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Crafting Meaningful Wedding Rituals: A Practical Guide

by Jeltje Gordon-Lennox

The trend towards a more secular culture in Western society means that there can be greater flexibility in a wedding ceremony, but couples are often faced with the challenge of preparing a meaningful celebration outside the traditional religious framework. This hands-on, practical guide demonstrates how to approach and prepare a secular wedding ceremony that honours a couple's relationship with honest vows and rituals true to their shared values. In addition, it provides guidance on structuring a ceremony for couples that come from very different cultural or spiritual backgrounds.Includes the tools necessary for the creation of a ceremony, such as a Ritual Identity Questionnaire, checklists, and many other resources.

Crafting Secular Ritual: A Practical Guide

by Jeltje Gordon-Lennox Isabel Russo

Answering the call for new rituals in our secular age, this book recognises the essential importance of rituals to the psychological, physical and spiritual health of individuals, families, organisations, and society as a whole. The book examines and explains the history, function and place of emerging rituals in different cultures, as well as providing practical guidance for creating your own secular rituals. The author includes examples, risk factors and checklists for the stages of planning new rituals for life events such as birth, marriage, and death, as well as for public occasions such as graduation and protest marches.

Crafting Secular Ritual: A Practical Guide (PDF)

by Isabel Russo Jeltje Gordon-Lennox

Answering the call for new rituals in our secular age, this book recognises the essential importance of rituals to the psychological, physical and spiritual health of individuals, families, organisations, and society as a whole. The book examines and explains the history, function and place of emerging rituals in different cultures, as well as providing practical guidance for creating your own secular rituals. The author includes examples, risk factors and checklists for the stages of planning new rituals for life events such as birth, marriage, and death, as well as for public occasions such as graduation and protest marches.

Crafts and Craftsmen of the Middle East: Fashioning the Individual in the Muslim Mediterranean (The Islamic Mediterranean)

by Suraiya Faroqhi Randi Deguilhem

Crafts and Craftsmen of the Middle East reveals inner glimpses into the lives of craftsmen working both within and outside the guild system in the modern and contemporary Mediterranean world. From the late sixteenth-century Ottoman Empire to traditional style crafts in twentieth-century Turkey and Egypt, the book surveys a multitude of traditions. It begins in 1582 when Istanbul artisans paraded in front of Sultan Murad III, then moves through to eighteenth and nineteenth-century struggles and accommodation between different groups of artisans and craftsmen in Istanbul, Salonica, Veria, Cairo and Damascus, looking at various situations within the Muslim, Jewish and Christian working communities. The volume concludes with studies on contemporary Cairo as well as in the small Anatolian town of Safranbolu. Crafts and Craftsmen of the Middle East is essential reading for all those interested in the history of the culture and society of artisans, craftsmen and workers in the Islamic Mediterranean lands. The list of contributors include: Suraiya Faroqhi, Gisela Prohazka-Eisl, Eleni Gara, Eunjeong Yi, Salih Aynural, Minna Rozen, Pascale Ghazaleh Randi Deguilhem, Claudia Kickinger Heidemarie Doganalp-Votzi and John Chalcraft.

Crazy Christians: A Radical Way of Life

by Bishop Michael Curry

We need some Christians who are as crazy as the Lord. Crazy enough to love like Jesus, to give like Jesus, to forgive like Jesus, to do justice, love mercy, walk humbly with God like Jesus. Crazy enough to dare to change the world from the nightmare it often is into something close to the dream that God dreams for it. And for those who would follow him, those who would be his disciples, those who would live as and be the people of the Way. It might come as a shock, but they are called to craziness.From Bishop Curry's "Crazy Christians" address to the 2012 General Convention of the Episcopal Church in Indianapolis.

The Crazy Christmas Joke Book

by Anonymous

Packed with brilliant seasonal jokes together with lots of silly stuff that will keep children giggling throughout the Christmas holidays. Cast an unwanted Gift Spell, read Santa's hilarious emails and try the Top Ten things to do with leftover turkey. With hilarious spoof ads and lots of fun Christmas features this book will really put the ho-ho-hointo your holidays.

