Books published by Coventry Press

There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male or female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:28This seminal statement in the letter to the Galatians is the foundation upon which this book is based. Its clear teaching about our unity in Christ overrides other sources of identity and is the recurring theme in this careful, sensitive and informed research about issues surrounding the ministry of women in the churches.The book's particular focus is the Lutheran Church of Australia, traditionally opposed to such leadership, and apparently based on what has been considered sound interpretations of New Testament teaching, especially in the letters of PaulThe author does not ignore the passages used by those who oppose women in ministry. Rather, as an eminently qualified scholar of the Bible, he contends that such texts need to be understood in their original social contexts with all the limitations that such contexts make to our ongoing understanding of their teaching.The struggle to include women in ministry and leadership in the churches has been long and divisive. Neither Male nor Females argues that now is the time for the Lutheran Church of Australia (and other Christian churches) to affirm the roles of women at all levels of the church's life and especially reassess their dependence on such exclusion on long misunderstood Scripture verses and long abandoned expectations of women's roles in society an church.... a please to those who continue to refuse a place for women in ministry to rethink their position, based on taking a more differentiated approach to Scripture. - William Loader, Professor Emeritus of New Testament, Murdoch University.... explores the texts that have been used to deny the full personhood of women using the language and methods of interpretation congruous for those who hold different views, while not accepting the framing of the discussion given by them. - Dr Tanya Wittwer, Lecturer in Pastoral Theology, Adelaide College of Divinity / Flinders University, Brooklyn Park, South Australia

Jesus & The Empowering Influence of Friendship explores the values of the historical sage Jesus of Nazareth, considering not only the words and actions of the historical Jesus but examining the values of compassion and acceptance shown in the relationships with the people he meets.Reflecting on contemporary biblical scholarship, including the discovery of ancient texts from the Dead Sea Scrolls and Nag Hammadi, the John W H Smith also critiques the traditional 'orthodox' Christianity and asks if the practical application of Jesus' values have been reflected in the creeds, councils an historic documents of the Churches.In addition, the author shows how traditional 'orthodox' teachings can be challenged and changed through the transforming influence of friendship discovered in the life and teaching of the sage Jesus of Nazareth.

Not Forgotten celebrates the lives of our forebears, the flesh and blood people who passionately believed that what they could bring to Australian children was worth the struggle.

At the heart of Seeking God in Scripture is the conviction that only through deep prayer, reflection and meditation do people of faith come to know God and God's purposes for us. There is also an understanding that the Scriptures are themselves the sources of discipleship and prayer; and that only by sustained reflection on their teachings do we become aware of the Spirits leading us to complete truth, about God, about the Christ, about the Spirit, about ourselves within the community of believers.The book's origins are the Abbot's teaching to the novices at Tarrawarra Abbey in Victoria. He shares his insights, experiences and tradition; all based on and sustained by the ancient Rule of St Benedict, lived and practised by monks for centuries.But the book is not only for those in monastic vows but for all who long to live spiritual lives more richly, to learn the art and skills of meditation, especially within the discipline known as Lectio Divina. The author's purpose is to offer to the general Christian reader some basic ideas about Lectio Divina: how we may understand it better, how it may be practised in a variety of ways, how the Scripture itself informs both content and process. Above all, to remind us that Lectio Divina is more to do with listening than reading; and listening as our way of entering the very Presence of God.

This New Day is the fourth book of reflections by Patrick Jurd, with inspiration for each day of the year. The book invites us to open at a particular date, to be inspired, to refresh our faith in our God who makes all things new, each day, every day.The daily reflections begin with passages from Scripture, Franciscan or Lasallian writings, acknowledging that Scripture especially always has something new to say to us, offering new possibilities to grow in faith.The themes in This New Day affirm, challenge and transform. They cover a variety of topics - discipleship, education, prayer, formation, spirituality, integrity, life choices, building relationships - in ways that are thoughtful, caring gentle, inspiring, and concerned to remind readers that the Holy Spirit is constantly guiding us, every day.

But who do you say that I am? (Matthew 16:15)Jesus' question to Peter and the others is one that every disciple needs to consider, a question that is as old as the Christian tradition. And behind the question an even deeper and challenging one: Who is God?Michael Fallon argues that the response to both questions must be informed by how we read the New Testament. There, we find the portrait of a man who lived and died in our world, a human being like ourselves, someone recognised by his followers as free from the fear of God or other people - someone who taught us to respond to the divine, someone in whom they acknowledged the human expression (the incarnation) of God.The author gladly accepts that eh historical Jesus has been distorted in many ways through the centuries, with the consequence that often the Jesus presented by Christians has failed to connect with people's life-questions, as if he had lived in a world unlike our own, without doubt or struggle, without insecurity or uncertainty. A life so unlike our own as to make him inaccessible and unreal.He argues to the contrary. The Jesus portrayed in the New Testament lived in a real world. He was concerned with real people, naming and opposing anything that made it difficult for people to live. In so doing, he incurred opposition and rejection; hence his death. But he also won the confidence of the oppressed. They trusted him, and so learned to trust God, and to believe in themselves, in their world and their future. This was because Jesus revealed the powerful love of the redeemer God.This is the challenge to us, his followers. Our world has so much idolatry, false religion and even false Jesus. If we have the faith enough to present Jesus as the answer to our modern ills, we need to make sure that it is the real Jesus of Nazareth that we present.Such is the purpose of this book.

