All posts by FM News

New Resources…Coming this fall!

We’ve been hard at work on these new resources, and are excited to show you what we’ve been up to! We’re grateful for all the hard work, dedication, and heart that the authors and contributors put into these books. We hope they inspire you and enrich your spiritual journey.

These titles ship in October, and are now available for pre-order.

Angels of the Bible: Finding Grace, Beauty, and Meaning
Angels appear in the greatest of biblical moments: at the gates of the Garden of Eden, at the birth of Christ, and at the tomb of the resurrection. But modern-day Christians tend to either dismiss angels as fantasy or caricaturize them as one-dimensional cherubs.

Episcopal priest Kate Moorehead invites us into a more dynamic understanding of the realm of the angels. Her devotions recount fifty key appearances of angels in the Old and New Testaments as she shares stirring theological reflections on the presence of angels and our life of faith.

In addition, the book features 56 full-color pages with depictions of angels throughout history. Art professor and scholar P. Scott Brown offers historical and theological context for these paintings of pivotal angelic appearances, including the Annunciation, the Celestial Hierarchy, and the Final Battle from Revelation.

 

A Way to the Manger: Devotions for Advent and Christmas
Explore Christ’s birth as recounted in the Gospel of Luke through the lens of the Way of Love and the seven practices of turn, learn, pray, worship, bless, go, and rest. With daily devotions of personal stories, modern examples, art, and invitations to prayer and journaling, the authors challenge you to discover and incorporate these practices into your own life. During Advent and Christmas, walk with the shepherds and the angels, Mary and Joseph, Elizabeth and Zechariah, and Anna and Simeon. All of their paths—as well as yours—lead to the same destination: the humble manger where Love was born.

 

Faith and Courage: Praying with Mandela
In a world riven by poverty, prejudice, and power struggles, the faith and courage of activist Nelson Mandela remains a beacon of hope. South African Archbishop Thabo Makgoba recounts his ministry of prayer and presence in the final years of Mandela’s life—and how, time and again, the politician taught the pastor about ministry.

In this powerful and poignant memoir, Archbishop Makgoba explores how the struggles of his ancestors shape his life today, how growing up in apartheid South Africa fuels his desire for justice, and how faith compels him to champion the difficult work of reconciliation. These lessons of faith and courage provide insight for audiences around the world, for all people who care about Jesus’ commandment to love one another.

 

Sing to the Lord and Old Song: Meditations on Classic Hymns
Some hymns simply have an extra sprinkling of divine magic. The first notes thrill from the organ, and we are home. There’s little wonder that we refer to the majestic sound of choirs of angels: Surely the kingdom of God is full of the sound of singing.

Author Richard H. Schmidt offers a homecoming of sorts in his newest book, Sing to the Lord an Old Song. His meditations on forty classic hymns remind us of a shared faith—by generations before and with generations to come. Though the words and tunes may be entrenched in memory, Schmidt sheds new light on these hymns, inviting us to think about the texts through various lenses of scripture, faith, and personal experience. His reflections are painstakingly honest about how and when he has come up short as a follower of Christ—as well as how each time, he finds notes of forgiveness, love, and hope in these familiar songs.

Is Revive right for your congregation?

Dawn DavisBy Dawn Davis, creator of Revive

Do your lay leaders seem tired? Do you yearn for a deeper spiritual connection? Do your laity lack confidence engaging in spiritual leadership, such as leading a public prayer?

Is your congregation experiencing change and you are not sure what to do about it?

At one point I answered yes to all these questions. That is when I began creating Revive.

I had just been appointed to a parish that found itself in the midst of unexpected demographic changes (parishioners were aging, the community was changing, and attendance was beginning to decline). I was also recovering from a decade of leading a demanding program ministry at the diocese which left me feeling depleted. To top it off, my husband and I had just started a family, which brought insurmountable joy, but was shaking our ordered life to its foundations.

Both at home and in the parish, I sensed excitement laced with exhaustion and confusion. Up to this point in the church, we had mastered all circumstances with self-reliance, ingenuity, and good old elbow grease. Now we were uncertain, and our efforts seemed inadequate. All typical solutions to fix the problem seemed in vain. We were being brought to our knees and—consequently—to a deeper relationship with the living God.

I was trained as a pastor, liturgist, and theologian, and later in human resources and management. What did I know about how to facilitate another person’s spiritual growth? That kind of thing was supposed to happen privately and discreetly through good worship. Anglicans operated with the assumption: “Come to church and you will grow.” This passive approach to discipleship—the core mandate of the church—might have been good enough when we were building the empire but in this secular, post-Christian context, it was woefully inadequate, and suitable resources were few.