Crazy for God: How I Grew Up as One of the Elect, Helped Found the Religious Right, and Lived to Take All (or Almos

by Frank Schaeffer

By the time he was nineteen, Frank Schaeffer's parents, Francis and Edith Schaeffer, had achieved global fame as bestselling evangelical authors and speakers, and Frank had joined his father on the evangelical circuit. He would go on to speak before thousands in arenas around America, publish his own evangelical bestseller, and work with such figures as Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, and Dr. James Dobson. But all the while Schaeffer felt increasingly alienated, precipitating a crisis of faith that would ultimately lead to his departure-even if it meant losing everything.With honesty, empathy, and humor, Schaeffer delivers "a brave and important book” (Andre Dubus III, author of House of Sand and Fog)-both a fascinating insider's look at the American evangelical movement and a deeply affecting personal odyssey of faith.

Crazy Joy: Finding Wild Happiness in a World That's Upside Down

by Mary Backstrom

A national bestselling author helps readers find radical joy in a world full of constant comparison by accepting that life is a wild ride and happiness fluctuates with our circumstances. Happiness is considered a destination, but the finish line is constantly moving—when we get married, find that dream job, move away from home, have a baby, build a dream house, etc. We are promised that a happy life is tied to these milestones. But what if society has it wrong? What if happiness isn't the goal at all? With her trademark candor and hilarious storytelling, MK paints a picture of a different life—one bursting with a force that is far more sustainable and vibrant: joy. Crazy Joy will help readers: Identify and reject ridiculous expectations that society has placed on their lives. Liberate their hearts from the comparison prison and feel content in their current circumstances. View themselves, inside and out, as the masterpiece creations they are. Find joy (and dare we say, laughter!) in the middle of life's biggest messes. Witty and refreshingly honest, Mary Katherine invites her readers to embark on a counter-cultural journey toward a life filled to the brim with contentment, humor, and most importantly, Crazy Joy.

Created Equal: How the Bible Broke with Ancient Political Thought

by Joshua A. Berman

In Created Equal, Joshua Berman engages the text of the Hebrew Bible from a novel perspective, considering it as a document of social and political thought. He proposes that the Pentateuch can be read as the earliest prescription on record for the establishment of an egalitarian polity. What emerges is the blueprint for a society that would stand in stark contrast to the surrounding cultures of the ancient Near East -- Egypt, Mesopotamia, Ugarit, and the Hittite Empire - in which the hierarchical structure of the polity was centered on the figure of the king and his retinue. Berman shows that an egalitarian ideal is articulated in comprehensive fashion in the Pentateuch and is expressed in its theology, politics, economics, use of technologies of communication, and in its narrative literature. Throughout, he invokes parallels from the modern period as heuristic devices to illuminate ancient developments. Thus, for example, the constitutional principles in the Book of Deuteronomy are examined in the light of those espoused by Montesquieu, and the rise of the novel in 18th-century England serves to illuminate the advent of new modes of storytelling in biblical narrative.

Created Equal: How the Bible Broke with Ancient Political Thought

by Joshua A. Berman

In Created Equal, Joshua Berman engages the text of the Hebrew Bible from a novel perspective, considering it as a document of social and political thought. He proposes that the Pentateuch can be read as the earliest prescription on record for the establishment of an egalitarian polity. What emerges is the blueprint for a society that would stand in stark contrast to the surrounding cultures of the ancient Near East -- Egypt, Mesopotamia, Ugarit, and the Hittite Empire - in which the hierarchical structure of the polity was centered on the figure of the king and his retinue. Berman shows that an egalitarian ideal is articulated in comprehensive fashion in the Pentateuch and is expressed in its theology, politics, economics, use of technologies of communication, and in its narrative literature. Throughout, he invokes parallels from the modern period as heuristic devices to illuminate ancient developments. Thus, for example, the constitutional principles in the Book of Deuteronomy are examined in the light of those espoused by Montesquieu, and the rise of the novel in 18th-century England serves to illuminate the advent of new modes of storytelling in biblical narrative.

Created for Connection: The "Hold Me Tight" Guide for Christian Couples

by Kenneth Sanderfer Dr. Sue Johnson

"Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love." -- 1 John 4:8 Are you looking to enrich a healthy relationship, revitalize a tired one, or rescue one gone awry? Do you yearn to grow closer to God, and to further incorporate Him and His teachings into your marriage? We all want a lifetime of love, support, and faith. But sometimes we need a little help. Enter Dr. Sue Johnson, developer of Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) and "the best couple therapist in the world," according to bestselling relationship expert Dr. John Gottman. In Created For Connection, Dr. Johnson and Kenneth Sanderfer, a leading EFT practitioner in the Christian community, share Johnson's groundbreaking and remarkably successful program for creating stronger, more secure relationships not only between partners, but between us and God. The message of Created For Connection is simple: Forget about learning how to argue better, analyzing your early childhood, or making grand romantic gestures. Instead, get to the emotional underpinnings of your relationship by recognizing that you are attached to and dependent on your partner in much the same way that a child is on a parent, and we are on the Heavenly Father, for nurturing, soothing, and protection. The way to enhance or save our relationships with each other and with God is to be open, attuned, responsive, and to reestablish safe emotional connection. Filled with Bible verses, inspiring real-life stories, and guidance, Created For Connection will ensure a lifetime of love.

