Jim Cotter – författare

Seekers and church members today are rediscovering the power of many of Christianity’s ancient traditions, such as Evening Prayer. For many years now, in England, they have turned to the writing of Jim Cotter. In fact, the New Zealand Prayer Book’s Evening Prayer section comes largely from Prayer at Night’s Approaching.In this paperback volume, meant to be treasured for a lifetime, there are prayers for the seven days of the week plus additional readings for the various liturgical seasons. Combining the best of the ancient phrases of the Christian tradition with contemporary images and language, Cotter's words encourage the reader to pray more deeply and experience God more fully.

Jim Cotter has a rare gift with words that enables him to write prayers that engage the heart and imagination as well as the mind. Here the ancient and beautiful language of night prayer is infused with fresh and striking imagery about God. Simple prayers, Psalm paraphrases and short readings for reflection open us to the mystery of God – a mystery to which we are more open at night, or when we are facing our own dark places. At night we face many things that are kept at bay by the day’s distractions. Praying the Dark Hours is a combination of two bestselling titles: Prayer at Night and Waymarks. This new edition offers structured prayer for each night of the week, based on the traditional pattern of Compline, woven together with scriptures and a short reflective reading for each day of the year and further selections for the Christian seasons.

This collection of poems by Wales’ most famous poet-priest, R S Thomas, is interspersed with short reflections and questions for exploration that connect the timeless poetry to the landscape that inspired it.Originally produced locally for visitors to the North Wales village and church where R S Thomas was the parish priest, its appeal extends to all who know and love the raw honesty and sparse, striking style of the poetry, and whose own faith and questions are mirrored in it. Aberdaron still welcomes streams of visitors, R S Thomas aficionados and pilgrims en route to the nearby holy island of Bardsey. This book brings the poetry alive in a fresh way and provides a pilgrim guide to the locality, along with reflections that enable armchair readers everywhere to enter more deeply into the world of the poems. All royalties will continue to go to maintaining the church at Aberdaron.

Covering the liturgical year outside Advent, Christmas, Lent and Easter, this collection of reflections, readings, poems and prayers focuses on the life and ministry of Jesus – the rich subject matter of the lectionary readings during Ordinary Time. In addition it includes meditations by Rowan Williams and others for the major feasts of Ascension, Pentecost, Trinity, Transfiguration, Holy Cross Day and other special occasions in the calendar. This richly varied resource will be welcomed by all seeking fresh inspiration for preaching, leading worship – formal or informal, conducting retreats or quiet days. Containing around a hundred short and extended items by the very best of today’s theological and spiritual writers, it also provides rich fare for personal devotional reading.

Darkness Yielding is an imaginative and engaging collection of ready-to-use liturgies, prayers and reflections for the richest seasons of the Christian year - Advent and Christmas, Holy Week and Easter. For all who may be looking for fresh and striking ways of expressing what the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus mean for human life, Darkness Yielding offers:Probing reflections by Rowan Williams and Martyn PercyComplete liturgies by Jim Cotter for a Christmas Eve vigil, a Maundy Thursday footwashing and Last Supper, a Good Friday devotional service, an Easter Eve vigil, and a dawn celebration of the ResurrectionA contemporary set of meditations on the Stations of the Cross and the Seven Words from the Cross from Sylvia SandsA series of seven Good Friday addresses by W H Vanstone

A Daily Prayer resource.

'Prayer in the Morning' is one of four books in a series written by Jim Cotter, which attempts to shape afresh some of the prayers of the Christian inheritance.

A revised book of prayers parallel in format to Prayer at Night's Approaching, which focuses on time of day and season of year, on body and earth, creation, pilgrimage and everyday life, with questions for meditation. Prayer at Day's Dawning is a companion to Prayer at Night's Approaching and a successor to Prayer in the Morning. Both books express a concern that the language of our prayer should be both true to, and a fresh unfolding of, our inheritance. They aim to be inclusive, and to honour a variety of imagery for God. This book provides material for prayer for each day of the week, together with some variations for special days and seasons. In this convenient pocket-size edition the print is easy on the eye and there is a helpful ribbon in the hardback. The author has written an accessible 'How to use' section which demystifies the office, a form of prayer traditionally used in religious communities, by explaining clearly both the sequence and the use of psalms, prayers for special days and seasons, and the use of the scriptures. This way into praying is not overwhelming and should appeal both to the professional looking for new language and to the uncertain newcomer - inside and outside traditional church bounds.

Today, the boundary between holidays and pilgrimages is blurred. So how can we make a journey in the spirit of a pilgrimage, whether it be following an old pilgrim trail, or walking the streets where we live, or simply travelling within ourselves? This volume aims to help by providing material for a week's journey in prayer. Celtic in flavour, it offers poems, Bible readings, psalms, hymns and prayers for a seven day pilgrimage of the heart. It is bilingual, with each page provided in both English and Welsh.

A complete resource for daily prayer, this volume has helped countless people develop a simple pattern of daily prayer based on a classic monastic structure and using striking contemporary language. Each outline provides for about 15 minutes of prayer, which can be extended by silence and reflection. For each day, there is an invocation, psalm, Gospel reading, the Lord’s Prayer, followed by prayers that lead into the rest of the day. It can be said in a group or read privately and includes thematic variations for each day of the week and each season of the Christian year. It features Jim Cotter’s arresting and beautiful paraphrases of the Psalms which draw out their meaning for today’s world and its needs. Beautifully produced in two colour printing and with a ribbon marker, music for each of the 150 Psalm responses is provided by the composer Paul Payton.