It is often at these emotionally depleted moments that the most profound spiritual encounters happen. God actually has a fighting chance of being heard through the cacophony of distractions, anxiety, and self-interested ego. I found I was being called back to my ministry beginnings, to my original love of God. As a congregation, we were being asked to encounter Jesus anew so as to pattern our lives after his. We were being invited to trust in the renewing and life-giving energy of the Spirit.

Your story might not be exactly like mine. It might be less, or even more dramatic. But there is no denying it; our church and our communities are in the midst of enormous change where the old, easy answers don’t work anymore. Maybe this is the space where truth, discovered in mystery, emerges, and a new call together begins.

My prayer is that Revive may serve you, not as a silver bullet to save your church, but as a relational way for lay leaders and clergy to find their way to God together, following Christ, and being healed, renewed, and enlivened in the Spirit.

May you be revived!

Read more guest posts from Revive here.

To learn more, visit the Revive website.

The downloadable program materials may be purchased here.

Pre-printed Participant Guides are available here.

Forward Today: Working on our spiritual fitness

, ,

Dear friends in Christ,

Attending to our spiritual well-being is a bit like attending to our physical health. Regular spiritual practices such as daily prayer and scripture study are like physical exercise. The more we do them, the easier they get and the healthier we become.

Forward Movement launched RenewalWorks several years ago as a way for congregations to learn about their own spiritual health and then create a plan to encourage spiritual growth among the members of a church. It has seen great success at changing the conversation in congregations, as they move from maintenance to mission, from complacency to discipleship.

Over the years, we’ve had quite a few requests for a tool to help individuals create a plan for their own spiritual growth. I’m very glad to say that just yesterday we launched RenewalWorks for Me. This new resources – free of charge – begins with a brief self-assessment of where you are in your spiritual growth. Based on the results of that quiz, you can sign up for a series of weekly emails to offer you specific encouragement on a path that will foster spiritual growth.

Let’s say your assessment suggests that you’d benefit from increasing your habit of daily prayer. The weekly emails will offer specific, achievable steps you can take to develop a more robust prayer life.

I encourage you to give RenewalWorks for Me a try, especially if you’re feeling stuck in your spiritual life. It might be just the thing to get you moving. And it’s free, so there’s no reason not to take it for a spin.

We’ve heard great things from our testers, and I think you’ll find this helpful, too. Let me know how it works for you!

Yours faithfully,

Scott Gunn
Executive Director

 

Image: Jay Sidebotham

Today’s Flash Sale: Bible Women

Women of the Bible have been trapped in dry and dusty literary caskets for centuries. While a few women, such as Mary, Sarah, Elizabeth, and Mary Magdalene, are familiar, many of the women who speak in the Bible have long been ignored. Yet their words are part of God’s Word, the Bible, for a reason. Through these women, God spoke, intervened, changed, illustrated, and proclaimed the story of redemption.

In this groundbreaking book named best Bible study of 2015 by Illumination Book Awards, Episcopal priest Lindsay Hardin Freeman identifies every woman who speaks in the Bible, providing their words, context, and historical background. We learn which women speak the most (hint: it’s not Mary!) and which books of the Bible have the fewest words from women.

Step into God’s sacred circle of mothers, grandmothers, warriors, prophets, prostitutes, and murderers. You won’t come out the same.

Regular: $22
Today: $16.50

*Discount is valid until 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time

Is your church ready for visitors?

It’s the time of year when plenty of people think of finding a new church. Is your church ready for an influx of guests? We’ve collected a few ideas to help you provide a helpful welcome and introduction to your church and community this fall.

Have a guidebook available for newcomers, or a group study

Walk in Love: Episcopal Beliefs & Practices is a perfect resource for newcomers, while also providing long-time members a deeper understanding of their faith. This award-winning book offers “the most comprehensive, and comprehensible, guide to Episcopal faith and practice available.”

Restock your pamphlets to help guests and members learn more

From Welcome to the Episcopal Church to Ten Ways to Pray, our pamphlets provide concise and accessible answers and explanations to many common visitor questions. Topics like evangelism, prayer, and the sacraments also provide existing members with resources to grow in their faith.

Find over 65 pamphlets and review our latest online pamphlet catalog here.

*All pamphlets come in packs of 10 for $5 each
View our pamphlet catalog. 

Angels of the Bible

Churches that focus on scripture engagement grow, and so do their members

Based on research from RenewalWorks, we know that scripture engagement is one of the four main catalysts for spiritual growth in churches, and the individuals in them.

