Unlocking Your Parish

Can Catholic parishes become communities of missionary disciples that bear lasting fruit? If so, what does it take to move them in that direction? Through his years as pastor of Saint Benedict Parish in Halifax, Canada, Fr. James Mallon discovered that the answer to the first question was a resounding yes! Tailored for Catholics, Alpha played a key role in the transformation of the parish he pastored. Unlocking Your Parish: Making Disciples, Raising Up Leaders with Alpha aims to provide insight into what Alpha can do to help any Catholic parish become a vibrant, mission-focused community.

Can Catholic parishes become communities of missionary disciples that bear lasting fruit? If so, what does it take to move them in that direction?Through his years as pastor of Saint Benedict Parish in Halifax, Canada, Fr. James Mallon discovered that the answer to the first question was a resounding yes! Tailored for Catholics, Alpha played a key role in the transformation of the parish he pastored.Unlocking Your Parish: Making Disciples, Raising Up Leaders with Alpha aims to provide insight into what Alpha can do to help any Catholic parish become a vibrant, mission-focused community.

The world is hungering for the fruit of a dynamic Church that has embraced her missionary identity, but what does it really mean to be a missionary Church? Grounded in Scripture and Sacred Tradition, Fr. Mallon offers an analysis of the challenges the Church is facing, along with practical tools that will support parish and diocesan leaders in bringing about significant renewal. Most importantly, he addresses the critical interface between a missionary parish and its diocese, essential to bearing lasting fruit. "Fr. Mallon understands what it takes to transform a mediocre parish into a dynamic, missionary one, and he understands that parishes need diocesan leadership to transform the Church as a whole. I pray that every bishop in the Church will absorb this message of love, and that, by the movement of the Holy Spirit, it will bring hordes of people to Jesus and his Church." —Patrick Lencioni, cofounder of The Amazing Parish and author of The Five Dysfunctions of a Team

Unlocking the Church is the story of a revolution. The Victorians transformed how churches were understood, experienced, and built. Initially controversial, this revolution was so successful, that it has now been forgotten. Yet it still shapes our experience of church buildings and also helps make sense of what we should do with them now.

Is there a book of the Bible more often discussed and yet less understood than the Book of Revelation? The "seven seals." The "dragon." The "beast." The "sea of glass." The fantastic imagery found in the Book of Revelation has long captivated Christians but remains mysterious to many. In the midst of so much discussion about the end times, what does Revelation teach us about living in the present moment, with our eyes focused on the heavenly Jerusalem? Michael Barber's Coming Soon explores these questions by taking a detailed look at Revelation and its rich tapestry of prophecy, history, and biblical allusion. Barber explores the profound link between the Mass celebrated here on earth and the eternal reality of heaven, demonstrating that the Apocalypse reveals truth that has practical implications for today and points to a firm hope in tomorrow. Coming Soon is a verse-by-verse commentary on the Book of Revelation using the Revised Standard Version: Catholic Edition of the Bible. Barber provides a Catholic interpretation, which sees the liturgical background of this book of Scripture-a perspective missing in many Protestant commentaries.

The 1980s and 1990s, the height of the AIDS crisis in the United States, was decades ago now, and many of the stories from this time remain hidden: A Catholic nun from a small Midwestern town packs up her life to move to New York City, where she throws herself into a community under assault from HIV and AIDS. A young priest sees himself in the many gay men dying from AIDS and grapples with how best to respond, eventually coming out as gay and putting his own career on the line. A gay Catholic with HIV loses his partner to AIDS and then flees the church, focusing his energy on his own health rather than fight an institution seemingly rejecting him. Set against the backdrop of the HIV and AIDS epidemic of the late twentieth century and the Catholic Church's crackdown on gay and lesbian activists, journalist Michael O'Loughlin searches out the untold stories of those who didn't look away, who at great personal cost chose compassion--even as he seeks insight for LGBTQ people of faith struggling to find a home in religious communities today. This is one journalist's--gay and Catholic himself--compelling picture of those quiet heroes who responded to human suffering when so much of society--and so much of the church--told them to look away. These pure acts of compassion and mercy offer us hope and inspiration as we continue to confront existential questions about what it means to be Americans, Christians, and human beings responding to those most in need.

Recommended by church leaders worldwide, this encouraging book by Tricia Neil is a practical 'how to' for turning vision into reality. Drawing on more than 12 years' experience as Executive Director at Holy Trinity Brompton, Tricia offers valuable insights for churches of all sizes. "When Tricia Neill came on staff at HTB, there were about 200 Alpha courses in the world. Now there are over 32,000. Humanly speaking, I done(tm)t think this would have been possible without Triciae(tm)s professionalism, expertise and flair. 'From Vision to Action' tells the story, and I suspect there is something here for churches of any size or situation." NICKY GUMBEL, Vicar of HTB, London.