All posts by Alyssa Finke

A good Easter with the Good Book Club

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Dear friends in Christ,

Like most of you, I spent Easter morning at home, saying prayers and watching a service elsewhere online. It was not like any other Easter in my lifetime. And while it wasn’t an Easter I would have hoped for, I was still able to celebration the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

While Easter day might be the most muted Easter we’ll know, the coronavirus crisis also creates opportunity. Perhaps as we’re all at home, we can cultivate a greater awareness of Eastertide as a season of fifty days.

We can say or sing alleluias every day. We can find an image of the resurrection of Jesus and place it in our homes to remind us of the joy and wonder of the triumph of God’s love. And we can spend time with God’s word.

Forward Movement has partnered with other organizations to offer the Good Book Club this Eastertide. Over the 50 days of Easter, you are invited to join with people around the world in reading through the entire Gospel of Matthew. If you haven’t already started, it will be easy to catch up. We’re just four days in. And that leaves 46 more days of Eastertide!

You can find the readings on the Good Book Club website. Each day we post the readings and a reflection question on the Good Book Club Facebook page. And there’s a podcast with the readings, a meditation, a reflection question, and a prayer. If you’re curious about the Gospel of Matthew, we have prepared a short primer.

Everything I’ve mentioned is free. If you’d like a guided path through this season, A Journey with Matthew is available as an ebook for only $7.99. You can buy the paper book, too, but it will take a few days to arrive. It has the gospel reading, a meditation, reflection questions, and a prayer each day (same as the podcast).

There are more resources listed online, and perhaps your diocese or congregation has created some too.

Most importantly, I encourage you to take advantage of this time at home. While we are certainly struggling with many aspects of being forced to stay home, there can also be opportunities. Perhaps this season is the means to engage in a Bible study in your home, whether by yourself, or with other members of your household, or with a friend, or with your congregation online.

Easter blessings to you all. Even in this strange time, may you know the joys of God’s word and of Christ’s resurrection.

Yours faithfully,

 

 

Scott Gunn
Executive Director

Image: Pixabay
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Introducing Matthew
With Vicki Garvey

For six weeks this Easter, meet with other students from around the world for a free, live, online class on the Gospel of Matthew with Vicki Garvey, a respected teacher and author and former Canon for Lifelong Education at the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago.

In this class, Vicki will teach us about the author, origin, setting, and message of the Gospel of Matthew. Classes will meet live on Thursday nights via zoom from April 23-May 28, 2020, and they will last an hour.

This class is ideal for people participating in the Good Book Club 2020, and for anyone interested in learning more about the Gospel of Matthew.

Tune in!

Listen to today’s Forward Day by Day reflection on the Forward Day by Day podcast. Find morning prayer on the Morning at the Office podcast and end your day with the Evening at Prayer podcast. Available anywhere you listen!

New Release: The Heart of a Leader

In The Heart of a Leader, Bishop Edward S. Little moves through 2 Timothy, drawing on the lessons and teachings of Paul as a guide for mentoring and encouraging others to a life deeply committed to Christ. While we live in a radically different culture than Timothy and Paul, we struggle today with some of the same hard spiritual questions. We puzzle our way through intractable conflict. We face a world that is sometimes indifferent to the gospel and other times, outright hostile to it. Like Timothy and Paul, we wonder: What is essential to our Christian faith?

Paul’s second letter to Timothy can instruct us as surely as it taught its early readers. We are all Timothy. We stand in need of mentoring. We are all Paul, with apprentices in our care.

Due to the Covid-19 outbreak, the printing of this title has been delayed until late summer. Pre-order your print copy today, but also know that we’ve made the e-book version available early. You can find it on Amazon Kindle, Barnes and Noble Nook, and at the iTunes store.

In case you missed it…

The Cross and the Coronavirus | Earth & Altar

Easter is more than what happens inside red church doors | Grow Christians

Read our latest issue of Odyssey | Forward Movement

Free Shipping on orders of $50 throughout April | Forward Movement

Forward Today: Dispersed, yet gathered

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Dear friends in Christ,

At beginning of the Great Vigil of Easter, the celebrant bids us, “the Church invites her members, dispersed throughout the world, to gather in vigil and prayer…” Perhaps there has never been a time when the church was so dispersed as at this moment. For we are dispersed not just across nations and peoples, but even from our congregational gatherings into our homes. Around the world, in many nations, there will be no full churches for Easter. Instead, we are dispersed into our homes.

And, yet, as that bidding reminds us, we are still the church. Though are we not together, our baptism into the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is not taken away. We are united by indissoluble bonds, even when we are not physically together.