Creating a Meaningful Life: A Practical Guide for Counselors, Therapists, and Other Helping Professionals

by Shannon Hodges

Creating a Meaningful Life builds on the tenets of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) to answer some of life’s basic questions, such as "How do I create a meaningful, purposeful life?" and "Is the life I am living one that brings me fulfillment, purpose, and a sense of inner peace?" Using a variety of techniques, including journaling, grounding exercises, cognitive self-talk restructuring, and more, chapters invite counseling professionals and students to explore their inner landscape, better understand themselves and find communion with others.

Creating a Meaningful Life: A Practical Guide for Counselors, Therapists, and Other Helping Professionals

by Shannon Hodges

Creating a Meaningful Life builds on the tenets of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) to answer some of life’s basic questions, such as "How do I create a meaningful, purposeful life?" and "Is the life I am living one that brings me fulfillment, purpose, and a sense of inner peace?" Using a variety of techniques, including journaling, grounding exercises, cognitive self-talk restructuring, and more, chapters invite counseling professionals and students to explore their inner landscape, better understand themselves and find communion with others.

Creating American Reform Judaism: The Life and Times of Isaac Mayer Wise (The Littman Library of Jewish Civilization)

by Sefton D. Temkin

Isaac Mayer Wise (1819–1900), founder of the major institutions of Reform Judaism in America, was a man of his time—a pioneer in a pioneer’s world. When he came to America from his childhood Bohemia in 1846, he found fewer than 50,000 Jews and only two ordained rabbis. With his sense of mission and tireless energy, he set himself to tailoring the vehicle of Reform Judaism to meet the needs of the growing Jewish community. Wise strove for unity among American Jews, and for a college to train rabbis to serve them. The establishment of Hebrew Union College (1875) was the crowning achievement of his life. His quest for unity also led him to draw up an American Jewish prayer-book, Minhag America, to found the Central Conference of American Rabbis, and to edit two weeklies; their editorials, breathing fire and energy, were no less important in his quest for leadership. Here as elsewhere, it was his persistence that won him the war where his impetuosity lost him many battles. Professor Temkin’s writing captures the vigour of Wise’s personality and the politics and concerns of contemporary Jewish life and leadership in America. Based primarily on material in the American Jewish Archives of the Hebrew Union College, this biography is a lively portrait of a rabbi whose singular efforts in many fields made him a pivotal figure in the naturalization of the Jew and Judaism in the New World. The book was first published in hardback in 1992 under the title Isaac Mayer Wise: Shaping American Judaism.

Creating an Islamic State: Khomeini and the Making of a New Iran (Library of Modern Middle East Studies)

by Vanessa Martin

How did the Ayatollah Khomeini create his Islamic state? What were the ideas which drove him and his movement? What organisation and methods helped bring him to power?This extraordinary book is the first to analyse the ideological roots of an Islamic state as conceived by the Ayatollah Khomeini. Surprisingly the author finds much of the inspiration behind Khomeini's political thinking being influenced by western sources – his writings on the supreme Islamic Jurist being affected by Plato's notions of the philosopher-king and his views of state power and centralism being closely linked to his understanding of Marxist/Leninist totalitarianism. Vanessa Martin makes a groundbreaking contribution on the dynamics of the Iranian Revolution and the Islamist revival especially relevant in the context of the debated arising out of Irans' recent elections.

Creating Church Online: Ritual, Community and New Media (Routledge Research in Religion, Media and Culture)

by Tim Hutchings

Online churches are internet-based Christian communities, pursuing worship, discussion, friendship, support, proselytization, and other key religious goals through computer-mediated communication. Hundreds of thousands of people are now involved with online congregations, generating new kinds of ritual, leadership, and community and new networks of global influence. Creating Church Online constructs a rich ethnographic account of the diverse cultures of online churches, from virtual worlds to video streams. This book also outlines the history of online churchgoing, from its origins in the 1980s to the present day, and traces the major themes of academic and Christian debate around this topic. Applying some of the leading current theories in the study of religion, media and culture to this data, Tim Hutchings proposes a new model of religious design in contexts of mediatization, and draws attention to digital networks, transformative third spaces and terrains of existential vulnerability. Creating Church Online advances our understanding of the significance and impact of digital media in the religious and social lives of its users, in search of new theoretical frameworks for digital religion.

