Books published by SCM Press

What do we need to learn and receive from the other to help us address challenges or wounds in our own tradition? That is the key question asked in what has come to be known as 'receptive ecumenism'. And nowhere is this question more pressing and pertinent than in women's experiences within the church.Based on qualitative research from five focus groups, For the Good of the Church expose the difficulties women face when they work in a church - sexism, unfulfilled vocation, and abuse of power and privilege, as well as the wide range of gifts and skills which women bring in light of these.The second part of the book continues to draw on the particular wounds and gifts, which arise in the focus groups. Specific case studies are used to identify gifts of theology, practice, experience, vocation and power.Against negative prognoses of an 'ecumenical winter', Gabrielle Thomas reveals how radically different theological and ecclesiological perspectives can be a space for learning and receiving gifts for the well-being of the whole Church.

Theology, according to liberation theologians is only a second step. The first is praxis. A liberating praxis puts the poor and the marginalised at the centre. It is found in the collective response of global religious communities responding to crises - and a global pandemic offers an important case in point, reminding religions of our shared humanity, and the need for interreligious cooperation and understanding to effect a positive response.In the context of seismic socio-economic and political change, religion provides a communal response for feeding the poor, fighting for their rights, and challenging the post-colonial financial model that is now beginning to lose its ground.This book blends an examination of emerging research on the socio-economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in marginalised communities, with the author's own research on social and poverty isolation in India, and his own experience as told in diaries written whilst in lockdown in a poor district of Santiago, Chile. It challenges majority world churches and religions in a post-pandemic world to learn from each other and from Jesus' own identification with the outcast, and urges them to take on a way of life and prophetic learning from the world of the poor.

Part of the 'SCM Classics' series, this title provides writing still of relevance to students of theology today.

Offering a ground-breaking new perspective on one of the great concerns of our time, Eric Stoddart examines everyday surveillance in the light of concern for the common good.

Bringing together theologians, missiologists, computer scientists and practitioners, Missio Dei in a Digital Age explores the implications of digitality for Missio Dei in thought and practice. This edited collection includes a diverse range of topics from evangelism to pastoral care, biases in algorithms and public theology to homiletics.

How do we talk about climate grief? Hannah Malcolm brings together voices from a multiplicity of different perspectives and backgrounds to reflect upon what a theology of climate grief looks like in their own context - from small island countries to inner-city suburbs, from refugees to those in wealthy western contexts.

How might the long tradition of the Christian gaze, found in scripture, art, theology and philosophy speak into this selfie generation? How Do I Look? offers an important pastoral and scholarly resource for anyone seeking to understand theologically one of the most profound developments of the digital age.

This book helps educators to treat their teacher identity as a theological resource, rather than an obstacle, and in so doing to discover new insights on Christ which can be of relevance to the wider church and its mission.

Arguing that what is needed is a provisional approach to ministry which recognises that all forms of ministry are, and always have been a response to social and cultural context, 'Ecclesianarchy' brings theological and practical insight to bear on the question of ministry's provisionality.

If ever a period of time felt 'fractured' it is now. Whichever way we turn, we witness the dismembering and fracturing of many previously taken for granted realities, with maps and borders - physical and metaphorical - being redrawn before our eyes. What place for the feminist practical theologian in such a climate?"e;In Fragments for Fractured Times"e;, one of the world's leading feminist practical theologians, Nicola Slee, brings together 15 years of papers, articles, talks and sermons, many of them previously unpublished. Collected from diverse times, places, settings and occasions, Slee offers an introduction to each fragment, "e;holding it up to the light and examining its size, shape, texture and pattern"e;. Drawing on a wide and diverse range of her writing, Slee demonstrates the richness and variety of feminist practical theological writing. What feminist theology brings to the table of scholarly thinking and embodied practice is, she suggests, something creative, artful, prophetic as well as playful - a resource for Christian living and thinking in fractured times.

By listening carefully to the lived experiences of people with severe mental health problems, Finding Jesus in the Storm will open up new understandings and perspectives that challenge current assumptions and draws out fresh perspectives for care, healing, recovery and community.

Leading missional thinkers Cathy Ross and Jonny Baker invite us into a vision of church, mission and society which takes John V. Taylor's ideas seriously, seeking to imagine what Taylor's insights might mean for these three areas in our contemporary context.

Is it possible to develop such a thing as a biblical theology of mental health? How might we develop a helpful and pastoral use of scripture to explore questions of mental health within a Christian framework?This timely and important book integrates the highest levels of biblical scholarship with theological and pastoral concerns to consider how we use scripture when dealing with mental health issues.Chapters include:Paula Gooder on Healing and wholenessJoanna Collicutt on the madness of JesusJohn Swinton on the Bible in pastoral careWalter Brueggemann on Psalms and lamentWith a foreword from Archbishop Justin Welby

An accessible introduction to the doctrine of God, 'Only God Will Save Us' demonstrates for students, ordinands and Christian practitioners how a theological articulation of the nature of God can drive and refine Christian action in the world.

Examines the treatment of religion in the genre of contemporary murder mystery novels, and the implications of this phenomenon for understanding Christian thought in a post-Christian society. This book focuses on the problem of justice.

Constructing new ways of thinking about the narratives at the heart of the Christian faith, 'Broken Bodies' offers a fresh perspective on Christian theology, in particular the Eucharist, and presents a call to love the body in all its guises.

Presents a support resource for students being introduced to philosophical texts and to philosophy in general. This work contains a glossary of terms relating to the philosopher's use of terms.

Presents a support resource for students being introduced to philosophical texts and to philosophy in general. This book is a response to Hegel's ideas. It uses the story of Genesis 22, 1-18, where Abraham was willing to sacrifice Isaac without question, and only faith, to put across his own ideas and philosophy.

Aquinas' "Summa Theologica" is his most famous work. It consists of a summary of the reasonings for almost all points of the Catholic faith. Part of "SCM Briefly" series, this title seeks to serve as a support resource for students. Summarising the original text, it looks at Part II of this text, which concerns man's striving for the highest end.

This book explores the nature of catechesis and how catechesis within our churches can shape the Christian community into an instrument of renewal in the world through the formation of holy living.

The editors, Roger Standing and Paul Goodliff, together with experienced church leaders drawn from across the churches, establish the common foundations that inform our conversations about translocal ministry and map present models and experience of ecclesial oversight.

This ground-breaking study provides a unique contribution to the field of Anglican Studies: a detailed historical examination of the development of metropolitical authority and provincial polity within international Anglicanism.

In contrast to emphasis on personal salvation and religious patriotism of biblical Christianity, 'second Christianity' concerns itself with common humanity in relation to a divine Presence, and confronts the global problems of our modern world.

An hands-on handbook on consultancy for church-based organisations, and a key resource for church leaders such as archdeacons, mission enablers and others.