Last week I wrote a bit about my own grief over Holy Week. This week, I want to offer some specific suggestions for ways to get through the Three Holy Days (Triduum Sacrum) of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Eve.

First of all, if your church is offering resources or online worship, by all means, join with your local congregation. Please let them know you’re grateful for whatever they’re doing. Your church leaders are trying to figure this out as they go, and they’re almost certainly doing their very best. This is a time for grace and prayer.

If your church isn’t offering online worship, don’t despair! There are lots of options. I have been enjoying the offerings from St. James’ Church in New York, NY. Another New York church, Trinity Wall Street, is also offering excellent worship online. Either place allows you to watch the liturgy and join in by looking at the service leaflets they provide.

This might be the year for us all to really dive into the scriptures. You can get the lessons for Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Eve online. Spend some time reading and meditating on the lessons, especially the gospel readings. With everything else pared away, we can really savor God’s word—and the most amazing story ever told.

If you cannot receive Holy Communion, perhaps these prayers of spiritual communion from St. Augustine’s Prayer Book will help. Or you might find an image of Jesus Christ and pray a Eucharistic devotion called the Holy Hour.

Whatever you do this week, know that you are not alone. You are a member of the church, and you are in the body of Christ, joined with Christians dispersed around the world. You are never separated from God’s love.

It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:31-39)

Yours faithfully,

 

 

Scott Gunn
Executive Director

Image: Ryk Neethling, Flickr

Subscribe to receive Forward Today in your inbox.

Introducing Matthew
With Vicki Garvey

For six weeks this Easter, meet with other students from around the world for a free, live, online class on the Gospel of Matthew with Vicki Garvey, a respected teacher and author and former Canon for Lifelong Education at the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago.

In this class, Vicki will teach us about the author, origin, setting, and message of the Gospel of Matthew. Classes will meet live on Thursday nights via zoom from April 23-May 28, 2020, and they will last an hour.

This class is ideal for people participating in the Good Book Club 2020, and for anyone interested in learning more about the Gospel of Matthew.

Tune in!

Hear today’s Forward Day by Day reflection or find morning prayer on the Morning at the Office podcast. Be sure to tune in to the newly available Evening at Prayer podcast.

Find a special episode of the Forward Day by Day podcast that was released April 4th, where some of our favorite authors discuss Mary Magdalene and the angels at the tomb!

Available anywhere you listen to podcasts!

New Release: The Heart of a Leader

In The Heart of a Leader, Bishop Edward S. Little moves through 2 Timothy, drawing on the lessons and teachings of Paul as a guide for mentoring and encouraging others to a life deeply committed to Christ. While we live in a radically different culture than Timothy and Paul, we struggle today with some of the same hard spiritual questions. We puzzle our way through intractable conflict. We face a world that is sometimes indifferent to the gospel and other times, outright hostile to it. Like Timothy and Paul, we wonder: What is essential to our Christian faith?

Paul’s second letter to Timothy can instruct us as surely as it taught its early readers. We are all Timothy. We stand in need of mentoring. We are all Paul, with apprentices in our care.

Due to the Covid-19 outbreak, the printing of this title has been delayed until late summer. Pre-order your print copy today, but also know that we’ve made the e-book version available early. You can find it on Amazon Kindle, Barnes and Noble Nook, and at the iTunes store.

In case you missed it…

Free Shipping on orders of $50 throughout April | Forward Movement

Download a PDF version of the Stations of the Cross scripture and artwork excerpted from The Soul’s Journey | Forward Movement

Submit your artwork or photos for the Good Book Art Club |
The Good Book Club

Holy Hour offered free of charge | Forward Movement

Read our latest issue of Odyssey | Forward Movement

The Forward Day by Day Online Community

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It is incredible and moving to witness the interactions of our online Forward Day by Day community. Each day, members of this vibrant and active community come together to reflect on the day’s meditation and pray for each other. And although most have never met in real life, they know each other by name and pray, grieve, and celebrate together. Join the conversation at prayer.forwardmovement.org and on our Facebook page. —Alyssa Finke, Marketing Coordinator at Forward Movement.

“A good way to start my day. Oftentimes there’s something very relevant to my circumstances; sometimes it’s an epiphany of scripture and many times comforting conversation from the Disqus forum. Try it out!”

“Best wakeup call every day.”

“Love your publication has been a constant daily reading in my home for years. You were asking about anchors in our lives other than Jesus. I lost my anchor, my best friend of 55 years ago to cancer and my favorite brother-in-law within a week to cancer. Your Forward Day by Day publications was a blessing. Thank you so much, and God bless all of you there.”

