Robert Atwell – författare

Each year in the UK, 225,000 people are diagnosed with dementia. The implications for aging church congregations, and for the Christian mission to people throughout their lives, are considerable. God In Fragments aims to equip those engaged in or preparing for ministry to people with dementia. It explores the theological and spiritual challenges of dementia, suggests practical ways to help those living with dementia participate in worship, and offers a wide range of prayers and worship outlines.•Part One offers theological reflection on living with dementia, spiritual awareness, creating dementia-friendly churches and accessible worship.•Part Two contains services, prayers, readings and activities suitable for those with dementia, for use in formal or informal church contexts, church cafés, care homes and hospitals.In an Afterword, Samuel Wells reflects on unlocking the gates of memory.

This anthology of writings, drawn from five hundred years of spiritual exploration, shows how the early Church Fathers 'kept company with God'. It witnesses to the continuity of the Christian tradition as it emerged and grew from the era of the Apostles. In these days of division and cultural fragmentation, this rich heritage constitutes an invaluable resource of learning and wisdom. Including material from Cyprian, The Desert Tradition, Basil the Great, Gregory of Nyssa, John Chrysostom, Augustine, Benedict, and Gregory the Great, this collection will inspire and impress contemporary readers with its vitality and variety of thought.

Pilgrim is a teaching and discipleship resource that will help enquirers and new Christians explore what it means to travel through life with Jesus Christ. It offers an approach of participation, not persuasion, encouraging enquirers to practice the ancient disciplines of biblical reflection and prayer, exploring key texts that have helped people since the earliest days of the Christian faith. What do Christians believe? Turning to Christ examines the heart of the Christian faith through the six questions asked at baptism. Over six sessions it aims to help participants discover their own answers to these questions.Session One: Do you turn to Christ? Explores the attraction of Jesus Christ. What happened when people met him? What would happen if you did?Session Two: Do you believe and trust in God the Father? What do Christians believe about God? This session uses the Old Testament to look at how God is like a Father.Session Three: Do you believe in his Son Jesus Christ? Looks in more detail at who Christians believe Jesus is, and what Jesus’ baptism reveals about his identity.Session Four: Do you believe in the Holy Spirit? Uses the story of Pentecost to show how Christians believe the Holy Spirit makes Jesus present today.Session Five: Do you repent of your sins? Looks at what Christians call sin: that inbuilt tendency to get things wrong and God’s great desire to put things right.Session Six: Do you renounce evil? Explores the reality of evil, and how the Christian faith invites us to set the moral compass of our lives.All sessions combine a simple framework prayer, reflection on the Bible in the lectio divina style, an article by a modern writer, and time for questions and reflection, supported by online audio-visual resources.

Pilgrim is a teaching and discipleship resource that will help enquirers and new Christians explore what it means to travel through life with Jesus Christ. It offers an approach of participation, not persuasion, encouraging enquirers to practice the ancient disciplines of biblical reflection and prayer, exploring key texts that have helped people since the earliest days of the Christian faith. How do Christians know and worship God? The Lord’s Prayer uses one of the greatest Christian prayers to reveal more about what God is like. Over six sessions, it uses each powerful line of the Lord’s Prayer as a gateway to the Christian gospel.Session One: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name - Explores the Christian belief that, through prayer, Jesus invites us into a relationship with God as our Father.Session Two: Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven - Unpacks the idea of the kingdom of God, which is central to Jesus’ teaching and being a Christian disciple.Session Three: Give us today our daily bread - How does God feed his people, and what does it means to pray the words: ‘Give us this day our daily bread’?Session Four: Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us - Looks at the central place of forgiveness in the Christian life: both receiving God’s forgiveness and forgiving others.Session Five: Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil - Considers our strengths and weaknesses, exploring this plea to God for help and protection.Session Six: For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours now and forever. Amen - How praise and worship begins and ends Christian prayer, and draws everything together.All sessions combine a simple framework prayer, reflection on the Bible in the lectio divina style, an article by a modern writer, and time for questions and reflection, supported by online audio-visual resources.

