Like a number of improving books (Bridget Jones and Tales of the City come to mind), this book began as a newspaper column. Jane Williams’ thoughtful reflections on the lectionary readings first appeared in the Church Times in the ‘Sunday Readings’ slot which is surely designed to prompt desperate preachers who have not made their minds up by Friday as to what they are going to say on Sunday morning.
The pieces here are intelligently written and useful for any preacher. One of the truly great achievements of the ecumenical movement in recent years is the number of churches which have moved to a common lectionary so that on most Sundays people from different traditions will be hearing the same scripture readings. For this reason, books like this have an appeal across the denominations. For those who need to know, the readings studied here are those of the thematic strand in the lectionary.
Books of this kind are also useful for anyone who regularly attends a church in which they fear that they might not appreciate the preacher of the day. Simply buy this book, sneak it in under your hat and slip it out during the gradual hymn ready for a good read during the sermon slot.
It is clear that Jane Williams is an engaging theologian and these pieces make me want to hear her preach herself. Until recently, she was a lecturer and doctrine tutor at Trinity College, Bristol. Now, living on the south bank of the River Thames, she is Visiting Lecturer in Theology at King’s College, London. As the introduction to the book rather coyly states, she is married, and has two school-aged children.
Published in inspires, the magazine of the Scottish Episcopal Church
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