“I get up early to make sure I read this before I leave the house.”

“The reflections are right on target for what we face in today’s world. Rooted in Scripture for the ages, but I see the lessons throughout the day in the living world.”

“I follow Forward Day by Day online, along with a wonderful group of people. We love the inspirational posts and how writers try to be inclusive in outreach, inspirational, and empathetic, and also both timely and timeless. The posts are well designed to speak to us in the here and now but also to show how the word of Christ has remain essentially unchanged across the ages.”

“I am posting this in honor of Marshall Williams, a true FDBD saint who was referred to as the “Moses” of the online FDBD community. It’s very fitting that Marshall was able to soldier on in his fight against cancer to make it to one more Veteran’s Day. Marshall’s Dad was one of the “Greatest Generation,” men and women who sacrificed much for a noble cause. Marshall himself lived every day of his life dedicated to others. He is an inspiration to us all. We need more leaders like Marshall: leaders who listen, empathize, encourage, uplift. Peace be with you, Marshall.”

THANK YOU to our online community who provides us with inspiration and support, day by day. Your presence and interactions with us and with fellow readers mean so very much to us.

Read the latest issue of Odyssey here.

Your support puts Forward Day by Day and other spiritual resources into the hands of those who need it most. Thank you for your prayers and continued generosity!

Support Forward Movement

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Dear friends in Christ,

We face a challenging time for the church and its members. Forced into isolation for our safety, it can feel like a painful exile from the familiar routines of life. At Forward Movement, we’ve been busy providing resources that we hope will be useful for the church and inspiring for its members. Many of these resources are free, thanks to your generosity.

You can imagine that hospitals and nursing homes need the most help right now, including spiritual support. The scriptures and devotions in Forward Day by Day provide a beacon of Gospel hope.

I have recently assumed the role of Pastoral Care Coordinator here at Billings Clinic Hospital. I previously served at the Shepherd Center in Atlanta, where we had great interest in the Forward Day by Day devotionals that you so generously provided to us each quarter.

I would love to incorporate Forward Day by Day here as one of the resources we can offer our patients, staff, and family members. I think they would greatly appreciate the perspectives provided in this devotional. I’d love to start with 100 copies. Can you help?

We received this request last week, and we sent 150 copies of Forward Day by Day, including large print and Spanish language, to the Billings Clinic. With your help, we will send more to hospitals that need them. Let us know of a hospital or clinic who could use Forward Day by Day.

Sales and donations sustain Forward Movement. As you might imagine, as we adjust to our new reality, our sales have significantly slowed. We always hope you support your local church first, but if you are able, Forward Movement could use your support now. We’ve walked with disciples since 1935, and we want to continue that journey with you through this crisis.

Will you make a generous gift to sustain Forward Movement today?

You can make a gift online, or call our friendly staff during business hours (800-543-1813) or mail a check to the address below.

Thank you for your financial support. And thank you for your prayers. Know that the Forward Movement staff gathers each day to pray for you and the needs of the whole world.

Yours faithfully,

Women & Angels of the Bible: Mary Magdalene and the Angels at the Tomb

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Forward Movement Managing Editor Richelle Thompson recently chatted with Lindsay Hardin Freeman, author of the popular book Bible Women: All Their Words and Why They Matter, and Kate Moorehead, author of the newly released Angels of the Bible: Finding Grace, Beauty, and Meaning. This discussion focused on Mary Magdalene and her interaction with the angels at the tomb.

“What gives me strength in looking at her and what interests me is that she had dealt with the demons in her own soul. She had dealt with the darkness in her own soul. That gave her, in my mind, the strength to go into the darkness of the tomb.

Yes. One of the things I love about her is that she can be a saint for all of us who are struggling and who have felt depression or anxiety. And almost everybody in some way or another has some kind of issues that they’ve had to deal with. She gives us a role model of a person who’s really suffered and gotten in the dirt and messed around and struggled. And in her struggle, she becomes the greatest disciple, because, like Lindsay said, she’s not afraid of the tomb. She is the one person present at the cross in all four of the gospels. No one else can make that claim. She doesn’t leave. Everybody else runs away. Well, she doesn’t leave because she’s already been in the pit.”

Read the full interview here.

You can also listen to this conversation in a special episode of the Forward Day by Day podcast, released on April 2, 2020. 

Forward Today: Getting to the heart of Holy Week

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Dear friends in Christ,

It’s almost impossible for me to comprehend that next week is Holy Week. Time is all mushed together since I’ve been working at home due to the coronavirus. And none of the customary preparations for Holy Week are under way, because this will be a Holy Week unlike any other in my lifetime.