Creating Church Online: Ritual, Community and New Media (Routledge Research in Religion, Media and Culture)

by Tim Hutchings

Online churches are internet-based Christian communities, pursuing worship, discussion, friendship, support, proselytization, and other key religious goals through computer-mediated communication. Hundreds of thousands of people are now involved with online congregations, generating new kinds of ritual, leadership, and community and new networks of global influence. Creating Church Online constructs a rich ethnographic account of the diverse cultures of online churches, from virtual worlds to video streams. This book also outlines the history of online churchgoing, from its origins in the 1980s to the present day, and traces the major themes of academic and Christian debate around this topic. Applying some of the leading current theories in the study of religion, media and culture to this data, Tim Hutchings proposes a new model of religious design in contexts of mediatization, and draws attention to digital networks, transformative third spaces and terrains of existential vulnerability. Creating Church Online advances our understanding of the significance and impact of digital media in the religious and social lives of its users, in search of new theoretical frameworks for digital religion.

Creating Cistercian Nuns: The Women's Religious Movement and Its Reform in Thirteenth-Century Champagne

by Anne E. Lester

In Creating Cistercian Nuns, Anne E. Lester addresses a central issue in the history of the medieval church: the role of women in the rise of the religious reform movement of the thirteenth century. Focusing on the county of Champagne in France, Lester reconstructs the history of the women’s religious movement and its institutionalization within the Cistercian order.The common picture of the early Cistercian order is that it was unreceptive to religious women. Male Cistercian leaders often avoided institutional oversight of communities of nuns, preferring instead to cultivate informal relationships of spiritual advice and guidance with religious women. As a result, scholars believed that women who wished to live a life of service and poverty were more likely to join one of the other reforming orders rather than the Cistercians. As Lester shows, however, this picture is deeply flawed. Between 1220 and 1240 the Cistercian order incorporated small independent communities of religious women in unprecedented numbers. Moreover, the order not only accommodated women but also responded to their interpretations of apostolic piety, even as it defined and determined what constituted Cistercian nuns in terms of dress, privileges, and liturgical practice. Lester reconstructs the lived experiences of these women, integrating their ideals and practices into the broader religious and social developments of the thirteenth century—including the crusade movement, penitential piety, the care of lepers, and the reform agenda of the Fourth Lateran Council. The book closes by addressing the reasons for the subsequent decline of Cistercian convents in the fourteenth century. Based on extensive analysis of unpublished archives, Creating Cistercian Nuns will force scholars to revise their understanding of the women’s religious movement as it unfolded during the thirteenth century.

Creating Community Cohesion: Religion, Media and Multiculturalism (Non-Governmental Public Action)

by D. Herbert

Using approaches from sociology, media and religious studies, David Herbert compares recent public controversies involving or implicating religion in the UK (England and Northern Ireland), the Netherlands and France.

Creating Gaia Culture: Vision and Workbook

by Marko Pogačnik

Humanity stands at the threshold of a new phase of Earth’s planetary evolution. Breathtaking possibilities – in tune with the evolutionary path of the universe – are now available. Yet the question arises: Does humanity have the ideas, foresight and potential for action that could create a culture that corresponds to the planet’s transformation?In the midst of distressing ecological crises, Marko Pogačnik offers fresh hope. Having worked intensively in the fields of holistic ecology (geomancy) and Earth-healing for four decades, he now formulates a vision of a culture based on co-creation with Gaia (the Earth), her elemental worlds and beings from parallel evolutions. Creating Gaia Culture is also a workbook, featuring dozens of drawings and meditative exercises to help transcend mental obstacles by cultivating the quality of living imagina­tion.Pogačnik – UNO Goodwill Ambassador and UNESCO Artist for Peace – presents numerous ways to collaborate with the process of creating Gaia culture. He allows us to look into the primeval source of the future by interpreting the ancient book of the biblical Apocalypse – a text that holds the secret of Earth changes in a coded vision of a new human civilization – and uses his experiences, visions, dream stories and communications with beings from parallel worlds to trigger pictures that can enable a new human culture become a tactile reality.‘The only path that makes sense is to reconnect with the essence of life and embrace a loving partnership with Gaia, Earth. This path involves a challenging transformation of our current cultures and may provoke changes in many aspects of the embodied world as we know it, as we continue to evolve into the future.’