Take on The Bible Challenge and read the entire Bible in a year; or start with a smaller challenge. Study all the women of the Bible, and coming this October, the Angels of the Bible.

See the narrative of the Bible in a new light by exploring The Path, an excerpted and condensed journey from Genesis through Revelation.

Plan on taking part in the third year of The Good Book Club. We’ll be reading the Gospel of John during Epiphany 2020.

Flexible formation for all generations in mind

Thanks to a generous grant, our Living Discipleship series of formation resources is available for FREE! Available in English and Spanish, we crafted Celebrating the Saints, Exploring the Bible, and Practicing Our Faith, to serve as one-stop formation resources for all-ages.

Each curriculum is free to download and includes all facilitator and participant materials, with variations and options for adapting for adults, youth, and children. Find out more.

Forward Today: Are we seeing new life?

,

Dear friends in Christ,

I spent a couple of days this week catching up with a friend in Rhode Island. One day we went to the sea shore, and I went walking on rocks along the ocean. I love these massive, ancient rocks. As I scrambled up and down the rocks, I was thinking of the great hymn, “I bind unto myself today,” that many of us sang on Trinity Sunday, in which we sing about the “deep salt sea” and “the old, eternal rocks.”

That’s not all I noticed. At first, it looks like the ocean and the grassy shore are teeming with life, while the rocks are barren. But a closer look reveals something amazing.

There is life in between the rocks, and sometimes even in the rocks themselves. Plants shoot forth with verdant energy. Among the harsh gray rocks is the promise of new growth.

I wonder how many other places in our lives look barren at first, but upon closer scrutiny might reveal life and growth? These resilient plants are a living parable of God’s love and life. There is no place where God cannot work in our world and in our lives. So often, it could look like God’s presence is absent from our world. If we keep looking—beyond the harsh rocks and to the cracks and gaps—we might see God’s love and life at work.

Would our world look different if we peered beyond the rocks to see the plants? How might our lives change if we searched for life and growth?

Yours faithfully,

Scott Gunn
Executive Director

Photo by Scott Gunn

Today’s Flash Sale: Table Graces AND Family Graces

Table Graces
Praying before meals opens our hearts to an awareness of God, who is the giver of all good things and sustains us in all of our lives. When we pray before meals, we follow the example of Jesus, who prayed with his disciples during The Last Supper.

This booklet contains thirty prayers. It is designed to stand on a tabletop or counter, with the same prayer viewed on both sides to encourage praying together at meals. The prayers can be read together, said quietly, or can be sung.

Regular: $15
Today: $11.25

*Discount is valid until 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time

Family Graces
This booklet contains thirty prayers. It is designed to stand on a tabletop or counter, with the same prayer viewed on both sides to encourage praying together at meals. The prayers can be read together, said quietly, or can be sung.

Regular: $15
Today: $11.25

*Discount is valid until 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time

Table Grace and Family Graces

Open position: Director of Business Operations

DIRECTOR OF BUSINESS OPERATIONS
Listing for Open Position

Forward Movement is seeking a full-time Director of Business Operations to lead the team that delivers products and content to inspire disciples and empower evangelists, as well as supporting our financial management and operational success. The Director of Business Operations will collaborate with Forward Movement staff to support our customers, as well as to lead our finance team. We seek an effective leader who can ensure that our customers continue to receive unsurpassed service and that we are making use of best practices for our operational success and financial management. The ideal candidate will be detail oriented with a solutions-focused approach to challenges along the way. An entrepreneurial and playful spirit is essential.

Key Responsibilities and Tasks

  1. Provides daily direction and communication to the customer service team so that customers receive timely, efficient and knowledgeable service.
  2. Oversees all aspects of royalty payments, including contracts, communication with content creators, and timely payments as specified.
  3. Manages the financial operations team, including finance manager, accounts payable, and accounts receivable. Ensures business processes are in line with appropriate regulations, accounting standards, and best practices.
  1. Provides continual evaluation of processes and procedures. Responsible for suggesting methods to improve area operations, efficiency and service to both internal and external customers.
  2. Provides statistical and performance feedback and coaching to the team.
  3. Writes and administers performance reviews for skill improvement.
  4. Ensures employees have appropriate training and other resources to perform their jobs.
  5. Manages daily and weekly employee schedules, including vacation requests and sick leave.
  6. Responds to and resolves employee relations or discipline issues experienced by team members.
  7. Creates and maintains a high-quality work environment and professional culture so team members are motivated to perform at their highest level.
  8. Perform related work as required.