Holy Week is the most important week of the year for Christians, and within Holy Week, the Three Holy Days are at the heart of our liturgical life together. We disciples see so much of Jesus Christ’s love for us in Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Eve. We are reminded of what it means to follow the One who gave everything for us.

The rituals of these days mean more to me than I can express in words. Because of my work at Forward Movement, free of local obligations, I have spent Holy Week in some remarkable places the last few years. One year I spent most of the week at Salisbury Cathedral. Another year, I was in Jerusalem for what will stand out as one of the most remarkable Holy Weeks of my life. This year I was to be guest preacher in one of my favorite congregations.

I’ve had my moments of grief. Perhaps you have, too. There will be no grand palm processions. We won’t see the altar stripped bare on Maundy Thursday. The cross will not be venerated by a fervent congregation on Good Friday. We won’t kindle a blazing fire in the darkness of Easter Eve, moving into resounding praise in the first Eucharist of Easter. No new Easter dresses, or brass players, or fragrant lilies, or beloved hymns belted out on Easter Sunday. It’s just not going to be what I’ve longed for, what I expect.

And yet, all will be well.

Jesus has suffered for us and has poured out his life for us on the cross. Jesus has been buried in a sealed tomb. Jesus has been raised to new life, bursting forth to proclaim the triumph of God’s love through faithful women, devoted followers, and a community of disciples that spans the globe.

Everything about the love of God in Jesus Christ is true whether or not our churches are full, whether or not we carry out the sacred rituals. Without the liturgy and the sacraments, we are understandably bereft. But we always have God’s word.

In the days to come, I invite you to immerse yourself in the scriptures. Read the lessons, which you can find online. Ponder the depth and breadth of God’s love for us as told in the lessons appointed for this week.

If your congregation has streamed worship, by all means take part. Lots of churches across the world are making beautiful offerings online. Say the daily office if it is your custom. And I invite you especially to savor the riches of God’s word throughout Holy Week. As 1 Peter reminds us, “The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord endures forever. That word is the good news that was announced to you.”

Yours faithfully,

 

 

Scott Gunn
Executive Director

Subscribe to receive Forward Today in your inbox.

Courage for Caregivers
By Jaime Haith

Be inspired by looking at the fundamentals of the Christian faith, through scripture, to be encouraged in your role as a caregiver. This course is designed for those who are in a caregiving role and are looking for simple yet gracious inspiration.

Tune in!

Hear today’s Forward Day by Day reflection or find morning prayer on the Morning at the Office podcast. Be sure to tune in to the newly available  Evening at Prayer podcast. Available anywhere you listen to podcasts!

In case you missed it…

Good Book Club reads Gospel of Matthew, Easter 2020 | Forward Movement
Free Shipping on orders of $50 throughout April | Forward Movement
Forward Movement reduces price of all eBooks | Forward Movement
Holy Hour offered free of charge | Forward Movement
Being Church at Home | Grow Christians

Free shipping on orders over $50 all month!

No, we’re not fooling around! Forward Movement is pleased to extend FREE SHIPPING on orders over $50 for the entire month of April.*

Use the code FREESHIP during checkout at www.forwardmovement.org.

Order by phone at 800-543-1813 or send an email to orders@forwardmovement.org

Don’t forget…

We’ve also reduced the price of all Kindle titles, and continue to release free resources in response to COVID-19. If you’re looking to read your Bible more, be sure to join the Good Book Club reading of the Gospel of Matthew during the season of Easter.

*FREE SHIPPING: Valid through April 30, 2020. UPS Ground only; must ship to a physical address. Contiguous United States only; Hawaii and Alaska, please call 800-543-1813 for details.

Women & Angels of the Bible: Hagar and the Angels in the Desert

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Forward Movement Managing Editor Richelle Thompson recently chatted with Lindsay Hardin Freeman, author of the popular book Bible Women: All Their Words and Why They Matter, and Kate Moorehead, author of the newly released Angels of the Bible: Finding Grace, Beauty, and Meaning. This discussion focused on women and angels in the Bible, specifically, Hagar’s encounters with angels.

“I also find it very interesting the part about where the angel says to Hagar, ‘Do not be afraid.’ That is such a common thing with angels all the way through the Bible. Do not be afraid. We just went through that at Christmas time with Mary and Gabriel and Gabriel talking to Joseph. And do not be afraid with the shepherds. And now suddenly we hear Hagar and Ishmael being told the same thing.”

“It has a resurrection message in a way, because the angel says, ‘Rise up. Rise up.’ And she’s made a different person. And again, another kind of person.”

Read the full interview here.