Creating Gender in the Garden: The Inconstant Partnership of Eve and Adam (The Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies)

by Barbara Deutschmann

What can explain the persistence of gender inequality throughout history? Do narratives such as the Eden story explain that dissymmetry or contribute to it? This book suggests that the Hebrew Bible began and has sustained a rich conversation about sex and gender throughout its life. A literary study of the Garden of Eden story reveals a focus on the human partnership as integral to the divine creation project. Texts from other Hebrew Bible genres build a picture of robust and flexible partnerships within a patriarchal framework.In popular culture, Eve still carries the stench of guilt while Adam, seemingly unscathed by Eden events, remains a positive symbol of manhood. This book helps explain why they have had such different histories. The book also charts the subversive alternate streams of interpretation of women's writings and rabbinic texts.The story of Adam and Eve demonstrates how conceptions of gender in both ancient and modern worlds reflect larger philosophical schemes. Far from existing as timeless verities, female and male relations are constructed according to cultural imperatives of the day. Understanding the different ways that Adam and Eve have been conceived gives us perspective on our own twenty-first century gender architecture.

Creating God: The birth and growth of major religions

by Robin Derricourt

What do we really know about how and where religions began, and how they spread? In this bold new book, award-winning author Robin Derricourt takes us on a journey through the birth and growth of several major religions, using history and archaeology to recreate the times, places and societies that witnessed the rise of significant monotheistic faiths. Beginning with Mormonism and working backwards through Islam, Christianity and Judaism to Zoroastrianism, Creating God opens up the conditions that allowed religious movements to emerge, attract their first followers and grow. Throughout history there have been many prophets: individuals who believed they were in direct contact with the divine, with instructions to spread a religious message. While many disappeared without trace, some gained millions of followers and established a lasting religion. In Creating God, Robin Derricourt has produced a brilliant, panoramic book that offers new insights on the origins of major religions and raises essential questions about why some succeeded where others failed.

Creating God: The birth and growth of major religions (G - Reference,information And Interdisciplinary Subjects Ser.)

by Robin Derricourt

What do we really know about how and where religions began, and how they spread? In this bold new book, award-winning author Robin Derricourt takes us on a journey through the birth and growth of several major religions, using history and archaeology to recreate the times, places and societies that witnessed the rise of significant monotheistic faiths. Beginning with Mormonism and working backwards through Islam, Christianity and Judaism to Zoroastrianism, Creating God opens up the conditions that allowed religious movements to emerge, attract their first followers and grow. Throughout history there have been many prophets: individuals who believed they were in direct contact with the divine, with instructions to spread a religious message. While many disappeared without trace, some gained millions of followers and established a lasting religion. In Creating God, Robin Derricourt has produced a brilliant, panoramic book that offers new insights on the origins of major religions and raises essential questions about why some succeeded where others failed.

Creating Religious Childhoods in Anglo-World and British Colonial Contexts, 1800-1950 (Studies in Childhood, 1700 to the Present)

by Hugh Morrison Mary Clare Martin

Drawing on examples from British world expressions of Christianity, this collection further greater understanding of religion as a critical element of modern children’s and young people’s history. It builds on emerging scholarship that challenges the view that religion had a solely negative impact on nineteenth- and twentieth-century children, or that ‘secularization’ is the only lens to apply to childhood and religion. Putting forth the argument that religion was an abiding influence among British world children throughout the nineteenth and most of the twentieth centuries, this volume places ‘religion’ at the center of analysis and discussion. At the same time, it positions the religious factor within a broader social and cultural framework. The essays focus on the historical contexts in which religion was formative for children in various ‘British’ settings denoted as ‘Anglo’ or ‘colonial’ during the nineteenth and early- to mid-twentieth centuries. These contexts include mission fields, churches, families, Sunday schools, camps, schools and youth movements. Together they are treated as ‘sites’ in which religion contributed to identity formation, albeit in different ways relating to such factors as gender, race, disability and denomination. The contributors develop this subject for childhoods that were experienced largely, but not exclusively, outside the ‘metropole’, in a diversity of geographical settings. By extending the geographic range, even within the British world, it provides a more rounded perspective on children’s global engagement with religion.

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