Using "Common Worship" – serie

A hands-on guide to the Church of England's 'Common Worship' funeral services and the large body of material surrounding them. Common Worship provides material for a number of settings: from prayers with the dying and short forms for use at home before the funeral to the burial of ashes and memorial services. This guide seeks to offer straightforward and realistic ideas about how to use the services in your church and at the crematorium. Drawing on her parish experience, Anne Horton includes suggestions for a range of local situations, grounded in the thinking behind the new provisions. The new features of the services are set out, highlighting the differences from ASB and BCP. The introduction by Trevor Lloyd, a member of the Liturgical Commission and of the General Synod Revision Committee working on the services, provides an insight into the preparation of the texts and the reasons why they are presented in this way.Using Common Worship: Funerals balances practical tips with theological grounding in a way that will enable parishes to make the most of the opportunities of Common Worship as a whole.

This invaluable guide helps all who plan worship to appreciate the rich possibilities and spiritual depth of the seasonal material for All Saints to Candlemas in Common Worship: Times and Seasons. It focuses on All Saints to the Eve of Advent Sunday, Advent, the Christmas Season and the Epiphany Season. The main part of the guide provides a range of practical tips and illuminating case studies to encourage creative use at a local level. It also gives succinct background information both for seasons and individual major seasonal occasions as well as for all the liturgical texts. John Sweet's introduction explains the raison d'etre of 'Times and Seasons' and provides a helpful brief introduction to the history and theology of the Christian Year.

A guide to designing services using A Service of the Word, the flexible service structure authorised by the Anglican Church. It covers the exciting provisions in both New Patterns for Worship and Common Worship as a whole. Topics covered include all-age worship, morning and evening prayer and worship in an inner city context.Using Common Worship: A Service of the Word aims to encourage increased sensitivity, creativity and confidence in the planning of local church worship.