 

This is a full-time position. Requires work in the Cincinnati office. Some travel will be required. The successful applicant will possess Christian character and be knowledgeable about The Episcopal Church. Prior experience or training in customer service or finance is required. In addition to English language fluency, Spanish or some other language fluency is desirable. Forward Movement hires without regard to race, color, ethnic origin, national origin, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, disabilities, or age.

This position begins work August 1, 2019, while the current position holder retires August 30, allowing some overlap. There is a strong internal candidate for this opening.

Salary will be commensurate with experience. Forward Movement offers a full package of benefits. Email resume and cover letter by June 10, 2019 to Ms. Tania Jones at tjones@forwardmovement.org.

Forward Movement is a non-profit ministry of The Episcopal Church located in Cincinnati, Ohio. Our mission is inspire disciples, empower evangelists.

Forward Movement
412 Sycamore Street ·Cincinnati, OH 45202
www.forwardmovement.org

Forward Today: Holy Week and the heart of Christian faith

,

Dear friends in Christ,

This coming Sunday is Palm Sunday, the beginning of Holy Week. I imagine regular readers of Forward Today will be in church quite a bit next week, including Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Eve.

As a parish priest, I loved this time in our liturgical year. It gets right at the heart of our faith to move through these sacred days. In our experience of these evocative liturgies, we learn so much about the God we worship. It was also the busiest week of the year, by far. Though the hours were long and the tasks plentiful, I loved the gift of leading people through this pilgrimage every year.

priests

If you are one of the people who helps lead Holy Week worship—clergy, choir member, altar guild, reader, teacher, usher, greeter, preacher—I hope you’ll savor this gift. Take care of yourself in this busy time, and do what you can to enter fully into Holy Week.

If you are a member of a church who is not helping with Holy Week liturgies this year, I invite you to pray for all those who have this calling and this work. Pray especially for your clergy and musicians. They will work long hours.

And let all of us, whatever our role, give our hearts and our lives fully to this week. It will change us.

One of the prayers for Palm Sunday puts us in the right perspective, and I invite you to pray it through the week to come.

Assist us mercifully with your help, O Lord God of our salvation, that we may enter with joy upon the contemplation of those mighty acts, whereby you have given us life and immortality; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Yours faithfully,
Scott Gunn
Executive Director

Image: Flickr

Today’s Flash Sale: Broken

BrokenBefore Jesus broke the bread, he blessed it.

In the age of social media, where our lives are curated to show only our best and most beautiful selves, it is easy to believe we are the only ones who are broken. But we are not alone. We are all broken and in need of God’s blessing. No one has it all together; no person is perfect.

In essays both humorous and achingly vulnerable, author Ryan Casey Waller urges us to join him in pouring out our brokenness, not just to God but to each other. Waller takes us through the trials of following Jesus during seasons of doubt and disbelief, anger, shame, and even hate, but always brings us back to the amazing news that Jesus blessed the bread before he broke it.

Through Jesus, our brokenness is blessed, our wounds healed, and our hearts made whole.

Regular: $18
Today: $13.50

*Discount is valid until 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time

Forward Today: A time to be grateful

,

Dear friends in Christ,

As regular readers will know, I have been away on sabbatical since the beginning of the year. I’m grateful to those who filled in while I was away, offering weekly doses of information and inspiration. Mostly I ignored my email while I was away, but I did look forward to reading someone else’s Forward Today each Wednesday.

Yesterday when I returned to work, I did so with a grateful heart. It’s a profound gift to have so much time away from work. But that’s not the only reason for my gratitude. Our amazing staff at Forward Movement had done fantastic work during my time away. Our deputy directors, Richelle Thompson and Jason Merritt, ably led the team. Our board’s chair and co-chair, Anne Schmidt and James Harlan, stayed in touch with staff to offer support. And of course, our whole staff worked together to connect with customers, create new content, plan events, and share our work. We have so many new products—and more to come in the next few months—I can’t wait to tell you what’s coming and see how our work will change lives as people are more fully formed as disciples of Jesus Christ.

People have asked what I did while I was away. I traveled around the world in January with Sherilyn Pearce, my partner, and we had a grand adventure. (You can see photos on my flickr if you’re interested.) I visited lots of churches and met with clergy from around our church. I read a huge pile of books. I had plenty of time to pray and ponder. And I went for lots of walks with our dog, George.

Now I’m ready for the next chapter of my work here at Forward Movement. We have lots under way and more to do. Our work is focused primarily in discipleship and evangelism. But for our work to be successful, we must also ensure that we stay focused on our mission and that we practice trust. When we trust one another we can accomplish more and do better work. It’s efficient, because trust means there’s no second guessing. It’s a blessing, because trust means that someone believes in us and that we can do the work. It’s a joy, because we are able to flourish in doing that to which God has called us.