You can also listen to this conversation in a special episode of the Forward Day by Day podcast, released on March 26, 2020. 

 

Image: Chasse of Champagnat, The Four Living Creatures, ca. 1150, French, Copper: engraved and gilt; Champlevé enamel (Photo: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)

Making e-books available in a time of need

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We’ve reduced the price of Kindle e-books!

As we all try to adjust to physical distancing and increased isolation due to the new coronavirus, it is quite natural to yearn for connection and for growth, even in these trying times. Some of us are trying to figure out how we might use this time for our benefit.

We at Forward Movement urge you to reach out to friends, family, and your church for connection. We hope you will find the support you need, and that you will offer support to others as you are able.

Since 1935, Forward Movement has been inspiring disciples and empowering evangelists. As we have wrestled with how to do that in this moment – and how to support you through this crisis – we have come up with several ideas. Already, we have offered several free resources for individuals and congregations.

Now we have decided to lower the price of many of our Kindle e-books.

Best-sellers such as Walk in Love: Episcopal Beliefs & Practices, The Path: A Journey Through the Bible, Bible Women: All Their Words and Why They Matter, and Note to Self: Creating Your Guide to a More Spiritual Life are now just $7.99.

In fact, all of our Kindle titles are now available for $7.99 or less.

The nice thing about e-books is that you can buy them with a couple of clicks and start reading immediately, with no need to leave your home. If you haven’t tried Kindle books yet, you can read them on your computer, on any smartphone or tablet with the Kindle app (Google Play or App Store), or on a Kindle device.

We hope these books encourage you to grow in faith. Perhaps you and a friend, or even a group from your church, will buy books and form an online book group.

Throughout this crisis, however long it lasts, Forward Movement will be here for you. You can find us online at www.forwardmovement.org. You can call us at 800-543-1813 and speak with our friendly staff, who are still working to serve you and the whole church. We are working at home now, so it might a bit longer to respond, but we will be there for you.

Forward Today: Wearied by changes and chances?

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Dear friends in Christ,

It seems that each new day brings unsettling news. Around the world, life is changing more rapidly than we can imagine as we face threats posed by the new coronavirus. I don’t know about you, but for the last week or so, each day seems like it passes quickly while yesterday seems like an eternity ago. It’s hard to keep up—practically, emotionally, and spiritually.

My friends who are parents of young children are frazzled at the idea of an indefinite time of home schooling. Friends who have health challenges are understandably worried about the spread of COVID-19. Many of us are trying to sort out what it might mean to be stuck at home and wondering if we’ll have enough to get by. As I talk with church leaders across the country, they are trying to figure out what church looks like at a time when we cannot safely gather.

For what it’s worth, my advice for everyone is this: be gentle with yourself.

We need to pace ourselves, because this crisis is probably going to be with us for several months, in one form or another. We don’t have to do everything today. We don’t have to pretend we have any idea what tomorrow will bring. We don’t have to act as if we’re not exhausted from yesterday. We don’t have to know all the answers. We don’t have to get it right.

It’s OK to ask for help: help from our family, friends, neighbors, and most especially from God. Social distancing does not prevent us from talking with one another. Staying at home does not preclude friendships, even if it means we need to be on the phone or talking via video on our computers.

Try to rest, if you can. It’s going to be a long haul. If you know someone else who is struggling and you have the capacity, offer to help. Pray for others. Perhaps you can offer a word of reassurance and encouragement.

We’re all doing our best. And our best isn’t perfect. Forgive yourself when you get it wrong, and forgive others too.

As we persevere through this challenging time together, I encourage you to say this prayer before you sleep each night. It’s just what I need to pray, and you might find it helpful, too.

Be present, O merciful God, and protect us through the hours of this night, so that we who are wearied by the changes and chances of this life may rest in your eternal changelessness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP, page 133)

Blessings, friends.

Yours faithfully,

Scott Gunn
Executive Director

 

 

Image: Pixabay

Free Online Classes
Brought to you by ChurchNext

“ChurchNext, a ministry of Forward Movement, has released a set of free courses, Prayer and Worship in Our Homes” said the Rev. Chris Yaw, director of ChurchNext. “These courses will equip people for prayer and worship even if they cannot gather with others in person in their churches.”

Prayer and Worship in Our Homes includes five classes:

  • Everyday Spiritual Practices with Keith Anderson
  • How to Pray with Christopher Martin
  • Praying with Saints with Scott Gunn and Tim Schenck
  • How to Pray Online with Karekin Yarian
  • Praying the Anglican Rosary with Suzanne Edwards-Acton

 

In addition to this new offering, there are two other courses currently available free of charge through ChurchNext.tv.