Out Church, Out Altar


Book Description

If your parish is planning the dedication of a new church and altar, this book will help prepare the entire community for the celebration. A rich combination of scripture, liturgical text, and questions for further reflection, Our Church, Our Altar invites community-wide catechesis and prayer for a number of occasions, including the laying of a cornerstone, the blessing of a chapel, and the blessing of a new chalice and paten, for example. Our Church, Our Altar will also help you prepare for each anniversary of the dedication of your parish church. Perfect for use by both individuals and communities, the spiritual reflections in this book will help you prepare for these special celebrations within your community of faith.




New Church, New Altar


Book Description

2022 Catholic Media Association honorable mention in liturgy The dedication of a new church or altar is a rare event that too few Catholic faithful and clergy are privileged to experience. When it happens, people have questions about the history, spirituality, and practical aspects of this amazing liturgy. This book by pastor and liturgical scholar, Fr. Paul Turner, will especially aid parish leadership in celebrating this rite with greater understanding. In addition to the dedication of a new parish church, this book covers all of the other instances from this part of the Roman Pontifical: Laying the foundation stone, dedicating a church already in use, dedicating a new altar inside an older church, blessing a church to be used as a chapel or oratory, blessing an altar for a similar purpose, and the blessing of a chalice and paten. Essential for any serious student of the liturgy and helpful to those planning any of these celebrations, New Church, New Altar will expand the reader’s appreciation of these unusual liturgies so beautifully reformed after the Second Vatican




Our Church, Our Altar


Book Description

If your parish is planning the dedication of a new church and altar, this book will help prepare the entire community for the celebration. A rich combination of scripture, liturgical text, and questions for further reflection, Our Church, Our Altar invites community-wide catechesis and prayer for a number of occasions, including the laying of a cornerstone, the blessing of a chapel, and the blessing of a new chalice and paten, for example. Our Church, Our Altar will also help you prepare for each anniversary of the dedication of your parish church. Perfect for use by both individuals and communities, the spiritual reflections in this book will help you prepare for these special celebrations within your community of faith.




A Priest's Handbook


Book Description

The newly updated and revised edition of the indispensable resource for Episcopal priests simplifies liturgical officiating and celebration of the rites of the Episcopal Church.




Rekindle the Altar Fire


Book Description

Few believers experience God's altar--a place of pure and wholehearted relationship and worship where our holy God can meet with us and the fire of his presence can fall. But such an altar is necessary in our personal lives, our marriages, our churches, and our nations so that we are strengthened, empowered, and equipped for every good work. In this influential, modern-day call back to the altar, Chuck D. Pierce and Alemu Beeftu invite readers to find their way to rebuild the place of God's presence to allow the fire of God--his presence and power--to fall. When we rekindle the altar fire, our lives, prayer, and worship are transformed. The time to rebuild altars for fresh fire is now!







My Book of the Church's Year


Book Description

This is a charming children's book that walks through the traditional Catholic liturgical year in its seasons and symbols, while highlighting some of our most beloved saints. The graphic design is brilliantly done -- no book compares with this one for a striking and memorable overview of the liturgical year. It makes a superb catechetical tool.




Rebuilding the Altar


Book Description

The Holy Spirit has become a stranger. Many long for a closer walk with God, but He seems far away. They go to church. They read the Bible. But they don’t experience His presence. Why? Because many have forsaken the altar—the place where God is found. When we truly encounter Him again, the light and power of God will flow to our homes, then to our houses of worship, then to the nation, and we will never be the same. In Rebuilding the Altar authors Pat and Karen Schatzline passionately challenge you to return to the altar. You see, the altar is not just a physical location or an instrument in a church or synagogue. Through Christ we can experience a daily encounter with Jesus, who became our altar. We must declare this truth to the deceived. We must raise a standard of holiness and no compromise. We must bring hope to the hurting. It’s time for change. It’s time to return to the altar...and encounter God.




Touching the Altar


Book Description

What does it mean to be in the presence of God's holiness? How can it affect us whether we seek it out or stumble upon it? Can it truly change our very reality to encounter it? The essayists in this volume explore these questions at the heart of Christian worship, considering the oft-neglected Old Testament as essential to understand our purpose in worship. Following the structure of the Hebrew canon -- beginning with the Pentateuch, moving through to the Psalms, then wisdom literature -- each chapter considers a separate aspect of worship, from theater to the Sabbath to sacred space, offering new inspiration. In the final essay Carol Bechtel "rereads the book of Job through the lens of our human limitations (as opposed to the usual theme of theodicy)," with compelling applications for both life and worship. Each of these essays concludes with two appropriately themed hymns and a "For Further Reading" list. Five of the seven contain sidebars that illustrate and enrich key points. Evocative woodcut artwork by Margaret Adams Parker provides a striking backdrop to the text. Taken together, these essays testify powerfully to the belief that the Old Testament is not only valuable but also essential to "whole" and fully foundational preaching and worship. Written primarily by Old Testament professors, Touching the Altar will make an engaging supplemental text for introductory or elective Old Testament courses and will also go far toward providing deeper worship for any Christian. Contributors: Carol M. Bechtel Thomas A. Boogaart Corrine L. Carvalho Ellen F. Davis J. Clinton McCann Jr. Dennis T. Olson Margaret Adams Parker John D. Witvliet




The Altar Boys


Book Description

Boys with everything to live for ... A community betrayed ... The whistle-blower priest who paid the ultimate price **Shortlisted for the 2020 Walkley Book Award** **Shortlisted for the 2021 NSW Premier's Community and Regional History Prize** ** Shortlisted for the 2021 Prime Minister's Award** Glen Walsh and Steven Alward were childhood friends in their tight-knit working-class community in Newcastle, NSW. Both proud altar boys at the local Catholic church, they went on to attend the city's Catholic boys' high schools: Glen to Marist Brothers, Hamilton, and Steven to St Pius X. Both did well: Steven became a journalist; Glen a priest. But their lives came to be burdened by secrets kept and exposed. Glen discovered that another priest was sexually abusing boys and reported the offender to police, breaking his vows to the Catholic 'brotherhood' in the process. His decision to give evidence regarding the cover-up of clerical abuse at a landmark trial ended in tragedy. Meanwhile, Steven was fighting his own battle to overcome a traumatic past, a battle that also ended in tragedy. Ensuing investigations revealed that at least 60 men in the region had taken their own lives. What had happened, and why were so many of those men from the three Catholic high schools in the area? By six-time Walkley Award-winning investigative reporter Suzanne Smith and shortlisted for the 2020 Walkley Book Award, The Altar Boys is the explosive expose of widespread and organised clerical abuse of children in one Australian city, and how the cover-up in the Catholic Church in Australia extended from parish priests to every echelon of the organisation. Focusing on two childhood friends, their families and community, this gripping story is backed by secret documents, diary notes and witness accounts, and details a deliberate church strategy of using psychological warfare against witnesses in key trials involving paedophile priests.