This is a book about vocation, written by a once-upon-a-time religious Sister. The years following the Second Vatican Council were critical ones in the development of the Australian Catholic Church when, encouraged by the proliferation of small Gospel Groups, lay women began feeling their way into new ministries. A Gentle Unfolding is the story of one of those women. In easy-to-read chapters, Judith Scully writes of the ministry possibilities that came and sometimes went and the challenges remaining if the Church is to appreciate the giftedness of women's spirituality.

God's Foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God's weakness is stronger than human strength. (1 Corinthians 1:25).Reflecting on his own life and on the lives and teachings of a range of spiritual writers, Brian Gallagher discovers God's foolishness, 'wiser than human wisdom'. He gladly acknowledges the influence of these women and men on his personal spirituality, a spiritual heart.He calls them 'prophets, leaders, saints', and though human wisdom held little expectation for any of them, God's foolishness saw them with very different eyes.

In Dear Movies, Peter Malone draws on his long experience of film reviewing and of writing and leading workshops on films and values. He has often been asked, 'What's your favourite film?' Dear Movies is part of his answer.He as chosen to write letters to over 100 movies, each letter beginning a conversation with the film, opening up some of their themes, their ways of telling stories, their roles as fables and parables. He also shares what each movie means to him, inviting us - the readers - to discover our dear movies: how the movies we enjoy help us to explore values, offering insights into the spirituality of daily living and more demanding challenges.He remembers that Jesus told stories about the ordinary, familiar things of everyday life - stories that still teach us to look more deeply into ourselves and identify what is real, lasting, precious, encouraging, difficult and demanding.This is the kind of storytelling we look for in films. Dear Movies reminds us that while we have always looked for values and spirituality in music, in the visual arts, in theatre, in poetry and novels, movies too invite us to share experiences and to connect film with our understanding of God's purposes for our lives.Reading Peter's Dear Movies is more than a joy and revelation. It is a reminder of the power of pictures, and the important role movies still play in al our lives today - Forward by Jan Epstein.

The marginalisation of Christianity in Western societies is a growing crisis for contemporary believers. One positive response is to deepen our own faith journeys through adult life and faith formation that should always be a priority in evangelisation.Opening Doors: A Seeker's Reflections on the Rooms of Christian Living takes seriously the invitation of the Lord for us to open the door to him, and with confidence consider how our faith may be enhanced and energised through the wisdoms of contemporary theology and spirituality. The book is written for those whom Charles Taylor describes as 'seekers' - Christians who are searching to reconcile their faith with emerging insights from modern science, cosmology and consciousness.We are invited to open eleven doors and enter eleven rooms of Christian living. Each room offers a flavour of each of the topics in the Christian Story followed by focused questions for individual reflection and shared conversations in self-directed groups. The topics of the rooms include everyday spirituality, the universe story, humans and religion, the mystery of God, meeting Jesus, the church, ministry, women and faith communities, a Christian ethical way of life, Christian spiritualities and faith communities in a global world.

The Pope is first of all the pastor of the Church and sign of its unity. He can be a theologian professionally, or he cannot be, as it has happened for the majority of popes. ln both cases, in his teaching as well as in the choices he makes or in the orientations he offers, his teaching and his style are imbued with a theological perspective and ask theologians to confront with them.The collection "Pope Francis' Theology", calling upon the expertise of eleven theologians from various Countries of the world, aims at showing us what theology is at the base of such incisive words and such simple gestures with which Pope Francis has made us so familiar.They are eleven easy volumes, written in a captivating way yet able to show in a rigorous way the deep roots of his thought and action.Journeying in Love aims to answer the many questions that concern the Christian lifestyle that is proposed and emerges from the behaviour and theological reflection of the Pope. His way of inhabiting the Church and the world that transpires from his gestures and words are an expression of a style of life and not a mere doctrinal teaching. In fact, Fumagalli's analysis shows the strong bond between Pope Francis and the Gospel and its centrality within a message of which he is a bearer. The value of the moral theology of his pontificate transpires from the most relevant texts of his magisterium. The study proposed is dedicated, in the first part, to its ethical teaching of a fundamental nature and, in the second part, to that which more specifically concerns the world of affectivity. The intent is to highlight the lymph that animates the teaching of the Pope. For this reason the reflections focus on Christian love, the vital essence of moral theology, and on its conjugal declension, as a fruitful nucleus of family morality.