Pilgrim is a major new teaching and discipleship resourcefrom the Church of England. It will help enquirers and new Christians explorewhat it means to travel through life with Jesus Christ.A Christian course for the twenty-first century, Pilgrimoffers an approach of participation, not persuasion. Enquirers are encouragedto practice the ancient disciplines of biblical reflection and prayer,exploring key texts that have helped people since the earliest days of theChristian faith. Believing that the Christian faith is primarily aboutrelationship, Pilgrim aims to lay a foundation for a lifetime of learning moreabout God’s love revealed in Jesus Christ and what it means to be his disciple.Assuming little or no knowledge of the Christian faith, Pilgrim can be used atany point on the journey of discipleship and by every tradition in the Churchof England.Pilgrim is made up of two parts: Follow and Grow. Eachconsists of four short courses and a leaders’ guide. Follow introduces theChristian faith for complete beginners, while Grow aims to develop a deeperlevel of discipleship in those who have turned to Christ. Each short course contains six-sessions, supported byonline audio-visual resources. All sessions combine a simple framework prayer,reflection on the Bible in the lectio divina style, an article by a modernwriter, and time for questions and reflection. The Leaders’ Guide explains the aims and approach of Pilgrim and offers advice and support for running the sessions.

Pilgrim is a teaching and discipleship resource that will help enquirers and new Christians explore what it means to travel through life with Jesus Christ. It offers an approach of participation, not persuasion, encouraging enquirers to practice the ancient disciplines of biblical reflection and prayer, exploring key texts that have helped people since the earliest days of the Christian faith. How should Christians behave and how should we live? The Commandments are one of the foundations of the Christian faith. They teach us how we should aim to live as individuals and as a community. These six sessions explore the ways in which Jesus interprets the Commandments for his disciples and expands their meaning.Session One: Priorities - Looks at Jesus’ summary of the law as the foundation for the way a disciple is called to live.Session Two: Reverence - Explores the vital importance of reverence and worship for God and the danger of making idols of what we love.Session Three: Rest - This session further explores the theme of reverence in the third commandment and the linked theme of rest and the Sabbath in the rhythm of our lives.Session Four: Respect - Focussing on the honour shown within the family and respect for the sanctity of life, this session explores the theme of respect.Session Five: Righteousness - Looks at the commandments about adultery and theft and their implications for our daily lives.Session Six: Reliability - What are the dangers of dishonesty and covetousness? This session looks at the damage they may cause.All sessions combine a simple framework prayer, reflection on the Bible in the lectio divina style, an article by a modern writer, and time for questions and reflection, supported by online audio-visual resources.

Pilgrim is a teaching and discipleship resource that will help enquirers and new Christians explore what it means to travel through life with Jesus Christ. It offers an approach of participation, not persuasion, encouraging enquirers to practice the ancient disciplines of biblical reflection and prayer, exploring key texts that have helped people since the earliest days of the Christian faith. How can we build our lives on the teaching and example of Jesus? The Beatitudes are probably the most important, subversive and revolutionary text in the Bible. In order to follow Jesus and live the Christian life, we need to enter into the challenging but beautiful world of the Beatitudes and that is what this exciting course is all about.Session One: Living with Openness to God - Looks at what it means to live with openness to God and to the world.Session Two: Thirsting for what is right - What does it mean to live with obedience to God and with a desire to put things right in the world as God intends?Session Three: Living Transparently - Exploring what it means to be transparent in all we do and are, looking at how we show others the mercy God gives to us.Session Four: Peacemaking - What does it mean to be a peacemaker after the example of Christ and what is the cost of this witness?Session Five: Living as Citizens of God’s Kingdom - Looks at what Jesus meant by the kingdom and how we can live as its citizens.Session Six: Foundations - Explores what it means to build our lives on the teaching and example of Jesus, as we have seen in the BeatitudesAll sessions combine a simple framework prayer, reflection on the Bible in the lectio divina style, an article by a modern writer, and time for questions and reflection, supported by online audio-visual resources.

Pilgrim is a teaching and discipleship resource that will help enquirers and new Christians explore what it means to travel through life with Jesus Christ. It offers an approach of participation, not persuasion, encouraging enquirers to practice the ancient disciplines of biblical reflection and prayer, exploring key texts that have helped people since the earliest days of the Christian faith. This first book in the Grow Stage explores the core of Christian belief in greater depth through the Nicene and Apostles' Creeds. Its six sessions aim to equip participants with an understanding of these priceless resources for living the Christian life and for knowing God better.Session One: What are the Creeds? - Examines the reasons the Creeds were developed and the role they play in Christian life and faith.Session Two: God as Trinity – Father, Son and Holy Spirit - Considers the profound and wonderful truth that God is Trinity: three persons in relationship, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.Session Three: Fully God and fully human - Looks at the unique nature of Jesus Christ, fully God and fully human, and what this teaches us about God and being human.Session Four: Crucified, risen and ascended - Explores the great shadows in our lives - sin, death and hell - and the way Jesus overcomes these through his death and resurrection.Session Five: I believe in the Holy Spirit - What does it mean to receive the Holy Spirit? This session looks at the Holy Spirit's role in the life of the Church.Session Six: One holy, catholic and apostolic church - Explores what it means to belong to the people of God and to declare that the Church is one, holy, catholic and apostolic.All sessions combine a simple framework prayer, reflection on the Bible in the lectio divina style, an article by a modern writer, and time for questions and reflection, supported by online audio-visual resources.

