayer from the Book of Common Prayer Night Prayer (Compline) Night Prayer (Compline) in Traditional Language Prayers for Various Occasions The Litany The Litany from the Book of Common Prayer Authorized Forms of Confession and Absolution Creeds and Authorized Affirmations of Faith Holy Communion including A Form of Preparation, Order One, Order One in Traditional Language, Order Two, Order Two in Contemporary Language, Supplementary Texts, Seasonal Provisions Thanksgiving for the Gift of a Child Holy Baptism Collects and Post Communions Collects and Post Communions in Traditional Language Rules Lectionary The Psalter Canticles

Each week brings a lighthearted opportunity to remember that humor and the gospel are not mutually exclusive. The Drawn to the Gospels series covers all of the Sundays in the lectionary year, as well as special days such as Christmas, Epiphany, Ash Wednesday, and Ascension Day. Each entry contains a cartoon illustration of the gospel, a short paragraph of introduction, and some engaging questions. The cartoons are scaled so they can be reproduced for bulletins, inserts, or even posters, bringing weekly gospel readings to life. These amusing and original reflections deepen scriptural literacy and engagement among members of the Episcopal Church, including youth groups, and will inspire some fun in the process.