What is it about certain parishes that makes people feel welcome? Brings them back Sunday after Sunday? Engages them and makes them willing to be more involved? Is your parish user-friendly?..

Discerning Disciples Listening for God's Voice in Christian Initiatiion Author Donna Steffen. This volume is an invaluable reference for sponsors and other guides who journey with RCIA candidates. It describes the decision-making process and how people have experienced it...

“’Full Circle to God’ is a wonderful life-story told with humility, passion and a charming sense of humour.  Ambrose’s reflections on suffering, divine guidance, mission and faith are well worth pondering.  His compassion, love and grace are well worth emulating.”..

Recognizing that contemporary readers appreciate the convenience of short basic books, Charis offers this attractive series called Your One-Stop Guides. In these brightly written books, readers will find the essentials on significant Catholic topics. In a comprehensive and popular style, Your One-Stop Guides present the core of Catholic teaching and practice on subjects of perennial interest and importance. The book gives a fresh and up-to-date account on patron saints—-saints designated by the Church to intercede for specific causes, to protect nations and people in their professions and vocations, and to help us all stay close to God...

When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray, he gave them what is now known as "the Lord's Prayer." What is the Lord's Prayer to you? Is it a formal prayer that you repeat only during Sunday morning worship? Has it become so familiar that you hardly think about its meaning? If so, you are missing out on a rich resource for your spiritual life. In this eight-session study guide, Douglas Connelly unpacks the Lord's Prayer section by section with additional texts that help you dig deeper into Jesus' teaching about how to pray. This LifeGuide Bible Study features questions for starting group discussions and for meeting God in personal reflection, together with the leader's notes and a "Now or Later" section in each study. About the Author: Douglas Connelly (MDiv and MTh, Grace Theological Seminary) is senior pastor at Davison Missionary Church near Flint, Michigan, after serving twelve years as senior pastor at Parkside Community Church in Sterling Heights, Michigan. A writer and ..

Joy Cowley's Psalms Down-under, like their biblical models, are not the stuff of comfortable piety. They sing beatitudes for all life has to offer: pain and joy, doubt and faith, turbulence and peace, in the immediacy of 'down-under' speech. Commonalities become blinding insights as Cowley sees the 'shimmering of the divine' in everything from detergent bubbles to mountain snows. The subjects range from the paschal mysteries to the ordinary 'Bumps' in our lives. These contemporary 'metaphysical' prayer-poems go straight to our heart and quicken the soul: "Listen God/I just had a nasty bump/and now I want to know the reason why."..

Written by a teacher in a hospital bereavement program, this book shows the many different ways children express grief, thus enabling a child to move from raw emotion to acceptance and hope...

When a major illness touches a home, children can be frightened and confused. Connie S. Owens, pediatric nurse and grief counselor, has written a sensitive, touching story of one little girl's love for her aunt...

Kingdom kidz Bible with envelope surprises! Zacchaeus Did you know that meeting Jesus can change your life forever? Zacchaeus was a mean person before he met Jesus. Zacchaeus stole money and hurt people, and he didn’t even care. Nobody liked Zacchaeus. Then one day Zacchaeus saw Jesus. Jesus cared about Zacchaeus and wanted to meet him. Something new, different, and wonderful happened in Zacchaeus’s heart. He didn’t want to be mean and selfish anymore. Jesus made him a new person with a new life! You can meet Jesus, too! And Jesus can give you a wonderful new life! Zacchaeus is just one of the classic Bible stories in the Kingdom Kidz series. Each book features a complete, easy-to-read story for kids ages 3 to 7. Every page is bright with cheerful, full-color illustrations. And the very last page holds a fun envelope surprise that helps kids remember the story and its meaning. The kingdom kidz books are perfect for bedtime, naptime, anytime reading! You’ll enjoy collecting them all! ..

Mary and Martha—Martha learns what is important—to sit with Jesus and learn more about God! The envelope surprise is a plastic watch that will remind children to spend time with Jesus every day...

"Let us praise God's glory" Ephesians 1:12..

Dei Verbum. One of the principle documents of the Second Vatican Council, Dei Verbum was promulgated by Pope Paul VI on November 18, 1965. The document Dei Verbum is one of the most authoritative and important documents of the Council. Its purpose is to spell out the Churchs understanding of the nature of revelation, that is, the process whereby God communicates with human beings. It touches on questions about Scripture, tradition and the teaching authority of the Church. Dei Verbum continues the trajectory initiated by Divino Afflante Spiritu, allowing Catholic scripture scholars to read the Bible as arising within particular social and cultural contexts. The major concern of the document is to proclaim a Catholic understanding of the Bible as the "word of God." This understanding is placed within the larger context of the Church's understanding of revelation itself. Here the document speaks not of revelation about God, but the revelation of God. God communicates his very self t..

Marriage failure, divorce and remarriage have become ingrained features of western society and affect every person and every marriage. Andrew Cornes draws upon his profound Bible knowledge and wide pastoral experience to tackle 99 Questions About Divorce & Remarriage. They include: -When can it be right for a Christian to separate? -Does God permit me to remarry? -How does God view my second marriage? -How can I learn to forgive? Christ can support marriages that have almost collapsed. He can forge a new fulfilling life for the person devastated by separation and divorce, and can bring positive hope where there seemed only anger and contempt. This book is a popular version of the author’s Divorce and Remarriage, which received wide praise: ‘Indispensable reading for everybody who is anxious to develop a Christian mind on these topics. It is thorough, clear, faithful, realistic and passionate.’ - REV. DR JOHN STOTT ‘The hard questions and difficult cases are not dodged and Scripture i..

   The fourth installment in the Joshua series, Joshua and the City reaches some encouraging and very important conclusions. In an urban community where poverty, senseless violence, racism, and AIDS seem like insurmountable problems, Joshua manages to sow seeds of renewal with his words of love. He reaches out to every person with transforming openness, showing how to regenerate the city and bring about undreamed-of economic revitalization.    Yet many other problems remain that money cannot help. And it is, most importantly, to these that Joshua addresses his healing message. In a world of despairing doubt, Joshua and the City gives the reader hopeful answers that lead toward peace and understanding...

These reflections about life experience and liturgy, written in the form of letters to God, leads readers to the heart of a paradox--to a God who is both transcendent and personal, to a life experience that is both unique and repetitous. But the book is an open one, one that invites readers to pick it up and enter into the journey. ..

Ministering to preteens can be a challenge! They're too old for children's ministry, but too young for the youth group. This book offers 100 fresh and new games designed specifically for preteens. You'll get crowdbreakers, relationship builders, Bible learning games, large and small group games, quiet games, wild games, travel games, and games for special days. You'll find a game for every occasion--and discover fun ways to build supportive relationships...