IVP ISBN 978 0 8308 4734 1 Price £20 156 pages There have been several podcasts made and books written about the crash and burn of Christian ministry. And it’s certainly important for the Church to navigate the territory that has led to toxicity and disfunction in Christian leadership. This book is an honest attempt to do that by meditating on the places, mostly mountains, in Scripture that have been transformative meeting points between God and humans. What is refreshing about Land of My Sojourn is that it does honestly reflect on how things go wrong in a Christian community, with all its gut ..read more

SPCK ISBN 976 0 381 08767 9 Price £12.99 206 pages This is an honest, well-written, and wide-ranging book on a vital topic. It’s also a story that needs to be told; one that needs to be heard, especially by men in Christian leadership. I fear that for many men this is not the kind of book that they might read. They might be put off by the title, which does not entirely convey what is going on in the book. The subtitle: Being a woman in a church led by men, is a better description of what is in the tin. The author writes as an insider concerning what it feels like to be a women in predominantly ..read more

For the first time ever, the whole Bible has been made available in a dyslexia-friendly format. The Bible Society initiative began in 2015 with the book of Psalms and the Gospel of Mark. It’s now been completed with the publication of Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy and Joshua. Clair Natt Interview – Scripture for Everyone – Dyslexia Friendly Bibles – 2024 People with dyslexia can struggle to read and write easily because they don’t deal well with text on a page. Around six million people in the UK – one in 10 of the population – are thought to have the condition. Reading the Bible can be part ..read more

Marianne Rozario and Lia Shimeda Ashes to Ashes: Beliefs, Trends and Practices in Dying, Death, and the Afterlife Theos ISBN 978 1 83829559 5 4 Price £7.99 88 pages Andrew Grey Dignity at the End of Life: What’s Beneath the Assisted Dying Debate Theos ISBN 978 0 9956543 3 4 Price £7.99 91 pages These two carefully researched and beautifully presented reports are a timely addition to Christian thought concerning death and dying. In the first the authors examine evolving attitudes toward how we mark people’s death. This report helpfully explores what good grief involves and considers the rites a ..read more

Writer Lauren Windle has a few thoughts on the subject … There are a lot of things that are worthy of our attention. Every charity, cause, marginalised group and now even foodstuff, has a day, week or month in its honour. Did you know that we are currently coming to the end of British Pie Week? I hope that inspires you to wrestle with your puff pastry and dig in this weekend. But among the PR campaigns and Hallmark Cards profit-boosting events, there are some that deserve our serious attention. The issue with ignoring events like Black History Month, International Women’s Day or even Valentine ..read more

The Bible teaches us to be intentional about our lives, so far as we have the power, writes minister and former lawyer Matthew Hutton. And if we are Christians (or indeed Jews), to do so in relationship with God: “The human mind plans the way, but the LORD directs the steps.”   (Proverbs 16:9, NRSV) Indeed, whether we are believers or not, we are well used to planning for the future: who we want to spend our lives with, perhaps to have children, with choices to be made around work, home, hobbies, and so on. But the one thing the vast majority of us do not make plans for or around is ..read more

Hodder Faith ISBN 978 1 399 80674 9 Price £12.99 205 pages This attractively illustrated book is an accessible way for young minds to find the resources for to deal with the challenges of everyday life. Each of the two-page sections contain a brief statement of fact or story and actions points that arise out of it. The themes covered are: Motivation – Wisdom – Battles – Courage – Self-Care – Relationships and Determination. This is not an overtly Christian book – it offers more of a ‘power of positive thinking’ approach, but references to Scripture are scattered here and there in the book. Lik ..read more

SPCK ISBN 978 9 281 97141 8 Price 11.99 178 pages This Lent book seeks to keep together the observance of Lent and Easter. These meditations begin on Ash Wednesday with Jesus in the wilderness being tempted by the Devil, and continue for the week after Easter Sunday exploring the implications of the events of Easter. Tom Wright argues that keeping Lent and Easter together helps us to combine lament and celebration as we reflect on the person and work of Jesus. “It is easy when carried away with the joy of gospel to ignore the fact that the world is still in a mess; that the Church is often mud ..read more

Anglican priest and RNLI volunteer Mark Broadway introduces the themes in his new Lent book Journeying with God in the Wilderness Where is God when he seems distant? Where is God in suffering? Many of these questions pop up, from time to time, both in conversation with Christians, and with friends outside of the Church. There are, of course no easy answers – and the theological answers that we do have in our box of doctrine tend to be correct, but often unhelpful. When people ask ‘where is God in suffering’, what they sometimes mean is ‘I want my suffering to stop’. Sometimes, God steps in and ..read more

It has been announced that the free DailyHOPE telephone line has now closed after almost four years of ministry. The DailyHOPE telephone line was launched on Sunday 26 April 2020 as a response by the Church of England, Faith in Later Life and Connections at Holy Trinity Church in Claygate to support older people who would not be able to access online worship during lockdown. The aim was to ensure that the spiritual life of older people could continue to flourish as churches closed their doors to in person worship and events. The DailyHOPE telephone line stopped providing services on 31 January ..read more