Pilgrim is a teaching and discipleship resource that will help enquirers and new Christians explore what it means to travel through life with Jesus Christ. It offers an approach of participation, not persuasion, encouraging enquirers to practice the ancient disciplines of biblical reflection and prayer, exploring key texts that have helped people since the earliest days of the Christian faith. This second book in the Grow Stage explores in greater depth how Christians know and worship God. Its six sessions reveal the reasons why The Eucharist is celebrated as a memorial of Christ’s saving passion and stands at the very heart of Christian worship.Session One: Your ancestors ate manna in the wilderness - Explores worship as communion with God.Session Two: This is my body broken for you - Considers the Eucharist as the pattern of all Christian worship.Session Three: He was made known to them in the breaking of the bread - Looks at the intimacy we have with God in Holy Communion and how we are transformed by the encounter.Session Four: If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come and eat with you - How can worship be seen as a sign and foretaste of heaven?Session Five: Do this to remember me - Explores how worship shapes our entire lives.Session Six: I am the bread of life - Considers the notion that the whole of life is sacramental.All sessions combine a simple framework prayer, reflection on the Bible in the lectio divina style, an article by a modern writer, and time for questions and reflection, supported by online audio-visual resources.

Pilgrim is a teaching and discipleship resource that will help enquirers and new Christians explore what it means to travel through life with Jesus Christ. It offers an approach of participation, not persuasion, encouraging enquirers to practice the ancient disciplines of biblical reflection and prayer, exploring key texts that have helped people since the earliest days of the Christian faith. The Bible is one of the most influential books in the world. This third book in the Grow Stage explores the Bible: what it is, where it comes from, how we should read it, and how it can help us grow as disciples of Jesus Christ.Session One: What is the Bible? - Looks at a ‘way in’ to reading the Bible, thinking particularly about how to recognize what kind of writing the Bible is.Session Two: The Bible as Breath - Reflects on what it means to say that the Bible is the breath of God.Session Three: The Bible as a stream of living water - Explores how the Bible nourishes us.Session Four: The Bible as a lamp - Looks at the Bible as something that enlightens and informs us as Christians.Session Five: The Bible as a two-edged sword - Explores what it means to say that the Bible is living and active.Session Six: Daily bread - Considers how we can make Bible-reading a part of our regular life and prayer.All sessions combine a simple framework prayer, reflection on the Bible in the lectio divina style, an article by a modern writer, and time for questions and reflection, supported by online audio-visual resources.

Pilgrim is a teaching and discipleship resource that will help enquirers and new Christians explore what it means to travel through life with Jesus Christ. It offers an approach of participation, not persuasion, encouraging enquirers to practice the ancient disciplines of biblical reflection and prayer, exploring key texts that have helped people since the earliest days of the Christian faith. What does it mean to live as a child of God? This final part of the Grow stage looks at how following Christ each day affects our life at home and at work, our resources and relationships, and how the Christian faith can shape us to become more like Jesus.Session One: Praying through life - Explores the importance of prayer, particularly daily prayer as foundational for the Christian life.Session Two: At home and at work - Looks at how we live out our faith every day and of the importance of Sabbath.Session Three: Living generously - Considers what it means to reflect the generosity of God in our own lives.Session Four: In all my relationships - Looks at how faith in the God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit shapes and changes all our relationships.Session Five: Confronting the injustices of the world - Considers how the Christian life requires us to be involved in the affairs of the world and to witness to God’s kingdom of peace and justice every day.Session Six: Treading lightly on the earth - Explores our relationship with the earth itself.All sessions combine a simple framework prayer, reflection on the Bible in the lectio divina style, an article by a modern writer, and time for questions and reflection, supported by online audio-visual resources.

A Time for Creation encourages us to praise God for his creation, take responsibility for our actions, repent of our misuse of natural resources and hear the voice of creation itself in our prayer.Drawing together texts from Common Worship with newly commissioned material, it offers liturgies for all times and occasions when there is a focus on creation - in daily prayer, services of the word, school assemblies, eucharistic celebrations and seasonal services to mark the agricultural year. It has been compiled by the Liturgical Commission of the Church of England and is designed to provide its parishes, schools and chaplaincies with a rich selection of resources for worship and prayer.

