Ally Barrett – illustratör

Following on from her bestselling books Women of Holy Week and Women of the Nativity, Paula Gooder retells nine Biblical stories of Jesus's encounters with women.Imagining these figures following Jesus to Jerusalem and telling their stories together, Paula introduces us to women who break the rules to be near Jesus, speak to him for longer than any male character recorded, and even stand up to him. Accompanied by paintings by priest-artist Ally Barrett, Women of the Gospels invites you to walk alongside:- Simon Peter's wife - The Samaritan Woman - The woman who bled for twelve years - Jairus' daughter - The Syrophoenician woman - The widow of Nain - The woman caught in adultery - The woman who was bent double - Martha and Mary of BethanyWomen of the Gospels is an inspiring devotional read for individuals and groups, for use at any time of year.

Beginning with a ‘Street Nativity Play’ that didn’t end as planned, and finishing with an open-ended conversation in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, "Being Interrupted" locates an institutionally-anxious Church of England within the wider contexts of divisions of race and class in ‘the ruins of empire’, alongside ongoing gender inequalities, the marginalization of children, and catastrophic ecological breakdown.In the midst of this bleak picture, Al Barrett and Ruth Harley open a door to a creative disruption of the status quo, ‘from the outside, in’: the in-breaking of the wild reality of the ‘Kin-dom’ of God. Through careful and unsettling readings in Mark’s gospel, alongside stories from a multicultural outer estate in east Birmingham, they paint a vivid picture of an 'alternative economy' for the Church's life and mission, which begins with transformative encounters with neighbours and strangers at the edges of our churches, our neighbourhoods and our imaginations, and offers new possibilities for repentance and resurrection.