We have a small library of donated religious and theological books at the back of church, near the kitchenette. This is to support people studying on courses at our church besides anyone seeking to deepen their faith and understanding of Christian faith.
They are organised into themes: Biblical material; Theology and Pastoral; Mission; Art and Architecture; Devotional; Liturgy; Biography and the New Testament Daily Study Bibles.
There is a loan book on top of the bookcase which should be used. There is no time limit, but, if we knew that someone else was waiting for a book, we would let you know. When you return a book, just leave it on top of the bookcase.
The catalogue of books can be viewed and downloaded as PDF. It is arranged by author or by title or by topic.
Some recent additions include:
• ‘Great is the Mystery of Faith’ by Paul Ferguson (in the Liturgy section). He expounds Christian doctrine with illustrations from the Liturgy. He draws on the experience of a long and faithful pastoral ministry.
• Two books on bereavement by William Purcell (1978) and Sue Mayfield (2011) in the Pastoral section.
• ‘The People’s Bible’ by Derek Wilson – about the King James Version is a good read and tells about translations of the Bible from before the time of the King James Version and right up to the present day.
• ‘The Church Notes of Sir Stephen Glynne’ (in the Liturgy section) is a fascinating account of many Cumbrian churches in the 19th century.
• ‘The Kindness of God’ by Janet Martin Soskice is a good example of Feminist Theology. All male theologians should read Feminist Theology just as all western theologians should read Christian Eastern Theology! This is a good way of seeing things in a different perspective and we often find that our faith is deepened by such an experience.
• ‘Why God Won’t Go Away’ by Alister McGrath is a helpful response to the New Atheism.
• ‘The Man Born to be King’ by Dorothy L. Sayers who was a theologian, but better known for her Lord Peter Wimsey detective stories.
• ‘Biography of David Sheppard,’ who was captain of the English cricket team and later became Bishop of Liverpool
• ‘Life of Josephine de Vasconcellos’ We have her sculpture The Family of Man in the church. She was also a poet and a musical composer and did a lot of work with boys from Approved Schools.
• Three Reference Books at the bottom right of the Bible bookcase –‘Concordance of the Bible’ and ‘The Oxford Bible Commentary’. This latter contains some of the best of modern scholarship. We now have the One Volume I.V.F. Bible Commentary. So two of the main traditions of theology are represented.
*We have most of the Mission-based Church reports.