So today I am filled with gratitude—grateful for time away, for good people, for trust, and for the privilege of serving this part of God’s church.

Yours faithfully,

Scott Gunn
Executive Director

Today’s Flash Sale: Walk in Love

Take a journey through The Book of Common Prayer, the Christian life, and basic beliefs of our faith, guided by two Episcopal priests—Scott Gunn and Melody Wilson Shobe. Walk through the liturgical year, the sacraments of the church, habits of daily prayer, and the teachings of Anglican Christianity. See how our prayer shapes our belief and our lives and how our beliefs lead us into a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ.

Regular: $22
Today: $16.50

*Discount is valid until 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time

New Infographics

, ,

Forward Movement is excited to release a new series of infographics about Holy Week and Easter. This five-part downloadable graphic series provides a contemporary way for individuals and churches to learn more about the traditions, practices, and history of the Anglican tradition of Christianity.

Downloadable PDFs can be purchased individually, or all at once with either our Discipleship Bundle for printing at your church, or the Evangelism Bundle for both printing and digital distribution across your channels.

The series includes infographics on:
Holy Week
The Way of the Cross
The Triduum
Easter
Pentecost

Not sure? Test it out! We’re giving away the Holy Week infographic for FREE through the end of April. Click here and use the promo code ONEGRAPHIC to receive this download for free through April 30 (expires at 9:00 p.m. ET).

Forward Today: Love your enemies

Dear Friends,

A new book, Love Your Enemies, has just hit the shelves. I was instantly drawn to the title. It sounds like spiritual territory, but the author is not a known theological expert, rather he is a think tank leader, Arthur Brooks. A secular perspective-with all its complexities of business, politics, academics, media, and more-is talking about love?

It’s hard to love those you disagree with, and nearly impossible to love someone who is hostile and stands against you, Brooks postures. He recognizes our relationships in the speech we use with one another, especially in the words we use to disagree with one another. He does not oppose disagreement and encourages talking through our differences-but he challenges the attitudes we hold behind our words. He characterizes our current polarization as contempt-eye-rolling, dismissive contempt, that arrogantly boasts my truth is the only truth. He asks us to declare “independence from the bitterness washing over our nation” and offers a few ideas on where to start.

In our prayers each week, we hope to bring Sunday’s messages to every day of our lives. Since 85% of our faith is lived out Monday through Saturday, we are always seeking ways to live faithfully at all times. The Bible says, “Love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer, for the you are working out of your true selves, your God-created selves. This is what God does. He gives his best-the sun to warm the rain to nourish-to everyone, regardless: the good and bad, the nice and nasty.” Matthew 5:43-47 (tr. Peterson)

As a church, we are rightly focused on the Presiding Bishop’s call to follow the Way of Love. We know that by ourselves we cannot overcome our predilections, but by Grace, He can be our guide.

So, what does a think tank leader have in common with Jesus, and what can he borrow with sincerity from the Bible? Love. Love your enemies they both say. Stop your eye-rolling. Find love and warm heartedness and you will be healers, if not of others of yourself, healed from the debilitating effects of unhappy, unhealthy, and unattractive characteristics in yourself. Brooks uses scientific study to “prove” this. Jesus knew it, and us, all along. Loving our enemies brings out the best in us.

So, in this season of Lent, when we are tempted to roll our eyes at our “enemy,” let’s be reminded that God loves her, Jesus blesses him, just as much as He loves you and me.

The sun warms and the rains nourish all, and we can be a healing presence at all times.

With Faith and in His love,
Mimi Murley
Forward Movement Board Member

Today’s Flash Sale: Slaying Your Goliaths

Slaying Your GoalithsHow can God help you, like David, to overcome seemingly impossible odds? The David and Goliath story offers us spiritual guidance on how to overcome obstacles. Rather than offering “self-help,” the story offers “God-help,” rooted in its history as a story told by people of faith to people of faith. The ancient story of David and Goliath speaks to modern people facing modern problems, offering spiritual guidance and reassurance that God is with us always, even and especially when we face and slay our giants.

The Rev. John Ohmer, rector of The Falls Church Episcopal in Virginia, has twenty years of experience as an ordained minister and working pastor. Prior to entering Virginia Theological Seminary in 1994, he worked on Capitol Hill, as well as in his home state of Indiana, as a press secretary and speechwriter.

Regular: $15
Today: $11.25

*Discount is valid until 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time