Reflections for Daily Prayer continues to be one of the most popular and highly valued daily Bible reading companions. Continuing its tradition of excellence, regular favourites and new contributors offer insightful, informed and inspiring reflections on the scripture readings of the day, based on the Common Worship lectionary for Morning Prayer. Isabelle Hamley, Principal of Ridley Hall, Cambridge, is the guest contributor for Holy Week. For every day (excluding Sundays) of the 2026-27 Church year, there are full references and a quotation from the day’s set of Scripture readings, concise and challenging commentary, and a collect. Also included is a simple order for Morning and Night Prayer, and additional helps for nurturing a habit of regular daily prayer.

In our bewildering age when the mental health of so many is fragile and people feel adrift and uncertain, an unlikely hero can offer surprising and much needed wisdom. We think of prophets as strong and confident figures, but the prophet Jonah is neither of these. In fact he’s barely taken seriously at all and is crowded out of his own story by the whale that swallowed him up.Robert Atwell uncovers how the book of Jonah offers a strikingly relevant theology for our time - one that grapples with isolation, protest, anger, fear, and depression, all under the shadow of divine presence in the midst of personal turmoil. For those who feel unmoored, Jonah's story becomes a surprising source of consolation. Ultimately, it maps the contours of grace - a grace that feels especially absent in today’s world. Alone among the prophets, Jonah is named by Jesus and described as a ‘sign’. In this short, deeply comforting book, Atwell explores how Jonah still speaks to us, offering insight and hope to a restless generation.

As a new bishop, Robert Atwell responded to a direct challenge from older church members, who usually make up the biggest majority in any congregation. Why, they asked, was there always so much for the young; what was there for them? This book grew out of his response. A series of talks he gave on the spirituality of growing older and the gifts that wait to be discovered generated an unprecedented response, not only throughout the diocese, but on blogs and websites around the world.60 really is the new 40 for increasing numbers of people. The retired are a huge consumer category, increasingly recognised by marketing gurus. They may have disposable income, time on their hands, and the leisure of choice - but wisdom, humour and honesty are essential for these transitional decades too and this short book offers all three in plenty. The author's background in Benedictine life, with its profound understanding of what makes for a balanced and rich life, flavours a book of timeless value

Until relatively recently a Church of England funeral was the default option of the majority of the British population. This is no longer the case. Today, in some urban areas, secular or humanist funerals now account for 40% of funerals. The numbers of Anglican funerals are in free-fall. In exploring what makes a good funeral, this practical guide aims to rebuild the confidence of clergy in their funeral ministry and to equip them for transformative, missional pastoral engagement. This book grew out of diocesan consultation with funeral directors who identified three essential qualities that only the church offers: a distinctive understanding of death continuing pastoral carehope, not just empathy.Building on this foundation, Robert Atwell suggests many practical ways in which the church can become better at conducting funerals and engaging with those who seek pastoral support at critical points in their lives.

For every major feast, saint’s day and commemoration in the calendars of the Anglican churches of the UK, this liturgical resource and spiritual companion offers a feast of readings that reflects the richness, depth and variety of the Christian tradition from the earliest years of the church to the present day. Writings from across the centuries represent the Eastern, Western, Roman and Celtic traditions and constitute a vibrant history of Christianity manifested in the lives of hundreds of holy men and women as diverse as first century martyrs, or twentieth century social reformers. A complementary volume to Exciting Holiness which provides scripture readings and prayers for the calendar, this is now updated to include the additional commemorations in the Church of England’s calendar of saints.

'Love' is an anthology of readings that celebrates the ideal and the humorously down to earth in relation to love, friendship and marriage across the centuries. Sonnets, poems, wedding blessings, readings from the Bible, and the reflections of various ancient and contemporary writers, together create a tapestry of wisdom about the joys of love and its occasional struggles.Offering, quite literally, something for everyone, 'Love' offers plenty of choice for those looking to personalise their wedding service.

Everybody wants a christening, wedding or funeral service to be unique to them and one of the main ways of personalising a ceremony is to choose one's own readings. Not everyone reads poetry or novels together and many do not know where to start in choosing a special piece. Here, an experienced editor of such books has collected together 100 readings from scripture and literature across the centuries in celebration of a birth, a marriage, a life that has ended. There is humour, tenderness, challenge, wisdom and realism in abundance, offering, quite literally, something for everyone.